Eat Foods You Love and Get More Fiber!

There are other foods many people love that also contain fiber, and it all adds up. Coffee is an example. An 8-oz cup may contain 1.5 grams of protein. If you drink more than one cup of coffee a day, that adds up. Studies show that most people benefit from small amounts coffee, unless you are particularly sensitive to it.

 100 grams of dark chocolate (70-85% cacao) has 11 grams of fiber. And cocoa has 4 grams per two tablespoons of powder.

 Fruits like raspberries are a delicious way to get more fiber and summer and Fall are the perfect times to top up your fiber needs.

 One-quarter cup of almonds has 4 grams of fiber. Of course, raw is always better than roasted when it comes to the health benefits of nuts.

 An avocado has 14 grams of fiber; so one half has 7 grams. I have been making a simple guacamole lately, to add to lettuce-wrap sandwiches. Just add lime juice, salt, red pepper flakes, and your favorite pepper sauce to taste. This works as a dip, sandwich spread, or can be added to hard-boiled egg yolk for a special twist on deviled eggs.

 Chia seeds are another source and can be mixed with almond milk for a fiber-rich pudding. With 5 grams of fiber per tablespoon, chia seeds can be added to smoothies, yogurt, pancakes, or other baked goods, and used as a thickener in recipes.

 For a summer treat puree a package of fresh strawberries with 2 cups of almond milk and ¼ cup of honey. Mix with ½ cup of chia seeds. The mixture will thicken to a pudding texture. Garnish with fresh strawberry slices and store in the refrigerator.

 All whole fruits and vegetables have fiber. More fiber means less cholesterol so if you have cholesterol concerns here is a non-drug approach. Whole grains contain fiber, as well as vitamins lost when grains are milled or processed. Here is a link to my new favorite bread, organic whole rye, from Germany. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08JCWFX9K?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder-t1_ypp_rep_k4_1_3&amp&crid=2Y65RNPWQYU8C&amp&sprefix=ryeOne slice of this bread and you know you have eaten something good. Yes, rye has gluten, but this bread has far more nutrition than gluten-free options, and I don’t get the tiredness I feel when I eat commercial wheat products.

 Who knew that feeding your good bugs was one of the most effective ways to feed yourself? Those tiny critters are making B vitamins, hormones, and compounds like  Urolithin A that energize the engines of the cells called mitochondria. It is possible that we will be able to harness the gut microbe to make therapeutic agents that will handle diseases that drugs only suppress or manage. Those cute little bugs in our gut-biome may turn out to be our best intervention to create, maintain, and revitalize the body functions that give us vitality, energy, and longevity.

 So, let’s be very extremely cautious about the overuse of antibiotics that destroy the helpful microbes along with the bad guys. I can always help with building a strong immune system to avoid antibiotic use. And increasing fiber is one of the greatest changes you can make for your immune system, and support hormones and brain/cognitive health. There have been some reports that fiber can really help with weight loss, too. Fiber itself has no calories, because we don’t eat it-our microbes do!

Healthy is Holy in The Season of Jolly

Did you know that the word Holy has the same root as whole and heal? They all come to us from Old English, traced back through Dutch and German and originally from Old Norse heill. If you consider this a holy season, then you are also saying that it is a season to be whole and heal. 

 The word “health” has the same root. No wonder that restoration to health can be considered a miracle when someone is suffering.

 So, now is a time to mention some healthy basics we can all agree on.

 The Christmas/Holiday winter season, even in warm LA, is hard on our health, for all the obvious physical reasons. If sugarplums only danced in our heads they wouldn’t be a problem. But they seem to magically turn into sugar cookies (and chocolate truffles, and candy canes) on our plates. Sugar has something in common with viruses-increased inflammation, and suppressed immune response. 

 Alcohol stresses the liver, one of the main detox organs, and a major player in our immune system. And it suppresses our central nervous system, impairing a control center that we need to function well.

 But, the biggest factor in general health is our emotional health. The holidays can carry us in either direction. Some people find joy and happiness, and others are haunted by the sadness of ghosts from Christmas past.

 The challenges to our immune systems are greater than ever, but are not the same for all. Recovery from the 2020 virus seems to impart a great deal of natural immunity, according to the studies I have seen. Injections of medical drugs, even when they are meant to help, generally offer the body challenges because they are never “natural” and compatible with body processes. 

 Regardless of what your status is regarding the 2020 virus, there are things you can do to give yourself the best chance of staying healthy and strong through this next winter. If ever there was a time to be proactive, this is it. Virus variants are always with us, whether flu virus or others. Antibodies aren’t even the first line of defense. Active T-cells are first way the body defends itself. Kids have significantly higher T-cell response to pathogens than adults. That is probably why kids had such mild symptoms from the 2020 virus.

 There may be a false sense of security for those who have gotten the injection. I have seen issues with the immune system for some. Just like when you take antibiotics, your innate immune system needs to be supported with probiotics and immune boosters like Immuplex, Congaplex, Cat’s Claw (a herb I have come to love!) and Andographis. Black Cumin Seed Oil and Wormwood are two specific herbs that I highly recommend, as prevention and as treatment.

 There are inevitably going to be new “variants” because viruses like to survive and find more hosts. Fortunately, many decades of research and observation tell us that mutations are often less strong and more contagious. Witness the humble and ubiquitous Common Cold, a coronavirus that we humans share with each other every year. Think about the logic here-weaker strains mean that more people get infected and spread the virus around, which is the general goal of any particular virus.

