Healing Outside The Box: Recent Episodes
Jeanne Tiberio
Let's all support each other to eat healthier and be well. In this podcast, we'll discuss both mainstream and unconventional ways to live a healthy lifestyle. Suggestions are welcome!
Many athletes involved in all types of sports add protein powders to their daily regimen, assuming that it will help stimulate muscle mass as they train. But does it? You would assume many research studies are looking into this, and you would be correct.
I discuss an elaborate study that shows that provided the protein intake is adequate, exercise will help strengthen muscle somewhat, as well as improve the weight of bone mass. Additional protein does not work any better than adequate protein. Here is the link to the study.
I found an interesting article That refers to many studies on building muscle mass later in life. The article can be found here. The national Institute of Health (NIH) recently put out a literature review of many randomized control studies on the subject of muscle mass with exercise in older individuals. That link can be found here. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach out to me on my website contact page, at healing outside the box.com.
That idea for this episode was sparked by an article in the Guardian about a woman who changed her yard into a suburban micro-farm. That article hit so many positive notes that I thought it was worthy of an entire episode.
But first, I did a quick review of the new documentary "Food Inc. 2". This is a sequel to the popular but controversial documentary "Food Inc", produced in 2008. Although they made excellent points in this sequel and it's an important topic for the front burner, I would have to put this one in the category of "more of the same". I recommend that you may be better off watching the first of this pair of documentaries, which is available on YouTube TV, Netflix, and other places.
This educational piece on micro-farming used a specific example of one woman's brave step into what will hopefully be the future of local farming. In 2014, the Obama Administration started the micro-farm program which joined forces with local farmers and wanna-be farmers to provide financial incentives for homeowners to grow their own food. At a time when folks are concerned about the rising price of supermarket food, this program provides an opportunity to have free food or nearly-free food grown in your neighborhood.
This program utilizes water recycling and overall water conservation, community access to organic soil, space-preserving technology, natural pest control, farm subsidies, and a path to cash for sharing your harvest. All this program needs now is a nudge from our leaders.
I often get questions from people who have seen advertisements for weight loss supplements and they wonder if they work. One of those supplement companies has a product that they call "GOLO". Their pitch is that it is a combination of supplement pills and a low-calorie diet, but it is primarily pills that contain a few minerals and some crushed herbs. I took a deep dive into the literature on the herbs they have included and I discuss the results in this episode.
Before I got to GOLO, I mentioned a wonderful organization called World Central Kitchen. They recently lost seven of their disaster relief workers in Gaza; tragically they made headlines for the worst possible reason. These people head towards the disaster while the rest of us are fleeing. They need our help more than ever now.
I first read an article in a lay magazine about the basics of the diet advice and herbal remedies they include. The link to the article can be found here.
I read an NIH article about the gardenia extract and I was surprised that there was some promise with this one. Here is the link to the NIH article.
This is an NIH article on the Banaba extract.
Another NIH article shows promising results from the salacious extract for both weight loss and blood sugar control.
I stumbled upon an article about meditation that led me down a rabbit hole of other articles looking into why or how meditation helps us feel better. Turns out, there are hundreds of recent articles discovering exactly what meditation is doing in our bodies. So where would I begin?
It was overwhelming to be sure. But I started with articles from the National Institute Of Health, or NIH, which publishes a meta-analysis on a certain topic.
The first was a very long NIH group of studies which reported that there is a special protein called brain derived neurotrophic factor, which is necessary for healthy brain function. Low levels of this protein can be found in patients with Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease. But what can we do to improve the levels of this protein? Exercise helps. A high antioxidant, plant-based diet helps. But what about meditation? The results discussed here seem promising.
Next, I reveal an NIH meta-analysis article that gets into the area of epigenetics. This can get complicated and sciency, but they are basically saying that meditation might help us with adaptability to our environment. They may be in the initial exploratory phase of understanding what is going on, but I find it fascinating. The article can be found here.
There is a more comprehensive article by the national Center for complementary and integrative health that is excellent. It gives us all a feel for the larger picture. I could see a time where regular meditation becomes a part of our healthcare plan. At the very least, it could help us through this post-pandemic, scary – political time in American culture.
As always, feel free to contact me on my contact page, at healing outside the box, if you have any questions or suggestions of future episodes.
Today's episode is a relatively short one, so I thought I would start by giving you a 5 minute sample of my new memoir, called Helpers Anonymous (now on audible and itunes. If you are interested in listening to the audio version of the memoir, you could send me your first name and email address and I will email you one of the free audible codes for the book. If you want another version and just prefer to get it yourself, the paperback, ebook, and audio versions can be found on Amazon, right here.
The question today is not about whether proteins are essential for life and if we need to get them from food. It is and we do. Today we are talking about the source of the protein, plant versus animal. And more specifically, does one type of protein influence blood sugar control or insulin resistance?
As it turns out, an abundance of branched-chain amino acids from animal protein, may be associated with insulin resistance or even type II diabetes. The National Institute for Health (NIH) has put out several journal articles, like this one, reporting that people with type II diabetes have higher levels of branched-chain amino acids than control subjects. Another more detailed NIH article goes into the connection in more detail. The title is "the emerging role of Branched-chain Amino acids in insulin resistance and Metabolism."
But the entire role of branched-chain amino acids is still unclear. One NIH article suggested that when branched-chain amino acids were taken as supplements by the military to guard against traumatic brain injury, they may have been effective. However, they do not increase the growth of brain cells.
The reason that there is no clear-cut proof that animal protein causes an increased risk of insulin resistance, may be that it's just complicated. One possible explanation that is being investigated is that it may be more to do with altered gene expressions, caused by mutations. Whatever it is, the problem is related to protein that comes from animals, not plants.
Back in the old days, maybe 50 years ago, scientists believed that it was all about the math. We decided that a deficit of 3500 calories would equal 1 pound of weight loss and the weight loss was from the burning of fat stores for that energy. If that’s the case, a daily deficit of 500 calories per day would be equal to 1 pound of fat loss per week. But that is not the case at all. The reason for the leveling off of weight loss is explained today.
But first, a bittersweet announcement. I will be ending my ongoing podcast episodes at episode 300, but the old content will remain available on my website, Healing Outside the box. The work to put out a podcast episode was just too much for someone like myself, as I am getting physically weaker. I will still continue to write and keep my website running, and look into nutrition in the news for my social media posts.
Speaking of which, the makers of balance of nature supplements have been ordered to stop production and sales of their products until they can come into compliance with FDA regulations. You can read more details in this article from the Center of Science for the Public Interest.
There is a short video by Dr. Michael Gregor that discusses the science behind the debunking of the “3500 calories for one pound myth” about weight loss. There is a blog post as well with similar information.
The national Institute of Health (NIH) has a few articles that provide the scientific background as to why the theories are changing. It is related to the power of our gut microbiota. More specifically, how the quality of the microorganisms can either help or hurt our weight loss efforts. The first is an explanation of how both probiotics and prebiotics can set up healthy gut microbiota to make weight loss happen more effectively. The second explains that a higher diversity of gut microbiota affects weight loss. They show that a lower diversity of microbes was related to obesity and insulin resistance.
It’s all about the microbes, baby.
If there was ever a topic that my unique combination of background experience leads me to have an opinion about, it would be Ozempic. Yet, even I am not sure about exactly where the internal debate in my head finally lands. And that leads me to believe that the “one size fits all” nutrition advice just won’t work here.
But before I get into Ozempic, I want to bring your attention to a short video on scientific studies examining skin creams for anti-aging. Because the topic is so subjective and mice won't sit still long enough to apply the skin cream, there are very few legitimate double-blind studies on whether or not these creams work. However, there was one study that demonstrated improvements in the skin after application of a niacin cream. The video can be found here.
I mentioned that even the 60 Minutes news show has differing opinions on the subject. The 60 minutes – Australia clip discussed an incident where a young woman died because she was so adamant about not wanting to stop the Ozempic, that she ignored nausea and vomiting and died in her sleep. The 60 minutes- US clip was basically an advertisement for the drug. The clinician implied that it would be perfectly safe for the patient to remain on the drug for an entire lifetime. That is simply not true.
Another video I discussed was 6 short interviews with 6 experts who had 6 different pieces of advice. That video can be found here.
I eventually get around to giving you my opinion, but I suppose I owe you a quick synopsis of my background on which I formulated this opinion. In school, my major was Nutritional biochemistry. My first real job was as a lab tech at the Nutritional Pathology labs at MIT. We tested substances to see if they would cause cancer in laboratory rats. Then I worked in the Biochemistry labs at Brandeis, testing whether substances could decrease or increase the risk of cancer. Then I got a second degree in food science where I focused on microbiology, or pathogenic organisms in food. Then I got a registered dietitian certification and worked with people who had obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. I also studied eating disorders.
So as you can see, all of my earlier experiences lead me to focus on preventative healthcare. I am glad to hear that so many people are losing weight on these drugs, but thoughts about being cautious are stewing in the back of my mind.
If you have any questions about Ozempic or weight loss that you wish to discuss with me, you can go to my services page on my website to book an appointment. You can also text me at my Google voice number, which is 978-712-9556.
Once again, I review different types of foods where sell-by dates are important and explain why that may be the case. As in part one, the take-away message is that it's good to know which foods might spoil and taste lousy versus which foods could cause food poisoning.
But first, I announce that there are still promo codes for free copies of my memoir in audiobook format. Simply leave your email address and first name on my contact page and I will email you a code to the audiobook.
You can also contact me on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter (X} and leave your email address there.
In part two, I go through most of the popular condiments and discuss food safety issues around common products like oil cold cuts, nuts, and canned goods. The two organizations that do the inspecting, grading, and labeling laws are the USDA and the FDA. The USDA website can be found here and the FDA website can be found here. As always, you can reach me through my website, healing outside the box, or message me on my contact page, if you have any questions or suggestions for future topics.
