This blog in no way diagnoses or treats anyone, but is merely a collection of health tips, news & reseach regarding whole health. If you are in need of a doctor, please see one!
I’ve been getting some questions on the article recently posted on webMD regarding high blood sugar increasing the risk for memory loss. I can see how they came up with the idea - high levels of sugar can clog up your vessels over time, as well as raise the fat levels (cholesterol) which does the same. Over time, many small and large vessels will be affected. Less blood to the brain equals less brain function - simple as that!
So if you don’t have diabetes you shouldn’t worry, right?
Well, the way we’re eating here in the US is significantly increasing our diabetes rates. You don’t have to be obese to be diabetic. In fact, the last 3 people I diagnosed as diabetic were very average weights. Blood sugar control helps everyone in that it makes less work for our liver, which therefore makes less work for everything else! Even if you are the the picture of health, our bodies naturally increase our blood sugars as we get older, so even if diabetes isn’t in you or your family’s medical history, it’s still something to keep in check for a long, healthy life.
How can you help control your blood sugar?
Limit sugar intake, especially high fructose corn syrup (highly processed and extremely easy to absorb) - obviously, the best way to avoid high blood sugar is not to eat it. I do not however endorse the use of sugar substitutes. These are proving to be quite toxic to the brain, which is just the opposite of what we’re trying to do! For those who already have blood sugar issues, you should also consider avoiding the following:
“White” carbohydrates, or simple carbohydrates - these are called “simple” because it doesn’t take much to break them down, therefore they absorb pretty quickly, producing a high blood sugar spike shortly after eating them - these include white flour (breads, cakes and pastries), soda, candy, sugar, etc
Become a label reader if you eat a lot of processed foods - you’ll be surprised how many things have sugar in them, no matter what form it’s in (sucrose, dextrose, fructose, malitol, xylitol, sorbitol, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, evaporated cane juice, rice syrup, etc)!
Eat a bit of protein with each meal - this will help the release of sugar slow down a bit as it absorbs into your bloodstream
Eat fiber - again, this helps slow the sugar into the bloodstream, which is why it’s better to eat a piece of fruit (sugar + fiber), rather than drink fruit juice (liquid sugar = quick spike in blood sugar)
Exercise - exercise helps keep our blood vessels strong and uses those sugars (”burning carbs”), therefore exercise can help us keep our blood sugar levels lower
Remember, everything in moderation. I know it’s impossible not to eat sugar in some form (honey is a favorite of mine), but let’s just try not to make it a daily thing. Everything is safer in moderation.
Well, I’m sitting here in Portland during the most snowy winter in 40 years…some parts of our yard is waist deep in snow from drifts! I may not be able to post for a while as we could lose power at any moment, but I just wanted to remind everyone to have a safe and warm winter. And don’t forget about our critter friends! They have hard times in the cold as well, so if you’ve got some bird seed or water or anything else on hand, put it outside for those who sure could use it.
The holidays are times for celebration, especially in today’s dreary economy. This is definitely a time when I excuse my patients (and myself) to enjoy some fun and traditional holiday treats (in moderation, but still…).
I just had a great holiday party last night and thought I’d share some pictures and recipes. These are definitely NOT healthy, but very tasty:
This is called Cranberry Duff, a New England favorite (basically a cranberry upside-down cake). I got the original recipe from Martha Stewart but decided to do it gluten-free for my more sensitive guests. Instead of the 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, I used 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose flour and just under 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (needed for proper thickening). The batter was REALLY thick, so that may have been a bit too much xanthan gum! Once it baked though, it was beautiful, which was good because I got really nervous since the raw batter kind of tasted like sweet peas…I also used raw sugar, which probably didn’t fluff as well as fine sugar, but it still tasted amazing.
This was my favorite dish of the night. I named him Herbert! He was a very yummy (and very handsome) cheeseball! Again, from Martha Stewart. People were afriad to dig into him, but once I got the picture taken, they weren’t scared to devour him! I used peppercorns for the eyes and buttons, but it was also recommended to used black olives. His hat is made of Pumpernickel bread that I cut into different sized circles with my measuring cups.
We had quite a spread with healthy and not-so-healthy snacks (the raw veggies and jalapeno-stuffed olives were a super hit). Everything went well. We even woke up to a surprise - snow! You never know here in Portland, but it’s been snowing all day and tomorrow’s a snow day!
I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday. Travel safely and don’t be afraid to enjoy some occasional treats this holiday season!
Well, it’s that time of year again, and the Green Guide has posted some help for those trying to find safe toys to give to their loved ones or to donate to those in need. It seems like every time I catch the news, there’s another toy being recalled due to lead or other toxic chemicals. Check out the Green Guide article here, and download their snazzy safer toy guide to keep with you while you shop!
Light pollution is becoming quite an issue with many people not getting enough sleep these days, so I thought I’d comment on that and more…
Sleep is our body’s time of healing and therefore is imperative for optimal health. Light is important to our biological clocks, not only emotionally, but biochemically. Darkness actually stimulates our brain to start making melatonin, a neurotransmitter that helps us sleep (and also helps fight cancer!). Likewise, light first thing in the morning is what turns off that neurologic response, which is why those sunrise alarm clocks are becoming so popular.
Tips for a good night’s sleep:
Make sure your room is completely dark - including lights from alarm clocks, cell phones, air purifiers and coming from outside
Purchase blackout shades for your windows if your curtains or blinds aren’t blocking it out completely
Use a sleep mask to prevent sleep-interrupting light (preferably organic and fragrance-free, even though lavender is proven to help sleep, I don’t recommend it due to the hormonal effects of lavender over time)
If you live in an urban area, white noise may help prevent you from waking at every honk and voice going on outside
Purchase a white noise machine, or use an air purifier that provides a bit of noise (and also provides clean air for you to breathe!)