 But the best thing is to be able to handle the exposure without getting sick.  One study showed that 70% of people in LA had antibodies against the 2020 virus. Only a fraction of those actually got sick and showed symptoms. We have no idea how often we might feel a little more tired one day for no apparent reason, and our immune system is actually successfully fighting off an invading bug. Kind of a miracle how that happens.

 Our immune systems are very powerful survival tools. Maintaining that tool in the best condition is a gift to ourselves, and our families and friends.

 Many of you have contacted me directly with questions about your health and protecting it. There is no one-size-fits-all in health and medicine. We each have unique needs. But there is common sense and awareness of your own strengths and weaknesses. 

 For those of you who want greater natural immunity, I can recommend certain things. Right now I have a few bottles of homeopathic treatment available. Contact me if you would like to find out more. 

 If you know that you have extra risk factors, such as being overweight, Diabetes, allergies, smoking or vaping, heart conditions, I do recommend not relying on the injection to keep you well. 

 As always, I recommend staying away from the news channels, because scaring us is their bread and butter. Fear is the greatest enemy of human intellect and good sense, and leads to the Dark Side, as Yoda warned. 

 Eat a lot of greens with those sugar cookies, and explore some non-sugar options like monk fruit and stevia. 

Mostly, I hope you will find a lot to be happy about. Our immune system may be internal, but so is our capacity for joy. Funny how the two may be linked!

 As always, I am here to help. 

 Wishing you a Holy, Healthy, Merry Christmas, and the most Peaceful and Happy Holidays ever. 

Knowledge is Power. Find Out What a Virus is and How to Prevent the Harmful Ones

I have been chatting to quite a few people about their concerns about the current virus scene and many of them don’t understand what a virus is and how it works in the body. So, this article will give some simple information and may help you to know more about protecting yourself from any harmful virus.

We think of germs as tiny living things that can cause illness. Did you ever hear your Mom tell you not to touch something because it had germs? Germs are microorganisms, which means they are very small. How small? A grain of sand harbors from 10,000 to 100,000 microorganisms!

Most microorganisms are harmless to humans, and some are vital to us because they are helpful and assist digestion and our immune system. Some cause illness. It is the job of our immune systems to sort out which are good for us and which need to be eliminated.

Viruses are a special class and different from bacteria. Bacteria cells divide and replicate, creating more bacteria. Bacteria need a food source to survive. Antibiotics can kill them because they are “alive”.  Some bacteria are killed by viruses, so not all viruses are bad for us. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/05/friendly-viruses-protect-us-against-bacteria

Viruses do not divide and reproduce, so are not alive in the same sense. When a virus invades a host body it has to hijack the machinery of a cell to make new viruses. So the cell, instead of reproduce copies of itself, is forced to make new viruses which causes the cell to burst open and release more new invading viruses. https://eol.org/docs/discover/viruses

Viruses are probably the most abundant type of biological entity on earth. About 5000 different ones have been noted but probably a million types exist. We breathe in about 100,000,000 viruses any normal day! There are many different types. For example, viruses called bacteriophages attack bacteria, and this has some promise for treating bacterial infections and is being investigated as a cancer treatment in Eastern Europe.

There are several types of Coronavirus. They are called that because they have crown-like spikes when viewed under a microscope. Corona means crown. Other Coronaviruses include SARS, MERS, and the common cold 

So, now that you know a bit more about viruses, and you know that you cannot avoid them, let’s consider how to let them make you sick.

Medical doctors are trying to figure out why some people get sick and others don’t, when exposed to the same virus. This seems fairly easy to understand from a natural medicine point of view. Each person has unique strengths and weaknesses in their body and immune system.

Understanding that pathogenic viruses are sneaky devils, offers an opportunity to prevent them. You know all about the advice being blasted by the news media. Some of it is commons sense and some of it is designed to scare the living crap out of us, which only makes us more susceptible to getting sick.

All viruses are opportunistic. Their survival depends on “opportunities” to hijack living cells just like a car hijacker steals someone’s car. Since they cannot survive by themselves, they must use a cell in a live body to reproduce. And once they invade a living body they must take hold quickly before the host immune system mounts an attack.  Click here to see a video about how viruses invade cells and how the immune system stops them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpj0emEGShQ

So, there are two ways to evade a virus. Since there are millions in the air on any given day, it does make sense to avoid people who are sneezing and coughing. Of course, many of those people have seasonal allergies, so it is hard to know who is sick and expelling cold and flu viruses, and who isn’t.

But, even better is to help your cells to resist the attack. One way to do that is to be sure you have plenty of minerals in your diet. And you need strong digestion to absorb minerals. Calcium and magnesium and zinc are some of the most important minerals, but that does not mean you should chew rocks. Vegetables are good sources of minerals. A low dose supplement may help. Make sure your stomach acid is strong. Apple cider vinegar, diluted in water, with a little raw honey added, is an old remedy during cold and flu season. Fresh squeezed lemon juice with some honey, diluted in water, is another good choice. If you are sugar sensitive you can use stevia or monk fruit instead.

The other way to ward off viruses is to make sure that your immune system is alert. Generally speaking, refined sugar suppresses the immune system. White blood cells become less active for five hours after we eat sugar. But there is some evidence that the sugar in fruit is helpful to the gut microbes that make up part of the immune system. https://blog.bioticsresearch.com/does-sugar-weaken-the-immune-system

Common sense in nutrition prevails. Eat clean and healthy, and support your immune system so that it is ready and alert when needed.

See my next blog for specific ideas you can implement now.