Breaking news! (I hope) My new memoir called "Helpers Anonymous" is now out in audiobook format, on audible and iTunes. I still have free codes to hand out! So if you would like to listen to my audiobook, I still have some available for free audiobooks. If you would like a complimentary audiobook, just message me with your first name and email address on my website contact page, at Healing Outside the Box. Here is the link on Amazon if you're interested in the paperback or Kindle version.
I also want to bring to your attention an article that came out recently. It suggests that we humans are not that much unlike wild animals in that we eat more in the fall to survive the winter. Although we are not likely to counteract evolutionary history anytime soon, awareness of the situation can certainly help to keep the extra pounds to a minimum. You can get a short version of the details in this video from Dr. Michael Gregor.
As always, if you have any questions, or would like to speak to a nutritionist about how to perhaps avoid squirreling away extra calories this fall/winter, you can reach me on my website services page, which is here.
When I learned that up to 70% of college athletes are now taking creatine supplements, I decided to look into studies that examined its effectiveness.
Before I got into creatine supplements, I went over a few points from the previous episodes on the benefits of berries and other antioxidants. There is a five minute video by Dr. Michael Greger on the power of berries to fight inflation as well as cancer cell growth. That video can be found here.
I then discussed some studies comparing two groups of people and the incidence and mortality of Covid-19. The groups were separated based on whether they ate a plant strong Mediterranean diet or a more traditional meat and potatoes American diet. This NIH study showed that the group eating more plants and no red meat had better outcomes, both in terms of incidence of severe symptoms and mortality. Interestingly, they ran the same study after the 1918 flu pandemic with a Seventh-day Adventist seminary and found similar results. Seventh-day Adventists, as a group, don't eat meat or chicken.
There was a recent article originally published in the British medical Journal and re-published by NIH, which basically said the same thing with almost 600 patients. People who regularly ate a diet high in legumes and whole grains had significantly lower odds of getting severe Covid 19.
I eventually got around to talking about the necessity and effectiveness of creatine for athletes. A good overall article on this subject can be found here.
I have an announcement about my new memoir...It is coming out in audiobook form soon! If you send me your email and join my new episode mailing list, I will be giving out free copies of the book for 7 days! Just leave your first name and email address at https://healingoutsidethebox.com
We all know that rates of cancer seem to be rising for many different types of cancer. Most notably colorectal, breast, prostate, and skin cancer. But why?
This is a complicated question with no simple answer. Colorectal cancer is definitely food-related, but smoking, weight, and epi-genetics play a role. Breast and prostate cancer can be influenced by hormones, but also by quality of food intake. Even skin cancer, which is tied to the amount of protective melanin in your skin and lower UV protection in the atmosphere, can result in improved healing and prognosis with an anti-cancer diet.
In part 2, I go through the evidence of specific nutrients and their potential role in preventing and treating cancer. I refer to a large review article in the journal Nature. The link can be found here.
There is a quote from the Harvard Gazette that I mentioned: “Diet directly affects microbiome composition and eventually these changes can influence disease risk and outcomes.”
The National Institute of Health also posts a large review article saying the same thing. It can be found here.
I did 2 episodes on the benefits of broccoli sprouts for symptoms of autism. They are episode 255 and episode 256.
If you wish to reach me for any reason, don't hesitate to contact me on my website contact page, healingoutsidethebox.com
There have been stories in the media recently about cancer rates increasing in younger people in this country. That is also true in England, but not so much in Asian countries (where folks eat less processed meat and more plant-based foods). Among the 14 cancer types on the rise, eight are related to the digestive system.
The recent news is based on a large study that makes the link between changes in our diet since 1990 and cancers of the digestive system. We certainly don't have any answers for sure, and I am not the go-to expert on this, but it certainly warrants a closer look.
Before I get into the studies, I want to remind everyone that the Healthy Incentives program is happening at farmers markets throughout the country. It's a federal program that is very successful here in Massachusetts. But if you need advice on how to find out if you're eligible for $40 of free produce every month, just contact me on my website contact page, at Healing Outside the Box, and I can let you know how to find out if you are eligible in your town.
I also mentioned that my memoir is now out in paperback. It's called "Helpers Anonymous" and it explores my relationships with my caregivers during the rise in the opioid epidemic. If you decide to get the book on Amazon and would like to contribute a review, I would greatly appreciate it!
Now, I mean this in only the nicest possible way. But sometimes I review a documentary so you don't have to watch the whole darn thing yourself. Unless you want to; which you may in this particular case.
I'm reviewing a documentary called "The need to grow", which tells us about two pioneers in the sustainability/save the planet field.
These two men are Eric Cutter and Mike Smith. Eric Cutter is a micro farmer who uses the latest technology to grow a whole bunch of organic produce on an urban plot. Mike Smith uses science to make electricity from algae and combine that with carbon technology to replenish the soil with microbes and nutrients. These two guys join forces to make the magic happen. If you would like to watch the documentary yourself, there are a few ways to get to it. One of them is through the food revolution.org people. It can be found here. If you want to look into some resources to find out what you could do in your community, check out the website from the documentary producers. The website is called The need to grow .org.
For this episode, I go where few podcasters are brave enough to go; that is, a discussion of healthy poop. And more specifically, how to improve the quality of your gut bacteria to have that desirable poop.
But first, I get on my soapbox once more to discuss Balance of Nature supplements. The consumer fraud reporting people discuss this company in more detail on their website, which can be found here. I've looked around to find other reviews of these products, but it is hard to find a review that doesn't send you back to Balance of Nature's own website. I had to go to Amazon and get a pick of the nutrition label. As you can see, there is literally nothing in this product.
In the body of this episode, I discuss a not unrelated topic: the restoration of natural gut bacteria with fecal transplants. There is a podcast that has been ongoing for some time called "the perfect stool". They have episodes on this topic. The first episode is from March 30, 2022, and it is on the treatment of C diff infection with fecal transplants. The second episode is from January 10, 2023, on the treatment of autism with fecal transplants.
I looked into a couple of reliable sources for my information on this topic. The first is a study from Mount Sinai hospital and the second is a study from Johns Hopkins.
I have a couple of episodes on the general topic of building a healthy gut microbiota. They are episode 223 and episode 229 which can be found on my website page, Healing Outside the Box.
Have you been wondering if the rise in auto-immune diseases is a real thing?
Well, it is. The question creating much discussion among scientists is the cause for this rise in many conditions triggered by an overactive inflammatory response. The blame has been focused on the Western diet, and specifically within the US and England. The cases of multiple sclerosis, lupus, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's, ulcerative colitis, and psoriasis have increased substantially in the last 50 years. But what, specifically in the western diet is creating this over-active inflammatory response?
Scientists aren't sure. But there are some interesting discussions out there about the role that additives in our food supply might be playing.
Before I get into that, I discuss what herbs you may on my not want to grow at home, if you trying to save money and put together some recipes. The one gadget I think might be worth the money is a root starter kit that you can find on Amazon. The one I purchased can be found here.
There is an NIH article that describes how chronic inflammation is associated with many disorders that may surprise you, such as heart disease and depression.
And this Guardian article is a good over-all reference that ties auto-immune diseases to processed foods pretty convincingly.
If you need to reach me, don't hesitate to text my Google number at 978-712-9556. You can also send me an email at my Healing outside the box website.
Before I tell you about the wonderful benefits of oatmeal, I go on a rant about Balance of Nature vitamins. The first and perhaps only thing you need to know... Is that there are no nutrients listed on the label because there are no nutrients in that bottle. For $100 per month, you get only practice swallowing big pills.
Historically, oatmeal was a treatment for adult onset diabetes. More recently, researchers decided to study the actual change in the blood sugar numbers. They were pleased to find out that the results were even more promising than they anticipated. A short video describing these findings can be found here.
A meta-analysis (grouping of many studies on the same subject) of the metabolic effects of oatmeal in diabetic patients was published in the Journal, Nutrients.
The Canadian Journal of diabetes published another study showing dramatically improved blood sugar control on a plant-based diet with plenty of oatmeal. The results can be found here.
There are now two ways to reach me if you want health and wellness coaching. You can email me on my website contact page, Which Is Healing Outside The Box. Or you can send a text to my Google voice, which is 978-712-9556.
Two independent researchers have recently discovered that inflammation (which is occurring in a tumor in our bodies) is contributing to the tumor's growth. Does this mean that anti-inflammatory compounds can contribute to slowing or even stopping the growth of tumors?
Well, that is exactly where the research is heading, and it looks promising. Today I look into the details of these two independent studies.
The first comes from researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai hospital. The details that explain how cancer cells replicate uncontrollably and are enhanced by inflammation, can be found here.
The second article I discuss comes from Science Daily and can be found here. The research comes from the Brigham and women's Hospital cancer research labs, here in Boston. This study links the growth of colon cancer cells to a certain type of gram-negative bacteria that can grow in our gut. This bacteria is linked to our so-called Western diet, in particular to higher amounts of saturated fat from meats, especially processed meats. These bad bacteria can produce endotoxins, which is the theory behind why they enhance the growth of colon cancer.
There was also a short nutrition facts video that talks about endotoxins as it relates to our food, and in particular, high and low-fiber foods. that video can be found here.
I now have a Google number for texting me with questions, requests for recipes, and suggestions for future episodes. It's 978-712-9556. I'm usually online between 7 PM and 8 PM ET most evenings if you want to catch me live. If you're interested in a free PDF of my upcoming memoir, you can text me there and leave your first name and email in the text message. Comments and reviews are welcome!
You can also reach me at my website contact page, at healingoutsidethebox.com.
