New Year’s Diet-What to ADD for Weight Loss

So often we think of losing weight as matter of deprivation and taking away foods we rely on for fun and comfort.

This year you might try taking a different approach. Instead of making a list of foods to resist and remove, try making a list of health additions that you can add in.

A major part of long-term dieting success means changing the way you eat so that you eat like a thin person. Our bodies get used to what we put into them, and removing things can be a challenge, especially when we are tired or stressed.

So, a more workable regimen might include adding foods to create new patterns in your eating. By adding in healthy choices, your body may be more willing to let go of the previous habits. Here are some suggestions:

1)   Add in one green salad every day. Find a green salad that you like, but try to include a variety of greens and vegetables, or rotate your choices. Choose at least five different vegetables to eat every day. Enjoy plenty of different lettuce greens, well washed and organic. You can eat the salad as your meal, with a choice of protein included. You can eat the salad before the meal, to decrease appetite. Or enjoy the salad at the end of the meal, like some Europeans do. The fresh greens may decrease your desire for dessert. Make your own dressing from olive oil, lemon or balsamic vinegar and spices or mustards. Email me for my favorite recipe.

2)   Trying to avoid grains, but missing cereal? Try the new Paleo cereals made with coconut flakes, available online at Amazon or Thrive Market. https://thrivemarket.com/paleo?cat=57?device=c&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Desktop%20-%20Values&utm_term=%2Bpaleo%20cereal&utm_content=Paleo%20cerealPour on the almond, hemp or raw organic milk and crunch away. This is also a good dessert choice. For kids, add in a scoop of protein powder. You can add raw nuts or flax or chia seeds, too.

3)   Eat more soup. Studies show that soups help people lose weight, especially if eaten before a meal, or as a meal substitute. If you want a snack before bed, soup is a good choice. There are organic soups available, or make your own in a crock pot and come home to the fragrance of your favorite soup simmering. Soups can be made ahead and frozen for a quick meal, or taken to work in a thermos. Freeze leftover veggies and bones from meat to make your own Bone broth. Here are some recipes for inspiration. http://www.foodnetwork.com/healthy/photos/healthy-soup-recipes.html

There are three ideas to get January off to a good start. Let me know other ideas you have. There is an abundance of junk foods and treats all around us. Fortunately, there is also an abundance of healthy food to keep you satisfied and on the road to a slimmer body that will make life easier because you are feeling better.

If appetite is a problem, we have Garcinia Cambogia and other appetite aids. Drink plenty of water and eat slowly, enjoying each bite. So many of us take no time for meals, despite the fact that our very lives depend on eating!

Happy New Year! May all your resolutions bring long life, warm friends and dreams realized.

Stop a Runny Nose!

It is not just colds and flu that can make a nose run. Cold weather, sugary/fatty foods, congested liver/gall bladders, or allergies can also cause you to reach for a tissue. Just when you want to look your best for the Holidays, and not compete for the Rudolph contest, a runny nose can spoil your fun. Fight back with these healthy strategies.

Here are some tips to dry up quickly.

1)   Massage the points on the sides of your nose where the curve of your nostrils meets your cheek. Tap under your eyes, in the hollow, and down towards your cheeks and sides of the nose. Alternate these points, massage and then tapping.

2)   Find the point halfway between the bottom of your ribs on the right side, and your belly button. Massage the area firmly to release the gall bladder.

3)   Take “Cold Calm” from Boiron Homeopathics. This safe, natural medicine can stop a runny nose for a few hours, and can be used for children.

4)   Take Zypan and Multizyme for digestive aids. Sip some apple cider vinegardiluted in water. Sufficient stomach acid helps the liver/gall bladder work better. And extra digestive help may help you to sleep after feasting.

5)   Get plenty of sleep. If you feel stressed, or traveling, take extra adrenal support. Fatigued adrenal glands can produce symptoms that mimic a cold or allergy. If you suffer from any type of allergies, your adrenal glands are weak and need support!

6)   Lay off sugar. Sugar stresses the body in every way, from depleting minerals to lowering stomach acid, to weakening the immune system. Use Stevia and Xylitol for sweet treats that don’t compromise your health.

7)   Don’t overdo coffee, which also stresses your adrenals and dehydrates your body. Try Teecino herbal coffee, sip herbal tea, and drink extra water. Not a water fan? Try a naturally sparkling water like Pellegrino and flavor it with cucumber or fruit slices or flavored liquid Stevia.

