Delicious Holiday Fare with the Magic and Health of Herbs

What makes a great cook? Someone who enhances the natural flavor of foods with herbs and spices. Isn’t it fortunate that Nature endowed those delightful enhancers with great health benefits.
So, be generous with your herbs. Kitchen herb gardens make wonderful hostess or Christmas gifts. Many fresh herbs may be used to infuse olive oil.

Here are some of my favorites:

Rosemary-fragrant and strong enough to enhance lamb or steak, it is also used in soaps and hair products. Makes a divine infusion in olive oil. Rosemary is antimicrobial, stimulates circulation, inhibits fats from going rancid through oxygenation. Improves liver detoxification pathways and aids tension headache.

Mint-refreshing and restorative in teas and drinks and partnered with chocolate. Mint assists gall bladder function, gastritis, colds, flus, and morning sickness and has been shown to be effective in irritable bowel syndrome (okay, maybe not with chocolate1) Many a child has been given tummy tea with mint at bedtime.

Sage-the traditional turkey herb is beneficial to memory and concentration and treats the night sweats some experience during menopause. Sage tea can be enjoyed in any season. Don’t use this herb if nursing as it inhibits milk production.

Thyme-a French favorite for meat, eggs or vegetable dishes. Thyme acts as an anti-oxidant, and anti-spasmolytic (coughs), anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. It is a chief ingredient in Listerine mouth wash. Elevate humble cooked carrots to a gourmet dish by slicing them thin and baking until tender with butter, salt and thyme. Put a little water in the bottom of the baking dish to keep them moist while baking. Try purple carrots from the Farmer’s Market. Purple was the original color for carrots and orange carrots were not seen until the Dutch developed them in the 17th century.

Oregano-the pizza herb, known to reduce carcinogens in meat. Oregano is effective against bronchitis due to anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties, treats peptic ulcer, and improves bowel flora, so has a positive effect on the immune system.

Paprika-both beautiful as a splash of red-orange color on beige foods, and full of vigor as a mild to hot spice. Paprika contains whole food Vitamin C, so is anti-inflammatory and good for the adrenal glands. Also known as Capsicum, Paprika is lovely over eggs or rice.

Tumeric-a constituent of most curries and known to many middle Eastern cuisine, Tumeric or Curcumin is a star in the herbal world or its anti-oxidant and anti-cancer properties. It helps ulcers, arthritis, asthma, inhibits fat formation and improves liver detoxification. Whew! Add it to any dish that can use a golden yellow tint such as squash or carrot recipes, or add to rice dishes for a warm touch.

The finest food in the world can also be the healthiest. I hope you enjoy the greatest bounty in all things this Thanksgiving.

Why Is Your Appetite Out of Control?

One of the most common requests I get is for help with appetite control. I do have some homeopathic remedies that may help, but the real solution is always to get to the bottom of the situation and fix the imbalance at the root.
There are many reasons for feeling hungry even after a meal, or finding it difficult to stop eating once started. Our food is pretty inadequate today, in terms of nutrient density. Organic foods from superior sources may be more satisfying. I find that my family consumes less chicken when it is pasture-raised than when it is just organic. Pasture-raised chickens follow herds of cattle and they grub in the grass, eating a standard bird diet. Chickens are omnivores (meaning they eat both animals and plants), but they naturally will eat bugs, worms and small animals if allowed to roam. Chickens should not be fed a vegetarian diet, even when it is organic. If you alter the natural diet of any animal or human, they will get sick.

Snack food is chemically engineered to be unsatisfying so that you keep eating it. Remember it is not about your health or even your enjoyment for the big food corporations. It is about how much junk they can get you to consume that increases their bottom line. Good reason to avoid processed foods. There should be another category for all the junk and fake foods, so that they do not get called “food” and fool people into thinking they are getting food.