Most of us have taken notice of the rise in prices at the grocery store. Is there a way to continue to eat our favorite foods without anxiety about feeling broke? Yes, in fact, there is. But it takes some planning and a few adjustments.
Before I get into the “meat” of the episode, I discuss a study published on the fat-suppressing effect of spinach. The study was explained here.
I mentioned that you could use the cuttings from a stem of basil or the root of a scallion to grow plants in window pots. The link to a cute glass container to root the cuttings can be found here.
As always, feel free to email me on my contact page at Healing Outside the Box. I can answer questions you may have, suggest recipes, or provide nutrition counseling according to your specific needs.
Many of us are familiar with bribes to get us to eat our vegetables when we were kids. It was either "you can have a yummy dessert if you eat your vegetables"... Or "you cannot have a yummy dessert if you don't eat your vegetables". Is either option a good idea if the goal is to improve our intake of vegetables as adults? Probably not.
That I look into positive and negative incentives to eat healthier and I cite some research studies that suggest both types of incentives can help if designed correctly.
I mentioned this In part one but it's worth repeating: if you are seriously considering weight loss surgery, please speak with a trusted healthcare professional. It is a huge decision and cannot be undone once it is done. Having said that, I go over some of the changes your body will experience and things that you need to look out for.
I then get to talking about the sustainability of weight loss with bariatric surgery. Dr Michael Greger has a short video on this with references. It can be found here.
As we all know, the science behind successful and sustainable weight loss involves our brain and can paint a complicated picture. Self sabotage and the boomerang effect are factors to consider.
If you have any questions for me about the nutritional impact of bariatric surgery, feel free to email me on my contact page, At Healing outside the box.
I'm bringing you part one of a two-part series on the risks and benefits of weight loss surgery. If I sound like a glass-half-empty person on this issue, you would be correct. I cannot emphasize enough that there are consequences to the surgery that need to be considered before making such an important decision.
Dr Michael Gregor has a short video discussing some of the consequences. It can be found here.
If you have any questions and would like me to address them, feel free to email me on my contact page, which is on my Healing outside the box website.
I was recently given this article from the New Yorker magazine on the newest "best" restaurant in the US. The restaurant presents authentic Native American cuisine and the chef is a native American himself. His name is Sean Sherman and he single-handedly brought the topic of native American cuisine front and center. After looking into it myself, I was surprised at how little I knew about what our "Wanna-be ancestors" actually ate.
I also discuss an article from the Guardian about the failure of imitation meat products to take hold in fast-food restaurants. It seems that both the Burger King Impossible burger and the McDonald's McPlant burger, both sizzled and then fizzled. In my opinion, marketing to a meat-loving population by trying to imitate the original beef patty, while keeping the calories and saturated fat really high, was a huge mistake. Perhaps they should have marketed to vegetarians, with a Patty containing mushrooms, black beans, or even fish.
Check with dietitians next time!
As always, if you have any questions or suggestions for future episode topics, you can always email me on my contact page, at Healing outside the box.
In part 2 of my discussion on the damage that fat shaming can do, I brainstorm things we could do in the preventative arena, both through government intervention and individual efforts.
The first article discusses the labeling of obesity as a disease and what political actions resulted from that decision. The article can be found here.
There was a heartwarming article from the Guardian about an organization called "Plantng Justice". You can find that article here.
If you want to follow me on instagram, search either my username (jeannetiberio) or real name (Jeanne Tiberio). I'll be posting short videos of mushroom recipes soon!
It may be time to get a little uncomfortable with what should be common sense but is seldom discussed. And it's this: Fat shaming is condoned in the medical community and it makes matters worse, not better. Let's put it another way: If someone is shamed or ridiculed for being overweight, they tend to gain weight rather than lose weight.
There have been a bunch of articles written on the subject recently. The American Medical Association looked at weight bias and its harmful effects in their journal of ethics. The link can be found here.
Dr. Michael Gregor has a six-minute video where he discusses the harmful effects of weight bias. You can find that video here.
This Cleveland Clinic article defines why leptin is an important hormone in weight regulation.
There is also an NIH article that discusses this topic in depth.
As always, feel free to contact me on my website contact page, Which Is Healing Outside the Box.
We women of a certain age tend to take thinning hair very seriously. But here's what I have been wondering. Is it really worse here in the 21st century, or are we more self-aware of our looks since we've been bombarded with images of beautiful hair on TV and video?
I have looked into this and it turns out this may indeed be the case. Our hair may be thinning out at an earlier age now. But if it is worse, what can we do about it? I discuss what's out in the literature on this topic.
Dr. Michael Greger has a short six-minute video discussing best dietary practices to preserve your hair. He looks into the literature for what works and what doesn't work to keep your hair healthy and on your head. That can be found here.
If you want information on want to ask questions about what I have found, feel free to contact me on my contact page on my website. It Is Healing Outside the Box.
In this cranked-up super-speed society we live in, we're usually on to something else if the topic doesn’t grab our attention in the first 6 seconds. And that would certainly be the case if the topic is anhydrous ammonia fertilizer. But today I’m asking you to care, for many reasons that I discuss in this episode.
Before I get to the fertilizer, I mention the group of foods that give you the most nutritional quality for your food dollar.
And that group would be beans, chickpeas, split peas, and lentils. And you can do mainstream lunches and suppers with these inexpensive foods. If you want a copy of my favorite bean recipes (including a killer hummus), just send a note on my contact page and I will email you my favorite recipes.
One of the reasons that beans and lentils are highly nutritious is that they have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory substances that have been shown to help prevent cardiovascular events (strokes, heart attacks). They also slow down the entry of glucose into our bloodstream. Dr. Michael Gregor has both a video and a blog article that gets into the studies that show this.
In the episode, I mention a description of farmworkers getting 3rd-degree burns when their skin is exposed to liquid OR gaseous ammonia in these concentrations. The article that I quote from can be found here.
Although the data on this is alarmingly minimal, liquefied anhydrous ammonia does appear to kill earthworms on or near the surface where this toxic substance is sprayed. Killing earthworms is bound to have a trickle-down effect on the nutritional quality and flavor of food. The USDA article that tells us all about earthworms can be found here.
If you have any questions or comments on this or other episodes, feel free to contact me on my contact page, which is on my website: Healing outside the Box.
Happy Earth Day, people! I thought I'd celebrate this beautiful planet of ours by talking about garbage.
but first, I tell you a little story about a town called Hamilton Massachusetts. It is where the richest 1% hang their hats... and their town sport is polo. (Of course, it is.) Last year they quietly initiated a mandatory curbside composting program. You can read the story in our local newspaper here.
I was jealous that
Hamilton was getting free composting bins when they could certainly afford to buy their own, so I went to the composting website in my town, Salem, and they listed options if you were inclined to do your own composting with your own money. If you would like to see what they are offering, the link is here.
if you want to invest more money for less labor, there are a bunch of compost tumblers to choose from. This particular one appears to be a decent option that will limit the manual stirring of the contents and keep out the rodents.
EPA has an excellent website with instructions on how to home compost using worms. The EPA walks you through the process on this website.
As always, if you have any questions or would like to hire a nutritionist to help you with your wellness goals, feel free to contact me on my website contact page, at Healing Outside the Box.
Have you ever wondered what causes you to feel hungry, even though you perhaps shouldn't be?
In this episode, I discuss the biology behind what makes us feel hungry or full. The initial NIH article that I refer to frequently (a meta-analysis of 10 studies on ghrelin) can be found here
in this article from endocrine web.com, the author explains how issues with the hypothalamus, insulin secretion, or weight can create imbalances of both Ghrelin (the hunger hormone) and leptin (the fullness hormone).
I also explain how marijuana gives people "the munchies". It is the THC that triggers the release of ghrelin, whether we are hungry or not. CBD by itself does not have the same effect on ghrelin levels. But if the CBD gummies relieve nausea, the person may feel more like eating. The reference from the Washington Post article can be found here.
If you have any questions or would like to speak to a nutrition professional about your appetite and stress issues, feel free to contact me on my contact page, here at Healing outside the box.
Many of us are feeling some anxiety about what to believe or disbelieve regarding how to avoid getting sick from Covid. Maybe the old saying "if it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck" may be right after all. Does it matter if there is a 5% chance that it is a goose?
I've plowed through a bunch of research articles and I have laid them out in this podcast episode... In no particular order.
- this first video is a YouTube talking head video between two physicians. They both agree that offering a vitamin D supplement to Covid patients because the evidence is strong that people need adequate vitamin D to fight the disease.
- These next two references from pub med look at what the past data on thousands of Covid patients are telling us, in an abstract only. Reference(1) reference (2)
- this British Medical Journal article takes another stance, stating there is not enough evidence proving a strong relationship between vitamin D deficiency and severe illness/death from Covid.
- Here is a retrospective case-control study from the Middle East, showing that everyone in the world is getting on board with this research. It explains the connection between blood pressure regulation and the binding of the Covid virus to our cells.
- This article explains that it is currently testing a drug to basically do what vitamin D is doing... Competing with the virus for the binding site to our cells.
I decided to do an episode on the light and airy (dare I say fluffy) topic of popping corn for the holidays. But first, I discussed something on a more serious note. I ran across some information on vitamin D as it relates to Covid 19. The first article that I read through came from the journal Science and it can be found here.
The second article is a PubMed article published by NIH. That article can be found here. Both of these articles suggest that people with Covid 19 who were on ventilators or died were deficient in Vitamin D. I plan to look into this further for my next episode.
As for the popcorn links, here is an article on the different varieties of popcorn, if you're interested. And Eden Brothers puts out varieties for sale.
As most of us who sit through TV commercials are aware, any medications we are prescribed come with both benefits and possible risks. And the risk of side effects will go up when the dose goes up.
