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.

What's In Your Coffee?

Going out for coffee may be hazardous to your health, as you can see from the photo, courtesy of FoodBabe.com. This proves that trendy and tasty do not equal healthy, even in a world where organic and gluten-free are the fastest growing food market niches.

So many of us are avoiding dairy and soymilk is a poor choice if you value your thyroid health, but we want something to put in coffee. For me, Almond milk does not cut it and has too much almond flavor, and coconut creamer is not rich enough, and often has added ingredients like carageenan that may be a concern.

Carrageenan is a seaweed extract that is used in the natural food industry to thicken foods and beverages. Degraded carrageenan has been shown to cause cancer in lab animals. It seems to be destructive to the digestive tract. Undegraded carrageenan may not cause cancer, but it is still linked to leaky gut and damage to the gut lining. So, it may compromise your immune system.

The other dilemma is how to get more good fats in your diet, like butter, especially if you are cutting down on bread and grains.

Bullet-proof coffee or tea solves both problems!  Add a pat of butter (or coconut oil) and swirl your coffee or tea in a Bullet or blender to mix and emulsify the fat. Now you have the creamy texture of coffee or tea with milk or half and half, without the concerns about dairy reactions. If you are super-sensitive to dairy, you can use ghee, which is butter that has been heated to remove all the milk solids an leave just the fat, known as clarified butter in French cooking.

Coffee is a herb, like tea, and has antioxidants. For most people, in moderate amounts, coffee is safe to drink. It is dehydrating, so be sure to increase your water intake and don't substitute coffee for water! For even more antioxidants, add an organic green tea bag to your fresh hot brew.

So, now you can have rich coffee, without milk or oream, and get more butter in your diet. Butter has natural A and D and with all the concerns about Vitamin D, butter is a natural source. Notice that Nature always pairs Vitamin D with Vitamin A, as in fish oil. And butter is a great fat for hair and skin.

Let me know how you like Bullet-Proof Coffee. There is even a new coffee shop in Culver City called Bullet Proof Coffee, so butter as an alternative is spreading and maybe we will see it at Starbucks. Always choose organic butter or a grass-fed butter like Kerrygold from Ireland to avoid hormones and pesticides.

Have a great week!

How Much Sugar Is Too Much- Part 2

See Part 1 https://anne-dunev-gqev.squarespace.com/natural-health-and-nutrition-blog/2015/9/19/how-much-sugar-is-too-much

10. Maple syrup is mainly sucrose, but contains some minerals and amino acids (building blocks of proteins) because it is made from boiling the tree sap from Maple Trees.

11. Honey is flower nectar acted upon by enzymes that make is suitable for long-term storage by the bee. To further assist the storage the bees fan the honey to speed up the evaporation process, making the honey thicker. Beeswax, a secretion from the abdomen of the bee, is used to seal the honey into the comb. Honey will keep indefinitely once the process is complete. Honey is 82% sugar and 40% of the sugar is fructose. Honey has trace minerals and antioxidants. Honey will raise blood sugar, but not as much as white sugar. It also appears to lower inflammation. Honey should only be eaten raw and it is antibacterial and safe to put on a wound for healing (but should not be used on a puncture wound.)

12. Xylitol is made from birch trees. It contains 30-40% less calories and is slowly absorbed compared to other sugars. Xylitol can reduce cavities and is a good choice for chewing gum. It has also been shown to reduce the incidence of middle ear infections in children. Xylitol is a better choice for individuals who are suffering from hypoglycemia or Diabetes. It may cause gas and diarrhea if consumed in high quantities. It is toxic for dogs.

13. Coconut sugar is also made from tree sap. Coconut tree sap is heated until the water has evaporated and the crystals are left. Coconut sugar contains trace minerals and a fiber called inulin, a prebiotic, which helps feed healthy gut flora. It contains the same calories as refined white sugar.

14. Stevia is an extract of a South American plant leaf. It is not technically a sugar, but it stimulates the sweet receptors on the tongue and is perceived as sweet. It is 200-300 times sweeter than white sugar, so should be used in small quantities. It is safe for Diabetics to use.

Americans consume over 19 teaspoons of sugar per day, on average, not including fruit juice. This is added sugar, and does not include the sugar Nature provides in fruits, vegetables and grains. Regular soda contains one teaspoon of sugar per ounce.

We obviously enjoy the sweet stuff. And the body was designed to extract the sugar from whole foods and use glucose for fuel. When we consume refined sugars, the sugar does not have to be extracted, but transports directly into the blood, and that is what creates havoc. In a sense the body can become drunk on sugar, just as too much alcohol causes inebriation. Either too much sugar at one time, or not enough sugar when we skip meals or starve, throws off the balanced flow of energy to the cells. Too much sugar sends our pancreas and livers into over-drive to try and compensate for the deluge. There is a delicate mechanism to maintain a correct balance of sugar so the brain, as the central computer system, works optimally. Sugar has a “burning” effect on cells and may well be the main cause for inflammation in the arteries leading to heart disease. Cancer and candida cells love sugar and feed off sugar. Excess sugar is quickly converted to fat cells and does not just get deposited at waist and hips. Fat deposits in the liver interrupt normal liver function.

So, basically there is nothing helpful or healthy that comes from eating too much sugar. There is nothing healthy about eating any processed, refined sugar at all. We may be able to handle a few teaspoons a day, but we don’t need any added sugar in our diets. If you are trying to lose weight, eliminate fruit also, and see if your body lets go of excess pounds more easily. Think of bread and pasta as sugar, also, since the body will metabolize (break down) grains and starches as sugars.

To end sugar cravings, you have to eliminate it. Just like alcohol (which also breaks down to sugar) you have to go on the wagon to stop the cravings. Add in more protein and healthy fats, and that will help. Get your adrenals checked, as both sugar and salt cravings are indicators of adrenal fatigue.

Do our 10-day Sugar Detox program and see how good you can feel off sugar! Have more energy, sleep better and tame the sugar monster, while also doing a detox. Book a free 15 minute consultation to find out more. 818-562-1400.