8)   Come in for some soft tissue work on your liver. The sinuses are very affected by the ability of the liver and kidneys to detoxify. There are acupuncture reflexes and acupressure points that can offer relief, and even help a real cold or flu to move through quickly.

9)   Consider food intolerance testing if the runny nose is chronic. Keep a food journal, but know that it may take 48 hours before a food issue shows up in your nose.

10)   Avoid toxic people. Today someone asked me if I thought her body was allergic to the guy she is seeing. When she described his behavior to me I told her that it is probably not her body that is allergic, but SHE may be allergic to how he treats her!

Once you find out how well natural medicine can work for you, a runny nose won’t slow you down. It is just a symptom of a need to move something through your body more quickly.

May all the running in your life involve kids, dogs, and running around with people you love, and not your nose. And keep in mind that these tips work on people of all ages.

10 Hacks For a Slimmer, Merrier Holiday

1.     Choose your treat before the feast.

Decide which type of treat you want to indulge in before each festivity. Choose breads or desserts, for example, but not both. For most people the starch in bread metabolizes like cake, so choosing one or the other prevents a double helping of sugar.

2.     Load up on the healthy stuff when you first arrive at a party. Take the edge off your appetite with the crudité, vegetable dips, olives and other low calorie snacks. Cheese and nuts, although healthy, quickly pile on calories.

3.     Volunteer to bring a dessert and make it sugar-free by using stevia or xylitol. That way you can enjoy a good helping of something sweet without blowing your diet. And you may be surprised how many people enjoy your dessert and ask for the recipe. Here are some recipes made with stevia. http://www.yummly.com/recipes/stevia-desserts  Another sugar-free suggestion is to serve berries with whipped cream sweetened with Stevia instead of the usual pies or cakes. You can use some English Toffee Stevia to give the cream a more Holiday feel. Sweetleaf carries a dozen flavors of liquid stevia and has many recipes to try.

4.     Try using coconut flour or nut flours instead of wheat for your holiday baking. These grain-free substitutes are higher in protein and lower in carbs. And you may start a new Holiday tradition. Here are other suggestions for making healthier cookies. http://www.cbsnews.com/media/healthier-holiday-cookies/

5.     Drink a glass of water for every alcoholic drink you have. Pace yourself, set your drink down, switch to a bubbly water with lemon. Alcohol metabolizes like sugar, and it is toxic for the liver. A clear head and engaged mind makes you a more interesting party guest!  Milk Thistle before and after indulging will help you avoid a hang-over. We have the best in our Livco from MediHerb.

6.     Avoid chocolate when you are enjoying other rich, fatty foods. Chocolate is particularly difficult for the liver/gall bladder to process. If you suffer from any kind of migraines or headaches, try eliminating chocolate and see if the headaches subside. Even the best dark chocolate may cause headaches for some people. Chocolate may be particularly aggravating right before the menstrual period. Try taking extra magnesium at that time.

7.     Get family and friends active with games and walks and activities that keep people away from too much food or alcohol. Americans gain an average of 7 pounds at Christmas and many don’t lose it throughout the year.

8.     Don’t skip meals just because you are busy. Plan ahead so that you keep your blood sugar stable by including protein and fat in every meal and eating every few hours. Decide that you don’t have to sample every cookie that is offered or indulge in the treats around the office. Keep a supply of fruits, veggies and other healthy snacks around so that you aren’t starving when the parties start. You can also make pots of soup to enjoy for a filling treat to take to the office or enjoy when you come home tired.

9.     Indulge yourself in other ways than goodies and food treats during the Holidays. Get a massage. Ask for one for a gift or treat yourself. Enjoy herbal teas. Try Slippery Elm tea to soothe the tummy and Licorice tea to support the adrenals. Indulge your senses with essential oils. Peppermint essential oil is a wonderful pick-me-up in the morning or before a night out. Eucalyptus essential oil eases breathing and congestion. Lavender is a classic for relaxation and sleep. Essential oils can be used simply by putting a few drops on a hanky and breathing the scent. Children love them. You can also mix a few drops with a carrier oil like coconut and rubbing on temples or chest.