But how are these clinical drug trials put together and who decides whether or not the risk is acceptable? Today I tell you a story of the Lopid clinical study that I was involved in as a Registered Dietitian.
But first, I refer you to a layperson's article on possible side effects of Lopid, also called gemfibrozil. You can find the article here.
This Journal of the American Medical Association article discussed the benefit/risk ratio in more detail.
This FDA report gives a detailed analysis of possible side effects of taking Lopid or Clofibrate and concludes that the benefits do not outweigh the risks. The risks include gallbladder disease, gallstones, pancreatitis, and even cancer.
In this later report of a rat study with higher doses, there was a significantly higher incidence of liver tumors in these treated rats.
As always, if you have any questions or would like to suggest topics for future episodes, feel free to contact me on my website contact page, Healing Outside the Box.
Today I am flapping my gums about the use of statins over the past 50 years. First, I give you a little background about what your cholesterol numbers mean, how they may affect your risk factors for heart disease and stroke, and how these statins actually work. Then I delve into the sensitive territory about whether or not dietary changes can do everything that these medications do.
I discuss an article from NIH that gets into detail about the benefits and risks of the different statins. If you want to read further, you can access that here.
One of the possible side effects of statins is irritability or anxiety. People who suffer from these conditions (which can be almost anyone over the past two years) can read more about this side effect in this article.
I want to hear from you! Feel free to email me a question or comment about your own nutrition-related health condition on my website contact page, Healing outside the box.
Have you ever looked at a recipe and thought to yourself: I would like to make this, but I don't like brussels sprouts, or I can't eat wheat flour? This week I go over how we can go about substituting an ingredient, or cooking technique, or a lower fat substitution, without ruining the recipe.
But first, I bring to your attention a couple of great videos on youtube. The first is a Ted talk by Ron Finley, the guy they call the guerrilla gardener. It is a great video if you looking for some general inspiration. The second Ted talk is by Jamie Oliver who encourages us not to give up on childhood obesity and the suffering that it causes to our nation's children.
I also update you on the trial of Dwayne Johnson. Mr. Johnson is suing Monsanto because he was told to spray roundup on schoolyards to kill dandelions and now has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Read the article on the trial here.
As always, if you have any questions about replacing ingredients with healthier alternatives, feel free to email me on my contact page or comment in the comments section.
I am always looking for new ideas for future episodes. If you want to make suggestions, feel free to email me on my contact page. I look forward to hearing from you!
I recently came across an article in the New York Times magazine that talked about the sciencey details about why we burn extra calories. So I thought I would talk about examples that would clear up any confusion about the science.
That article from the New York Times can be found here.
There is a broader article in the journal Science that the NYT article was based on. You can read more detailed articles noted at the end if you subscribe to the journal Science.
If you are interested in nutrition counseling or general Health and Wellness coaching, feel free to visit my Healing Outside the Box website and check out the different packages available.
It is a common belief that the obstacle keeping us from achieving our wellness goals is either a lack of time or money. But when it comes to cooking healthy meals from scratch at home, we may want to consider confidence and priority setting as possible obstacles as well. The reality is that we can actually save money and possibly time by planning ahead. Then it is only a matter of making it a priority to cook healthy at home and, like everything else, gaining confidence by practicing and getting better. In this episode, I show you how.
I recently came across this article from the Journal of the American Medical Association. It basically says that if you supplement money given to food stamp (SNAP) recipients with programs like healthy cooking classes, the nutritional quality and time spent making home-cooked meals increased significantly. All the numbers improved, folks. Weight decreased, blood sugar decreased, blood pressure decreased, and even moods improved.
Sounds like a magic pill to me. The link to the JAMA article can be found here.
During this episode, I discuss cooking an aromatic dish called coconut chicken curry. The recipe is below:
Coconut Chicken Curry
For a vegetarian version of this dish, swap a 15 oz. can drained, low sodium chickpeas for the chicken. You can alternatively substitute with cashews or peanuts. You can also add ½ teaspoon of garam marsala or cumin if you desire even more aromatics.
Ingredients:
½ - ¾ lb. split chicken breast, (2)
1 tsp. salt
1 onion, chopped or diced
2 Tbs. canola oil
2 cloves fresh garlic
1 cup water or organic broth
1 Tbs. curry powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
6-8 small red potatoes, cut in half
2 fresh tomatoes, chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
½ fresh green pepper, sliced into strips
5-6 fresh basil leaves
1 large or 2 small bay leaves
1 cup coconut milk
Directions:
• Sauté the onion in the oil for 3-5 minutes. You can brown the chicken at this step and then move to a plate. Add garlic and sauté only another 60 seconds. Add a cup of filtered water or organic broth. If your broth is not low sodium, you may want to omit or reduce the salt.
• Stir in the curry powder/turmeric and cook for 1 minute.
• Add the tomatoes, carrots, potatoes. Cover and simmer until carrots, pepper, potatoes are tender, to your liking, about 8-10 minutes.
• Stir in coconut milk. Add the chicken to the skillet and gently simmer until the meat is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
If you would like me to record your own personal video on how to make a healthy version of your favorite meal, just click the link here. I offer cooking instructional videos as an à la carte package or as part of the gold package with eight wellness coaching sessions.
As always, if you have any questions or suggestions for future episodes, feel free to email me on my contact page, at Healing Outside the Box.
It's common knowledge that fiber is good for us, but what does it do, and how does it improve our cholesterol levels? Today I will journey through our gastrointestinal tract to answer these questions.
The American Heart Association, along with the NIH, published its annual report on the stats for heart attacks and strokes as relates to diet, exercise, and other lifestyle factors. Their lengthy report can be found here.
This Cleveland Clinic article gets into specifics about soluble versus insoluble fiber in the importance of both types of fiber.
Fiber feeds our gut microorganisms, and this has been a frequent topic of mine. You may want to listen to episode 223 and episode 229 if you'd like to take control of your gut microorganisms.
Feel free to contact me on my website contact page, which is Healing outside the box.
When you see a study that claims that smoking can cause cancer, have you ever wondered how they could get laboratory rats to puff on those cigarettes? When you hear that eating a lot of carrots will turn your skin orange, have you ever wondered what sucker figured that out the hard way? Well, wonder no more because today we are talking about diet and nutrition studies. Or more specifically, what works and what doesn't.
But first, last week I discussed eating tips to slow down climate change and I wanted to add a reference. There is a webcast called "menus of change" and it can be found here. There's also a great documentary called "the need to grow" that tackles this subject beautifully.
As for today's topic, there is a summing-up article that does a good job describing the different factors involved in determining a valid research claim. That article can be found here.
As always, if you have any questions about the episode or would like to hire yourself a nutritionist or wellness coach, feel free to get in touch with me on my website contact page, which can be found here.
An article in The Guardian got me thinking about how we might translate idealistic goals about what to eat to reduce climate change into breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So in this episode, I get into different ways we can do our part to cut down on greenhouse gases and reduce water usage. Could this be as simple as eating more from column A and less from column B?
The British have started an organization called The National Food Strategy and they will be updating us soon with advice and tips.
There is also a podcast episode that I found interesting on this topic. It can be found here.
There are a couple of articles I mentioned on regenerative aquaculture. The first is an NIH article that gives an overview of regenerative agriculture. The second is a newsletter that describes how regenerative agriculture works.
An overall review article on sustainable diets can be found here.
As always, if you have any questions about this episode or would like to hire a nutritionist/health coach to help you sort all of this out, please email me on my website contact page, which is at Healing Outside the Box.
Do endurance athletes really need a lot of extra protein, or do they just need a lot of extra calories? This week we take a look at several high-protein powders on the market to build muscle and improve performance.
As always, if you have any questions or would like to hire a nutritionist, please contact me on my website contact page, which is Healing outside the box.com.
Since many of us are using these protein/calorie supplement drinks for a quick meal or a complement to weight training, I decided to take a second look at them.
If you have any questions or would like to work with a nutritionist/wellness coach to reach your wellness goals, feel free to email me on my website contact page.
Yes, cross-addiction with food is possible. But thanks to some exciting new research, there may be something we can do about it.
If you feel that you need some assistance or just support on your journey, you can hire me as your health and wellness coach! Just email me here, on my Healing Outside The Box website, and I will get back to you. If you are the least bit hesitant about what this wellness coach business is all about, I can offer you a free 30-minute session so you can dip your toes in the water and see how it feels!
Not only is cross-addiction with food possible, but it can go both ways. That is the bad news. But the good news is that there is something we can do about it.
One of the 2 experts I mentioned was Dr Neil Barnard. The interview I quoted can be found here.
Dr. Pamela Peake also has many videos on this topic. I referred to this video in my episode, but she has other videos and a book on this topic called "The hunger fix".
I did a slideshow of historic Salem with my pictures that I referred to in this episode. You can find that here.
Welcome to part 2 of my series on the possibility of treating autistic symptoms with broccoli sprouts. This week we put theory into practice with some tips about how to prepare broccoli and broccoli sprouts in a form on the kitchen table that children with autism might eat. After all, even Pres. George H.W. Bush didn't like to eat his broccoli. But when it comes to sprouts, we can chop them finely or blend them, and in that way, hide them in the food.
But before we get to hiding it in our food, it bears repeating that sulforaphane found in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables is a potent anti-oxidant that appears to fight oxidative damage to our cells. There is strong evidence for sulforaphane battling rapidly growing cancer cells, preventing the aging of cells, and possibly fighting off whatever it is that is responsible for the symptoms of autism.
There is a great article that gets into details about sulforaphane from broccoli sprouts in terms of its overall benefits. That article can be found here.