Most of the processed foods are pure carbs, and will spike and then drop blood sugar, causing a person to feel hungry (and tired) a couple of hours later. So, in addition to avoiding wheat, grains and sugar, be sure that each meal has complete protein and good fat. Complete proteins have the amino acids that human bodies need to make tissue, bone, muscle and enzymes. Almost every cell in the body, and all the process that break down food and manufacture cells, require certain amino acids. Fish, chicken and meat, eggs and dairy products, nuts, and legumes all have complete proteins. Otherwise foods like beans and rice that have only some of the required amino acids, must be consumed in combinations so that all the amino acids are present. This is a matter of simple construction. All the materials have to be available to get the building in place.

There are strong hormone connections and I will write about those next time.

Halloween-How To Avoid Goblins and Sugar Blues

Did you know that Halloween comes only after Christmas in the amount of money spent on a Holiday? $6 billion dollars and counting. One quarter of all the candy purchased in the U.S. is bought at Halloween-not much of a surprise.
We actually have the Irish potato famine to thank for the evolution of Halloween in America. Halloween was an ancient celebration of the Harvest and Celtic New Year on 1 November. The evening before- All Hallow’s Eve (hallow means holy or sacred) was thought to be a night when spirits were free to roam the earth. Costumes were worn so that the spirits would not recognize the people they met. The Druids also used animal heads and masks in their ceremonies.

The church chose the same day as All Saint’s Day, and parades were held on All Soul’s Day, the evening before 1 November. Poor people went “a-souling” and “soul-cakes” were given as exchange for prayers for departed loved ones.

During the Irish potato famine one million people died and two million emigrated, most of them to the U.S. Halloween became known as “Beggar’s Night”. It was a night of vandalism but the hooligans could be placated with treats. Communities and newspapers campaigned in the 1920’2 to dampen the damage and make Halloween a holiday for families and children with the ghoulishness reduced.

If you or your little witches indulge in candy, be sure to eat protein and good fat before to slow the sugar rush into the blood. Minerals are very important when refined sugar is consumed. Calcium, magnesium, zinc and iodine will help protect the teeth and immune system, as sugar takes a toll on both. Let kids burn off the sugar with lots of exercise and then give them extra sleep. Cheap chocolate can cause upset to the gall bladder and that may be a reason for the tummy-aches. Digestive enzymes and supplements may help. Email me and I can direct you to my favorite ones.

I have always loved Halloween and the excuse to dress up. I try to look for healthier choices in treats, which is not easy and can get very expensive if you get a lot of  Trick and Treaters. One of my patients told me their neighborhood gets 2000 kids! So, eat extra healthy around the treats to help make up the damage. And may all the ghosts you meet be friendly ones!

The Practice Has Moved!

I am pleased to announce that I have taken new office space in an office building that looks like a Castle at 178 S. Victory Blvd, Suite 205, Burbank, CA 91502. With 3 treatment rooms, I will be able to expand my services to include more pain treatment, as well as the Clinical Nutrition and Natural Medicine.
I am really committed to prevention and helping people get and stay healthy in the sense that they can have a full and active life, and avoid disease as much as possible. Life is really an Olympic event, when you think of all the demand we have, mentally, physically and spiritually. But how many of us are eating like athletes preparing for World Class competition. Instead, most people are using the chemicals in food to medicate themselves, knowingly or unknowingly. This gives momentary stress relief, but affects over-all performance, and leads to diminished vitality.

There is really only one way to avoid disease states. All the use of sanitary wipes on shopping carts and covering our mouths when we sneeze and flu shots will never stop pathogens. Our innate immune systems are the determiners of whether we stand or fall when illness sweeps in.

Processed, devitalized or chemical foods create devitalized bodies that are susceptible to pathogens, but also cave when mental and emotional stress hit.  The commercial food supply we have in the U.S. is severely compromised, and deficient. So, think like an athlete, and what it takes to win the game. How you eat might make all the difference. I hear it from patients all the time, when they do a cleanse or drop sugar and grains from their diet. More energy, better sleep, less bloat and indigestion.

It is getting yourself mentally prepared to make the changes that is the real challenge. All sport is really lead by how we think, followed by how we act. Including the sport of life.