10. On the days between celebrations eat a simple diet with lots of salad, protein of choice, and dressings of good oil and lemon or vinegar. Give your digestion and your pancreas a break and stick to a Paleo regime.  Look at your calendar ahead of time and decide which days you will stick to a healthy plan. Write it down so you don’t forget.

Don't forget your supplements during the Holidays, especially if you are traveling. We can mail to you if you don't have time to come to the office. If you are stressed, try our wonderful herbal line that is sure to calm and soothe in just a few minutes. Enjoy this Holiday Season, with all its blessings.

Is Herbal Medicine Just a Witch’s Brew?

We have made so many breakthroughs in health technology in the past 100+ years, that it may be difficult to imagine that a simple plant could be as effective as brightly colored pills that come in a child-proof bottle with an official looking printed label.

Many people immediately think “Doctor” at the first sign of an illness. And by that we mean a cold or flu or lump or pain, rash or discomfort. But we are often very unschooled about the warning signals that indicate a body is struggling, signals that may appear long before a problem sends us to the doctor.

Sadly, your MD won’t know anything about the warning signals, either, because a medical education in today’s world means managing and treating disease. It does not involve teaching patients how to manage their optimum health to prevent disease.

Heroism often involves bold actions. Performing surgery and prescribing caustic and potentially dangerous drugs is bold. Working with the body’s own rhythms, processes and innate wisdom may not seem so bold. No blood is shed, there may be no dramatic bedside vigil, no hair falling out, or brave suffering from the after-effects of the treatment.

With plant medicine there is a realignment of the natural order of the body. The internal processes are an intricate dance and it is only when a partner or step is missing that the seeds of illness are sowed.

Whenever any aspect of life goes off the rails, a change must take place. The attitudes, behaviors and negligence which started one on a destructive path must be recognized and set right again. Old habits must be shed and new, smarter actions must be implemented.

It is the same with health and the body. Plant medicine is how the body is formed, from the nutrients received in the womb. Plant medicine is how the body repairs. Surgery can cut out a damaged part, and is sometimes vitally necessary. But surgery does not repair-the body repairs. And drugs only block, suppress or kill functions or organisms. The body does not need drugs to repair or make new cells and chemical drugs also damage, giving the body even more of a repair job to do.

Herbs and plants contain the exact bio-chemical nutrients that are required for real healing to occur. A simple carrot contains over 200 plant-nutrients, and each one has a role to play in the life and wellbeing of our trillions of cells.

We only know some of the reasons that botanical medicine works, because research money is not spent on identifying all the parts. These days when money is spent on plants it is more often to discover how to isolate, create a synthetic copy, and patent the discovery so that the drug can cost $100 a pill instead of the $1.50 the original plant would cost. At least 30% of pharmaceutical drugs are knock-offs of plant medicines. https://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/treatment/herbal-medicine

What we do have is thousands of years of plant medicines being used to help people get well. And since we have billions of people on the Planet, it must have been working fairly well.

So, herbals and botanicals are cheaper, safer, less damaging, and often times more effective than pharmaceutical drugs.

Since much of the information about botanical medicine is not available in the mainstream, it takes a bit of digging and some self-education, as well as the guidance of a professional. You may need your own book of remedies, but you don’t need any witchcraft or mysterious practices. Fortunately plants seemed to have been created to do their job for us. We have an incredible treasure house of real medicines in every farmer’s market, health food store, or supermarket.

It starts with what you eat every day. And there are specific botanicals have known medicinal properties you can tap into. When plants are made into supplements, how they are harvested and how they are prepared determines how effective they are.

Your body should be comfortable for you, and life in your body should be challenging but fun. If your body seems to be holding you back, don’t ignore the warning signs until a small problem becomes a big one. A small goblin is a lot easier to handle than a raging monster.

When Hippocrates said “Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food”, he meant eat your way to wellness.  Those words are more relevant now than they were in 400 BC.  There is enough stress and strife and such an abundance of toxins around us that not eating well is like walking a tightrope with no end in sight. It is not a question of falling off the rope, just a question of how soon.

You can dress up a drug in a fancy costume, but it is still a phony when it comes to repairing the body. Opt for genuine original parts.

Happy Halloween!  

Anne Dunev, PhD, C.N. has over twenty years experience helping people feel better by finding the root cause of what is causing their symptoms. Addressing that with the correct natural and nutritional medicine is her strength. With help restoring balance and function, thousands of people are living happier, healthier lives.