This topic is near and dear to my heart because I happened to be one of those weird kids who no one seemed to have an explanation for. I didn't speak until I was about six years old. I wouldn't answer to my name, I ate only a tuna sandwich for lunch every day for two years, and I would often rock in a rocking chair for 3 or 4 straight hours. Now that I am more or less considered "normal", I've become obsessed about why I was the way I was. Is it possible that I am not alone? Probably. By helping kids with autism get better, we can all learn so much from them about how we can treat everyone on the autistic spectrum.
I plan on coming up with my own recipes to hide these broccoli sprouts. So if you want me to email the recipes to you, just send me a note on my website contact page, at Healing Outside the box.
If anyone ever told you to eat your broccoli, the proof of its benefits has finally arrived. Today we are discussing the multiple reasons why antioxidants, like those found in broccoli, would be a good idea. The National Institute of Health (NIH) has put out a few remarkable journal articles looking into the evidence that one particular substance called sulforaphane (from broccoli sprouts) can counteract the harmful effects of cellular damage. The article that sparked a lot of interest in sulforaphane particularly was put out by NIH and it can be found here.
Another NIH article defines oxidative stress and lists the risk factors that cause this stress. Not surprisingly, it has a lot to do with the American diet and typical cell-damaging risk factors like smoking, x-rays, and excessive alcohol. That article can be found here.
This NIH article connects the dots between large amounts of oxidative stress and the development of many chronic diseases, such as heart attacks, strokes, cancer, diabetes, and now autism.
But help is on the way because scientists have now shown evidence that both cancer and autism have improved with daily broccoli sprouts. Broccoli sprouts just happened to have a large amount of a powerful antioxidant called sulforaphane.
Could that be possible? It certainly could and right now it seems to be the case. I will finish my two-part series on this topic next week with some tips and recipes to add more of this miracle substance into our dietary plan.
If you have any questions or would like to suggest topics for future episodes, feel free to contact me on my website contact page: Healing Outside the Box.
In part 3 of this 3-part series, I humbly attempt to put this GMO controversy into some perspective with two stories about the unintended consequences of manipulating genes in a plant seed.
The first story, from Roundup to dicamba, describes the ability of weeds to become resistant to one weedkiller (roundup) and then the following weedkiller (dicamba). The resulting superweeds are more difficult to kill even with higher and higher doses of these herbicides. The answer was to bring back the active ingredient in Agent Orange, a deadly herbicide used to clear the jungles of Vietnam during the war. The NIH article I discussed can be found here.
The second story involves what old-timers call the BT corn controversy. BT stands for a bacteria in the Bacillus family that naturally carries an insect-killing gene that produces a deadly protein (for beetles, anyway). But what about honeybees and Monarch butterflies? There is a publication that talks about the indirect consequences of trying to kill one animal without harming another animal. Hint: it didn't work. And then they created resistant "superbugs". That publication can be found here.
As always, If you have any questions about this or other nutrition-related information, feel free to contact me on my website contact page: Healing Outside the Box. I love hearing from you!
I offer one-on-one nutrition counseling online for anyone who is looking for some self-care and would like some support to eat healthier and reduce stress. You can reach me on my Wellness coaching page at Healing outside the box.
In part 2 of this 3-part series, I discuss more information about where we are with this genetic modification business, focusing on fish and animals today. But first I announce that GMO labeling is becoming "a thing" and the mandatory law goes into effect in January 2022. The link to the actual law can be found here.
This article in Nature discussed the genetic modification of Glofish Tetras and ZebraFish.
As always, if you have any questions about this episode or would like to offer suggestions for future episodes, feel free to email me on my contact page, which is parked at "Healing outside the box".
I bet you're confused when you hear things like "GMO food is the science of the future." And then you turn around and hear "GMO food causes cancer." Can both people be right?
The oversimplified answer is that GMO food is neither good nor bad. It depends on why the food is being genetically modified. And who is doing the modifying. I am going to attempt to do some splainin' today.
There is an article put out by "nature" that defines some terms and explains why we might want to genetically modify plants and animals. That article can be found here.
Could problems arise when corporations confuse product improvement with profit improvement?
You bet. This article describes how canola oil (normally a healthy oil that is higher in polyunsaturated fatty acids) has now been modified to contain much more saturated fatty acids. It now resembles palm oil (an unhealthy oil), which was done to increase the stable shelf life of snack foods. Until now, there was no way of knowing what these food manufacturers had done. But help is on the way in the form of mandatory labeling for GMO foods.
This Journal of nutrition article looks into the beneficial results of having the ability to add iron or vitamin A to a low nutrient, but inexpensive, staple like rice.
As always, if you have any questions about this topic, or would be interested in hiring a nutritionist to improve your healthy eating habits, feel free to contact me on my website contact page.
Have you or someone you know been told that they have irritable bowel syndrome? You may have been too embarrassed to ask your healthcare provider what it's all about. Although I always recommend that you seek medical attention if you have any G.I. symptoms, it may help to break it all down and define a few terms.
Inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome are actually 2 separate conditions. Inflammatory bowel disease normally covers 2 common diseases where the symptoms are pretty similar. They are Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. A pretty descriptive article about these 2 diseases can be found here.
Irritable bowel syndrome is the diagnosis that doctors usually land on when other diseases (Crohn's, ulcerative colitis, celiac disease) have been ruled out. It is generally speaking, not as severe as those diseases, but people suffering from IBS can be pretty measurable. The dietary treatments usually center around trying to relieve the symptoms. This is usually done with a diet low in fermentable carbohydrates. More information can be found here. Once the symptoms subside, a high fiber diet with as many organics as possible is the usual dietary recommendation.
Whether you have inflammatory bowel disease or irritable bowel syndrome, alcohol can make matters worse. Here is an interesting NIH article that gets into the details about what alcohol can do to the lining of your gut.
If you have any questions about this episode or would like to make suggestions for future episodes, I would love to hear from you! You can email me on my website contact page, which is Healing Outside the Box.
Every now and again I take a break from my usual episode content and launch into storytelling. Today I have a couple of stories for you. The first is called "The grand betrayal" and it's about an incident that happened with 2 of my personal care attendants and myself. We all collided and made a hot mess out of things.
The second is called "my glass-half-empty just turned upside down." This is a slightly more upbeat story about being hopeful about an effective treatment for my disease, only to have my hopes dashed, and then coming around to seeing things with a bigger lens.
One of the (perhaps not so obvious) consequences of organic gardening is keeping the four-legged critters from eating what we grow. But much more serious is the consequence that climate change has on growing large scale food for our planet. We know about the floods and droughts, but what about the nutritional quality of our edibles? Today I look at this scary problem that is happening right under our noses.
There was a mind-blowing article in politico from 2017 that talks about decreases in nutrient levels due to rising CO2 levels. That article can be found here.
Harvard.edu has a short but not so sweet article on this issue as well. It can be found here.
I summarized a detailed sciencey article from the journal, Nature. That article can be found here.
This article in Advances in Science talks about how climate change can affect the diversity of edible plant species.
In this episode, I talked about my review of a documentary called "the need to grow". That was episode 242 and it can be found here.
As always, if you have any questions about today's episode or would like to sign up for nutrition counseling with me, you can contact me on my website, Which Is Healing outside the box.
okay. So no one food will be the miracle that will keep our aging brains as sharp as they were when we were young. Having said that, there are ways that we can support that hard-working organ by eating more of certain foods and less of other foods. I get into which foods and why they might be helpful in this episode.
The NIH almost always has something to say about research in this area. This general NIH article is a good place to start if you want to look at this list and pick out which foods you like and can pad to your current eating plan.
US News and world report chose the Mediterranean diet as the best overall meal plan for proper nutrition and prevention of chronic disease. An article discussing why the Mediterranean diet is first and the Keto diet is last on their list, can be found here.
While discussing Tumeric, I mentioned some research connecting anti-inflammatory compounds found in Tumeric that could be tied to a reduction in amyloid plaques seen in Alzheimer's disease. That source can be found here.
The NIH has an overview article discussing what foods to limit or reduce for your brain health. That article can be found here.
if you have any specific questions for me or would like some assistance putting together your brain healthy diet plan, feel free to contact me on my website contact page, on healingoutsidethebox.com.
I once went to a National nutrition conference and I still remember four words from that conference keynote address: "the future is coming".
Indeed it is. the topic today is about the future of meat, or at least some of the meat that we are going to encounter over the next 20 years. there is a new company called "Eat Just, Inc" that has just put out a cultured chicken product. and if that succeeds, there will be more cultured meat products to come. So today I look at how this product is made and whether or not it is safe to try.
But 1st I take off on a tangent regarding a study on ultra-processed foods. This study included 22,000 people and concluded that sugar may be more of a factor than fat when it comes to death from cardiovascular events like strokes and heart attacks. That pub med article can be found here.
I first learned about the approval in Singapore for this cultured chicken from a PBS radio news program. You can find the show on cultured meat on this "here and now" program.
An article discussing the pros and cons of cultured meat was discussed in detail in this Guardian article.
during the episode, I discussed metabolic syndrome, which I defined in a previous episode (226), which you can find here.
as always, feel free to contact me with any questions or suggestions for future episodes. You can email me on my website contact page, on Healingoutsidethebox.com
The doctor's exam room can be an intimidating place when you're sitting there in your hospital gown, all drafty in the back and all. Sometimes just getting the feel for the sound of all those lab tests and what they might mean, may make the experience less overwhelming.
Today I go over several different groups, or panels, which screen your blood for signs of any problems.
Here are the cliff notes, if you want to see the numbers in writing:
fasting blood sugar (FBS): 65 – 100 is normal. You may also see 110 as an upper limit of normal.
Random blood sugar (RBS): 100 – 140. You may also see 160 as an upper limit of normal. If you have diabetes, 180 might be considered normal for you.
Hemoglobin A1C (also called glycosylated hemoglobin): 4.3 – 6.1 is normal. If you are diabetic, up to 7.0 might be considered normal for you.