Use foam earplugs while you sleep
In our technologically advanced world, we are surrounded by electromagnetic fields (EMFs) which are becoming more and more of an environmental toxicity to our health, not only in cities, homes near power lines, etc but also in just your average home with several electronics and wireless internet. These EMFs are becoming one of the things making sleep more difficult and other countries like Canada and the UK are already doing something about it. If you think you have a high EMF household, visit Stetzer Electronic for meter and filter options.
Wake as naturally as you can, preferably with no noisy alarm. If you do need an alarm, try one of the more natural sunrise alarm clocks to wake naturally to light rather than being startled awake by some obnoxious buzzing!
Get enough light during the day so your body can recognize that it needs to start slowing down once it’s dark. If you live in the Pacific Northwest like me, light isn’t always available during the winter when the sun sets at 4:30 pm! And don’t think that fluorescent lights count as light!! I’m talking about natural spectrum light. One thing you can do to make sure you’re getting enough from the right spectrum is to get a light box. Commonly thought of for those who suffer from seasonal affective disorder during the winter, these are actually great for everyone, especially those having trouble sleeping. Use it at the peak of your day (mid-afternoon) and then the closer you get to bedtime, try making your environment darker and darker. This will give you a little dose of happy, not to mention your daily dose of vitamin D! The light generated by TVs aren’t optimal for right before bed, but computer screens are the worst for keeping you awake. Try and get off the computer at least 2 hours before bed (a rule that I’m breaking as I type this!).
Routine is most important. Our adrenal glands (which handle our stress hormones as well as many other hormones) thrive on routine. Not only will it help your sleep to set a routine bedtime and wake time, but it will have an overall stress relieving effect by supporting your adrenals. Try getting out of the “weekends are for sleep” mentality, and go to bed and wake at the same time each day if you can. After a few weeks, you will naturally get tired at your optimal bedtime, and start realizing you rarely need an alarm to wake at the right time! This is assuming you are allowing for 7-9 hours sleep of course!
Keep bedtime sleep time - try not do do other activities in bed (reading, watching tv, working on your computer) if you are having trouble sleeping. The more time you spend in bed not sleeping, the more your body associates your bed for non-sleeping time! If you wake earlier than you’d like, or in the middle of the night, and can’t get back to sleep for more than 20 minutes, get up, go to a cozy chair or couch and read or relax, only going back to bed when you are tired and ready for sleep. This will help your body realize that when you are in bed, you should be sleeping.
I hope this gave you some helpful information on healthy sleep. Now I’m ready for bed!
I saw this recipe online and just had to post it here…check out Gluten A Go Go’s take on a chestnut-pumpkin danish…looks amazing and I may just have to try it for holiday guests this year!
You might in fact just want to susscribe to this blog, as I’ve gotten some pretty good recipes from it - a great site!
According to ABC News last month, the contaminant melamine, which was responsible for killing so many pets a year or so ago, recently found in infant formula and a few other things, is NOW being found in eggs and meat in China. The issue is that melamine is high in nitrogen and cheap. So it provides for cheap feed for farmed fish, chickens and the like.
Yet another reason to buy local and organic! If you do, you don’t even need to pay attention to all of these food contaminations like these and the “deadly” spinach, tomatoes and jalapeno peppers we’ve had so recently. You can grow your own goodies, or at least get to meet the folks who do grow them.
I hope everyone has a wonderful and local Thanksgiving meal!
Even the FDA released a statement saying that over the counter (OTC) cough/cold meds are NOT to be used in children under 4 years old. This comes as happy news to me because I’ve been leary of it since becoming a doc, as most meds aren’t tested in kids, they merely cut the adult dosage in half and assume it’s a good dose for little ones. Many parents bring their sniffy kids in demanding antibiotics. Let me remind you, the common cold/cough is viral 9 times out of 10, therefore antibiotics are useless. There are plenty of other ways to help end the sniffles quickly without it turning into bronchitis. Check out my recent post on cold/flu for more info.
On a similar note, some pediatricians seem to have not gotten the memo last year about antibiotics being deemed useless when it comes to childhood ear infections. Please don’t request antibiotics when going to the doc for this, as there are MANY other ways of helping your child through this infection. There are some exceptions of course, but for the most part, they resolve on their own. The tried and true method of ending those painful earache nights is trying to figure out why your child is susceptable. Often times, dairy allergies are to blame, as is sugar intake. So if you child is experiencing them on a regular basis, see your local ND to find and treat the cause.
Exercise - exercise helps keep our blood vessels strong and uses those sugars (”burning carbs”), therefore exercise can help us keep our blood sugar levels lower
This is called Cranberry Duff, a New England favorite (basically a cranberry upside-down cake). I got the original recipe from 
This was my favorite dish of the night. I named him Herbert! He was a very yummy (and very handsome) cheeseball! Again, from 
We had quite a spread with healthy and not-so-healthy snacks (the raw veggies and jalapeno-stuffed olives were a super hit). Everything went well. We even woke up to a surprise - snow! You never know here in Portland, but it’s been snowing all day and tomorrow’s a snow day!
year or so ago, recently found in infant formula and a few other things, is NOW being found in eggs and meat in China. The issue is that melamine is high in nitrogen and cheap. So it provides for cheap feed for farmed fish, chickens and the like.
Even the FDA released a 