All pregnant women should undergo a glucose tolerance test at around 24 weeks gestation. Abnormally high glucose levels should be treated aggressively.
Symptoms of low blood sugar include clamminess, shakiness, rapid heartbeat, anxiety, and eventually (if on insulin) even coma.
Symptoms of high blood sugar include increased thirst, frequent urination, extreme fatigue, weight loss, blurred vision, trouble concentrating, and severe headaches.
Urinalysis: sugar should be negative (if positive, your doctor will definitely check for diabetes and probably a UTI).
Protein should be negative. Positive protein could imply a problem with your kidneys.
Ketones should be negative. The urine should be clear. Cloudy urine could mean infection and amber color urine could mean severe dehydration.
A Chem 20 or metabolic panel includes:
potassium: 3.6 – 5.1.
Sodium: 136 – 145
chloride: 98 – 107
if threes 3 are high, you could simply be dehydrated. If they are extremely high, that could signal a possible kidney problem.
Carbon dioxide: less than 32. This measures how well your lungs are expelling air.
Blood urea nitrogen (BUN): less than 20
Creatinine: less than 1.1. This could go as high as 6.0, which might signal acute kidney disease.
Albumin: 3.5 – 5.2. Low indicates a sign of malnutrition. High values may mean kidney dysfunction, so your Dr. will look at other labs for more information.
Calcium: 8.9 – 10.3
Alkaline phosphatase (ALT): 10 – 35. This is a liver function test.
A CBC panel tests for infection. The most common value is: White blood cell count (WBC): 4 – 11. A sign of infection if high. A high MCV may mean you have large but too few of those Iron-containing cells. Your doctor will look into a deficiency of active vitamin B12. this is called pernicious anemia. A low MCV may be a sign of iron deficiency anemia.
lipid panel:
total cholesterol: less than 200 (closer to 150 is ideal)
HDL: 40 – 60
LDL: less than 90
LDL/HDL ratio: less than 5.1 Triglycerides: 150 or less (this will be high with diabetes)
As always, if you have any specific questions about any nutrition-related lab tests, feel free to contact me on my contact page, on my Healing outside the box.com website.
Have you ever put a food item in your grocery cart based almost entirely on a promise for a healthier you? Not only are you not alone, but you are like just about everyone else when you shop. Advertisers of processed food know this all too well and often push the limits of what is legal to claim on the food label. It works because of something we call the "halo effect", which is actually a real thing. We are more likely to purchase a processed food item if one of the ingredients is perceived to be beneficial in current society, regardless of the remaining ingredients. I am going to open up this can of worms and look at this issue more closely today.
But 1st, I want to invite you to have your own "me" time and try health and wellness coaching. I work exclusively online and I have spaces available now. Simply go to my website, Healing outside the box.com, and click wellness coaching at the top. I have various plans available to suit your needs and I am offering the initial session for free. Check it out!
In the episode, I refer to a double-blind controlled research study done at Cornell with 144 people. That article can be found here.
If you have any questions or would like to suggest topics for future episodes, feel free to contact me on my website, Healing outside the box.
Back in 1995, 2 dietitians came up with something called intuitive eating theory and wrote a book about it. Most dietitians that were asked about this, did not give it a thumbs-up rating. And that is because dietitians did not think that the right approach would be to "eat whatever you want, whenever you want". That could obviously get misinterpreted. It appears as though we finally come to the agreement that the goal of listening to your intuition to tell you when you are hungry is not the same goal as losing weight. They are 2 different goals that intercept. Once we understand that, this book makes a lot more sense.
If you are interested in buying the book to read it for yourself, the link to the 4th edition of their book can be found here.
These 2 dietitians (Evelyn Tribole and Else Resch) also have a workbook that can be found here.
There is a magazine article by Jessica Jones that clarifies the 2 separate goals for us. If you're interested in this topic, I recommend that you give it a read.
As always, if you have any questions or want to speak to a nutritionist/health and wellness coach about anything regarding eating behavior, feel free to visit me on my website contact page at Healing outside the box.
I've been going on and on about what a great idea the Freestyle Libre is for all diabetics and pre-diabetics, so I imagine it's about time that I purchased it myself and tried it out. That is exactly what I did, and I have a review and tutorial for you in this episode.
This first link is to a short video that will show you how to apply the applicator and start obsessing about your blood sugars all day long if you so choose. Just click on this link and then click on the video that says: apply the sensor.
This NIH article describes a Norway study that looked at the Freestyle libre continuous blood glucose monitoring system versus another similar system.
This NIH study looked at how well it was tolerated (in terms of skin irritation) in type I diabetics.
This article put out by Abbott Pharmaceuticals (the maker of freestyle Libre), gets into data points that show positive health outcomes in terms of better glucose control and fewer diabetic complications.
If you need advice, support, or counseling to better manage your diabetes, I am available for virtual nutrition counseling. Just email me on my website contact page, Healing Outside the Box. com.
Now, I mean this in only the nicest possible way. But sometimes I review a documentary so you don't have to watch the whole darn thing yourself. Unless you want to; which you may in this particular case.
I'm reviewing a documentary called "the need to grow", which tells us about two pioneers in the sustainability/save the planet field. These two men are Eric Cutter and Mike Smith. Eric Cutter is a micro farmer who uses the latest technology to grow a whole bunch of organic produce on an urban plot. Mike Smith uses science to make electricity from algae and combine that with carbon technology to replenish the soil with microbes and nutrients. These two guys join forces to make the magic happen.
If you would like to watch the documentary yourself, there are a few ways to get to it. One of them is through the food revolution.org people. It can be found here.
If you want to look into some resources to find out what you could do in your community, check out the website from the documentary produces. The website is called The need to grow .org.
Moving along with my nutrition supplements deep dive (starting with the S category), I found a few interesting ones.
One of the more interesting plant supplements is called Thunder God vine. Don't let the name scare you. This NIH article gives you detailed information about what it's good for.
What about tribulus terrestris? This one failed to deliver what it promised, according to PubMed and NIH studies.
This NIH reference had a lot to say about Turmeric, but it wasn't the miracle supplement that I had hoped it would be.
Valarian root, on the other hand, does seem to have a mild calming effect, according to this NIH article.
Here is the NIH Fact sheet on zinc and cold virus symptoms.
Last but not least, there is a Chinese herbal medicine that has recently fascinated scientists and it is called Gastrodin. This NIH study examined metadata regarding potential benefits to people with Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, and Alzheimer's disease.
If you wish to ask any questions about these supplements or want to suggest topics for future episodes, feel free to contact me on my website contact page, Healing outside the box.com.
As I go tiptoeing through the floral herbs that are now nutrition supplements, I found some interesting ones in the L – M – N – O – P – Q – R – S part of the alphabet.
Not surprisingly, melatonin has attracted a lot of attention and this NIH article looks at some of these studies on its effectiveness to ease insomnia.
Noni comes from a tropical fruit-bearing tree native to southeast Asia. This supplement may be effective as both an antioxidant and possibly as a cancer-fighting substance. The NIH article can be found here.
Peppermint oil is an essential oil that is examined for possible health benefits. This NIH article reviews these studies.
Over the counter probiotics are sold everywhere. But are they effective? And if so, for what ailments? This NIH article gets into that.
You may have seen CoenzymeQ10 advertised somewhere. But does it repair muscle cells? This NIH article looks into it.
Quercetin and Vitamin C, when combined, has been shown to kill the SARS coronavirus (among others) in the lab setting. This NIH article looks into several studies regarding this flavonoid compound.
Part 3 of my deep dive into nutrition supplements plunges into the G-K supplements.
Can garlic help to fight pathogenic bacteria? There are many studies looking into this, but I recommend that you start with something like this article from the NIH.
Ginkgo biloba may indeed help with memory a bit. This NIH article gets into the pros and cons of ginkgo biloba.
Ginseng is hugely popular and now grown in Wisconsin. But is the data there to prove its effectiveness? Read about it here.
Glucomannan is touted for weight loss. But this NIH article didn't necessarily agree with the claims.
As always, if you want to ask a question or suggest a topic for a future episode, you can reach me on my website contact page.
This week we embark on part 2 of my review of nutrition supplements... More specifically, supplements D – F. And even more specifically, what they are promoted to do for you, does the science support it, and who should avoid it.
There are a couple of studies that I mentioned. The 1st was in relationship to dear antler velvet (yes that is actually a supplement). The NIH article on it can be found here.
There is another NIH article on fluoride, which can be controversial as an additive to the water supply. The article on fluoride can be found here.
I mentioned in a previous episode of mine that talks about metabolic syndrome and why we should care about it. You can find that episode here.
If you have any questions or suggestions for future episodes, please feel free to contact me on my website contact page, which is on healingoutsidethebox.com.
After a long pause (sorry about that), I thought I do an episode on supplements as I have had questions about how to build up your immune system with them. Can you boost your immune system by adding supplements to your diet? Well yes and no. Or it depends.
But because there are so darn many of these supplements, I thought I would take them one at a time. In alphabetical order. Quite frankly I can't strain my brain to come up with something creative.
Obviously this will the multiple episodes because again, there are so many of these supplements.
If you have any questions about a particular substance, don't hesitate to reach out to me on my website contact page, which is on Healing outside the Box.com.
It seems that many of us are some combination of bored and crazy right now. But, as I like to say, there is often two ways to look at things. One of the best stress relievers for people who like gardening is, in fact, gardening. And yes, it is possible to start our gardens indoors and then get out and plant some vegetables and herbs when they are ready, like us, to get out there. So this is an episode about general tips on what vegetables and herbs are okay to grow or start indoors.
I first talk about ways to get involved in community gardens and specific programs in your community. In Massachusetts, we have a program (Mass in motion) that has all kinds of education programs around planting vegetables and eating healthy foods. Their website can be found here. You can sometimes call your City Hall to find out what's going on in your area.
The edible schoolyards project has a bunch of cool videos and PDFs, as well as tips to start your own garden.
This YouTube video will show you how to start basil plants from cuttings. You can start now with a cutting from the grocery store and grow an entire plant from that cutting.
This video shows you how to grow many different vegetables by cutting off the root and from the grocery store vegetable. It is actually a surprisingly easy thing to do.
This video is from Daisy Creek Farms. They focus on fast-growing, high nutrient vegetables. They have multiple videos about how to grow from purchased and cut vegetables.
This video demonstrates Growing multiple vegetables from seeds.
I also discussed a large NIH study that examined the lab values of people that followed a diet with lots of healthy fruits and vegetables versus a diet high in processed foods. Not surprisingly, the indicators for risk of heart disease, obesity, and diabetes were much lower in the group eating the produce. Then they switched groups. The group eating the produce started eating the processed foods and the group eating the processed foods started eating the produce. In 4 weeks, the lab values switched again.
All this is a long way of saying that this time might give us the opportunity to look into ways that we can grow some vegetables or herbs, either indoors or outdoors. And maybe even learn to cook with them.
Food for thought.
As always, feel free to contact me on my website contact page, which is on healing outside the box.com.
Now that we're all hunkered down with our loved ones in various stages of quarantine, it might be a good time to think about cooking some new and interesting meals. So today I thought I would revisit an episode from last year on putting the Mediterranean diet theory into practice.
But before I got into the nutritional info, I mentioned a few relaxation or meditation apps and videos that are out there. One of them is called the calm app and it can be found here. There is a 12-minute Zen-type music video with lotus flowers right here. There is a live streaming easy listening jazz instrumental channel that can be found here. This is one-hour of peaceful piano music. This is the guided imagery meditation video that is nice.
In this episode, I mentioned a four-part series on possibly treating or even preventing Alzheimer's disease with dietary measures. They are episodes 158, 159, 160, and 161. In another episode, I asked the question "Is there a possible link between Alzheimer's disease and cardiovascular disease?" That episode can be found here. I also have 2 episodes on preventing diabetic complications. They are episodes 216 and 217.
Later on, I mentioned a few recipes that can be converted to Mediterranean-style alternatives. They are pasta Primavera with shrimp and hummus with pita chips. Here is my recipe for a bean and cheese burrito. And here's the recipe for chow mein with cashews.
If you would like some tips on converting your favorite recipes to healthier versions or would like to do some online health and wellness coaching with me, feel free to contact me on my website contact page, which is healing outside the box.com.
Today I have a conversation with Tara Agaba, who is the communications and outreach coordinator at Jane Doe Inc.
Jane Doe Inc. is the Massachusetts coalition against sexual assault and domestic violence. Their website is healingtrauma.janedoe.org. Tara manages Jane Doe's social media, newsletter, and websites. She provides support and resources for people who are particularly vulnerable due to the Stay At Home rules that leave survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence at risk.
Tara mentions a few resources that she shared with us. You can visit their website, which is janedoe.org
One of Jane Doe's projects is the Healing Trauma resources website. The resources can be found at healingtrauma.janedoe.org.
You can email Jane Doe Inc. here. If you are looking for help in your area, check out this link. You can also try SafeLink in the Massachusetts area. You can locate their website here. Their number is 1-877-785-2020. The deaf/blind national hotline is 1-800-787-3224 (TTY). The videophone is 1-855-812-1001. Advocates are bilingual in English and Spanish and have access to a service that can provide translation in more than 130 languages.
There is also detailed information about various types of trauma on their healing trauma website. It is healingtrauma.janedoe.org. The resilience and healing tab has many great resources to search through if you are in need of comfort during this difficult time.
In addition, I offer online health and wellness coaching for those who need a listening ear and some support around their general health and wellness. I often focus on nutrition and healthy eating/weight loss coaching, but I also discuss stress reduction and meditation for folks who are interested in those types of coping skills. If you want to reach out to me, you can email me on my contact page or my wellness coaching services page. I also have a texting platform called "tawk.to" on my HealingOutsideTheBox.com website. If you click on the circle in the lower right-hand corner of any page, you can text or email me there.
Today I review a great new miniseries called "What's eating America".
It is on MSNBC and all 5 episodes are available now.
Before I jump into the review, I remind us all that local food pantries like The open door and international organizations like Doctors Without borders need our help right now. Low-income people with children are no longer getting free school lunches if they are out of school because of the coronavirus. Resources are even more scarce in other countries and need our help.
If you are interested in online Health and Wellness Coaching, feel free to contact me at my healing outside the box contact page for details.
Is there a role to play for healthy eating, sufficient sleep, and stress reduction when it comes to fighting off a serious case of coronavirus? If it seems like that deserves a common sense "yes!" answer, then you would be correct.
I mentioned that I was getting this material from the CDC website and the WHO website. These two websites have lots of accurate information.
whenever there are so many studies linking the beneficial effects to one particular thing in our diet that they are too numerous to count, there's probably a "There there".
Such is the case with naturally fermented dairy and pickled vegetables. We refer to them as probiotics. But what are probiotics exactly? The NIH has an excellent article explaining, in general terms, what they are and how they affect us. It can be found here.
Here is another NIH article that discusses how these beneficial microorganisms from fermentation can improve our general health.
In this article, Lactobacillus plantarum was found to be effective in fighting off a biological toxin in an in-vitro study.
A strain of Lactobacillus gasseri was tested in overweight subjects and found to be effective for losing a small amount of weight in a double-blind study. That article can be found here.
bifidobacterium may have beneficial effects as well. Preliminary studies have shown that this bacteria may decrease the number of cancer cells in the colon. That article can be found here.
In recent years the art of beer making and winemaking have turned into the food science of fermented beverages. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Well, that all depends on what you're looking for.
It is theorized that the fermenting of beverages has gone on for 5000 to 7000 years. But over the past 50 years, we are now using pH meters, temperature gauges, huge stainless steel vats, and microscopes to give us a precise idea of what species we are growing. The conditions that are ideal for that species of yeast and bacteria will produce a more consistent product. But will the industrial mass production of fermented beverages result in compromising quality for cost?
As it usually does, the decision will rest with us when we make choices to buy or not to buy based on both quality and price.
You can now reach me either on my website contact page or my new feature, tawk.to.
If I am currently offline, click on the lower right-hand corner envelope and you can send me a message to text you at some future time. If I am online, click on the lower right-hand corner icon that says "we are here". You can then start a chat and I will receive the message.
We throw around the terms probiotic and prebiotic like they are the yin and Yang of food microorganisms. Actually, they are complementary but not similar in nature. Today I define the terms and discuss how we can best utilize what we know about the positive effects of both, working together.
I mentioned a small NIH study that discusses the health benefits of combining different strains of beneficial bacteria and yeast with foods that they can feed on. That article can be found here.
As always, if you have any questions or suggestions for future episodes, feel free to contact me on my contact webpage, which is Healingoutsidethebox.com/contact-us.
If the thought of getting Alzheimer's disease at a relatively young age sends a shiver up your spine, you are not alone. We all want to age gracefully, but there is nothing graceful about the horrible effects of Alzheimer's disease and debilitating heart disease. But are they related somehow?
Today I look at this question by looking at what several studies have to tell us. The article that got me thinking about this was actually a short video by Dr. Michael Gregor. You can find that video here.
I recently did a 4 episode series on Alzheimer's disease: the symptoms, the pathology, and what dietary or lifestyle factors we can do now to prevent or slow the progression. The episodes are 158, 159, 160, and 161.
As always, if you have any questions or suggestions for new topics, feel free to email me on my website contact page.
Happy new year, everyone!
The two words you seldom hear together in the healthcare field are dietitians and respect. Why is that, exactly?
Is it because dietitians happen to be one of the few exclusively female professions? I believe so. It is ironic, though, because most of the hospital beds in any given hospital are filled with people who have diet-related health problems.
What can we do about this? Plenty, as it turns out.
I want to encourage everyone who cares about our obesity and diabetes healthcare crisis to listen to the podcast and write to me with your suggestions about changing our healthcare system to one that is focused on the prevention of these chronic diseases.
You can send me a note on my website contact page, which is healingoutsidethebox.com/contact-us
Just when you thought your head would explode if you hear about another syndrome on a TV ad for a new drug... There is actually a new syndrome to talk about. This is actually a combination of 5 conditions that are commonplace in our society right now. It's called metabolic syndrome. If we have 3 out of the 5 conditions, then we have drawn the short straw and technically have metabolic syndrome.
But fear not! Metabolic syndrome is preventable; and if you have it, treatable.
There are some journal articles that I discussed related to metabolic syndrome. The first compares the relationship of these conditions to gallstones or gallbladder disease. The NIH review of the literature can be found here.
The obesity/sleep apnea relationship is reported in this NIH article.
Dr Michael Gregor, in this 4-minute video, evaluates population studies comparing people following the diabetic diet plan versus people on a primarily plant-based diet.
As always, feel free to ask questions or suggest topics for future episodes on my website contact page, healingoutsidethebox.com.
I imagine that you've heard a lot of different things about shingles and you're worried that you don't know what to believe. The message of this particular episode is that "hold true to your natural instincts and trust those beliefs". If you suddenly see a rash on one side of your body that itches or burns, and you sense that it might be shingles; seek medical care immediately and don't be afraid to bring up the subject of shingles.
There is an excellent web MD article about the increased incidence of shingles in middle-aged and even younger people. You can read this article here.
A Canadian journalist described her personal story with her shingles outbreak. You can find the article here.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) jumped on the bandwagon and compiled some research studies regarding the increase in rates and change in presentation. The article can be found here.
As always, if you have any questions about this or other podcast episodes, feel free to contact me on my website contact page, which is on Healing outside the box.
Anyone who is considering having bypass surgery for weight loss may want to weigh the pros and cons before making such a commitment.
Today I'll discuss some of the benefits and risks involved. However, I recommend having an ongoing dialogue with your physician if you're thinking about moving forward with it. Your physician may also recommend that you speak to another specialist before making your decision.
I mentioned BMI, or body mass index, as an approximate way to determine the line between overweight and obese. This NIH webpage explains BMI and allows you to calculate your own.
If you have any questions about the nutritional consequences of gastric bypass surgery, feel free to contact me on my website contact page.
Do you really need your gut microbiota? Well, yes you do. But please continue to read and listen because it may surprise you that we seriously cannot live without our invisible friends.
I first go through some definitions about microbiome versus microbiota and regurgitate an article from the Harvard Magazine. That article (that will give you a detailed overview) can be found here.
The National Institute of Health put out a great article that captures the importance of our gut microorganisms and how it relates to the maintenance of our own health. That article can be found here.
Another Harvard Magazine article talks about the future of health maintenance with regard to something called "precision nutrition". That article can be found here.
As always, if you have any questions or would like to suggest topics for future episodes, feel free to email me on my website contact page.
Now that the symptoms of acid reflux, or GERD, affect about 60 million Americans at least occasionally... Should we be familiar with the ways to possibly prevent it? I think so. So I devoted an entire episode to this excruciatingly boring subject.
If you want to read up on the causes and treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease, this WebMD article provides a good overview of the subject.
There are many diet and lifestyle factors that can improve our heartburn pain dramatically. One of the lifestyle factors that can affect symptoms of acid reflux is adequate sleep. I devoted the previous episode here on how to avoid sleep deprivation.
As always, if you have any questions or comments... Feel free to write me on my website contact page, healing outside the.com.
We all know that lack of sleep can make us grumpy and foggy headed. But new research is suggesting that it has an impact on our overall health and our weight.
There is an interesting study published by the national Institute of health (NIH) that links sleep deprivation to weight gain in both children and adults. The study can be found here.
Another study that looks at sleep patterns related to what and when we eat can be found here.
An epidemiological study that looked at short duration sleep and the impact it has on our food intake can be found here.
Sleep deprivation has also been linked to insulin resistance and diabetes. That NIH article can be found here.
The National Academy of Sciences looked at decreasing energy expenditure (less calories burned) in sleep deprived people in this article.
If you would like to weigh in on your thoughts about this issue, feel free to comment or ask questions on my website contact page.
This week I bring us all up to date on where Monsanto's Roundup (or should I say Bayer's roundup) went to all of a sudden. The answer is... That they are up to so much that it is giving me a big headache.
So I started at the beginning and I reviewed a chronological history of how the Roundup weed killer started out so innocently killing dandelions and is now killing children. As it turns out, like just about everything else, it's all dose-related. And we are all getting a dose of Roundup with our typical American diet.
I mention a few articles that speak to both the science and the pending civil lawsuits. The first one is a Bloomberg article discussing the $2 billion civil class-action lawsuit, that was reduced 90% by a judge last week. The article can be found here.
A study published by the National Institute of Health (NIH) measured the concentration of glyphosate in both farmworkers and their children. They found that 65% of farm workers and 12% of their children had toxic levels of the active ingredient in roundup in their urine a day after the spraying occurred.
This article from NPR gives us some historical perspective about how it started out innocently killing weeds to become the monster that it is after GMOs were invented.
This Bloomberg article discusses the unsettling fact that glyphosate from roundup is now looking like it alters the DNA of both mice and people.
If you have any questions about this episode or want to suggest topics for future episodes, feel free to send me a message on my website contact page.
Today I open up a can of worms and discuss the possibility that we may be at risk of developing a leaky brain as well as a leaky gut. If you would like to review previous episodes on leaky gut, here are a few:
episode 165
episode 166
episode 122
as always, if you have any questions or suggestions for new episode topics, feel free to email me on my website, Healing outside the Box.
There's a pretty good chance that you've heard the phrase "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" and didn't pay much attention to it.
With all of the chronic ailments that we now associate with our low fiber/high fat/high sugar American diet, perhaps we should start paying attention to it sooner rather than later.
This episode is devoted to the many benefits of fresh fruits. And I get to it as soon as I finish my story about meeting Paula Poundstone. She could very well be my favorite funny person!
There are a couple of journal articles that I mentioned in the episode.The first is a peer-reviewed article put out by the national Institute of health, or NIH. It's called "dietary energy density and body weight in adults and children: a systematic review". It can be found here.
There was another study called "dietary strategies for weight management". It can be found here.
As always, if you have any questions or would like to suggest topics for future episodes, you're free to contact me on my website contact page.
With our current American diet, preventing diabetes and managing diabetes once you have it are both challenging to do alone. So I have devoted two episodes to dietary and other lifestyle recommendations.
Episode 216 is part one, which can be found here.
In previous episodes I push antioxidants from foods. Here are a few of those:
Putting the Mediterranean diet theory into practice
Antioxidants are great! But why?
This Mayo Clinic article goes into detail about the American dietetic Association diet principles. It can be found here.
Most of us know someone with Diabetes and some of us may know someone on dialysis or with diabetic amputations. How did this once rare disease get so out of control? And can we reverse this trend?
If we are going to take an honest look at this terrible disease, I think we first need to be comfortable talking about the symptoms of diabetes and the complications that can occur... And that can be prevented.
This is part I of a 2 part episode where I attempt to initiate the conversation.
As always, feel free to ask questions or suggest topics for future episodes by contacting the on my website contact page, which is healing outside the box.
Since this past weekend was a holiday weekend and we are getting into the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer, I decided to put up one of my more popular episodes from last year.
Why is it so popular? Gee, I wonder.
As always feel free to contact me on my contact page which can be found here.
Sciencey people throw around sentences like "We are all getting a leaky gut" without telling us what it is and why we should care. I attempted to do just that today.
I have a previous episode that I dedicated to leaky gut: what it is, what it means, and how we can heal it. You can find that episode here.
If you listened to this podcast and are still totally confused and upset about your leaky gut, feel free to ask a question on my contact page, which is on my website, healing outside the box.
Now that we are approaching Memorial Day, many of us are dreaming about being in the great outdoors once again. Even if it's 10 feet from our back door and we're on the porch tending to the barbecue. That doesn't mean that we have to throw up our hands and give in to the cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and sausages when we really want to eat healthier.
Yes, Virginia. You can eat healthier when you're barbecuing. And you might actually start preferring the taste of the fresh fish, juicy chicken, or colorful salads that are in front of you. The key is the preparation and planning that you'll need to pull it off. But trust me, your friends and family will both thank you because most of them might be wanting to eat healthier as well.
The corn and bean salad recipe that I mentioned in the episode can be found on my healthy recipes page, which is located here.
As always, if you have any questions or requests for new episode topics, feel free to contact me on my website contact page, healing outside the box.com
There is no doubt about it. We are eating a lot more meals that are prepared by somebody else. Today I look at the the social factors involved in this changing landscape and the nutritional consequences of the comparative composition of our intake.
Dr. Michael Gregor has an article on his website about this lifestyle change in our eating habits. It can be found here.
The plant-based online cooking school that I mentioned in the podcast can be located here.
As always, if you would like a particular recipe and want to we request a custom meal according to your preferences, feel free to email me on my contact page, which is on my website: Healing outside the box.
The Doctor's exam room can be an intimidating place when you're sitting there in your hospital gown, all drafty in the back and all. Sometimes just getting the feel for the sound of all those lab tests and what they mean, may make the experience less overwhelming.
Today I go over several different groups, or panels, which screen your blood for signs of any problems.
If you have any questions or want to suggest topics for future episodes, feel free to contact me on my contact page which is on my website: Healing outside the box.
Functional medicine is a new theory of conducting a medical practice that was 1st put together by Jeffrey bland, PhD, then made popular by Mark Hyman, M.D.
Is a theory that encompasses a preventative approach to medicine that takes into account, the whole individual – rather than someone with a set of symptoms. They encourage nutrition and exercise, adequate sleep, and have extended visits with their patients.
What's not to like? Well quite a bit, according to their critics. In this episode I weigh the pros and cons of this theory of whole patient care.
Dr. Jeffrey bland, PhD, the founder of functional medicine,describes functional medicine in this video.
One of his disciples, Dr. Mark Hyman, M.D., talks about functional medicine in his video.
David Gorski, M.D., is a critic of functional medicine. She is article can be found here.
If you have any questions or would like to suggest topics for future episodes, feel free to contact me on my website contact page.
Are you stuck trying to make the improvements that you want in your eating habits, but you're not moving forward?
Today I discuss the 5 stages of change outlined by a guy named Prochaska in the 70s. It was initially used to help people with smoking cessation, but it is used by dietitians and other health professionals as another tool in the toolbox.
The Mediterranean diet sounds like it's good for what ails you (if what ails you is most of our current chronic diseases), but how do you translate that into breakfast, lunch, and dinner?
In the first half of this episode, I mention something called the CHIP program. CHIP stands for complete health improvement project and involves a Mediterranean diet along with activity and community support. The episode devoted to the CHIP program can be found here.
One of the most important tricks to eating healthier is to enjoy what we are eating. So today I thought I would take some typical American favorites and alter them to make them more Mediterranean. That doesn't necessarily mean we all should be eating only fish and chickpeas. It's a principal of building our dinner plate based on seasonal produce, healthy grains, and smaller amounts of meat, chicken, and fish.
You can find some of the recipes I discussed on my website podcast page.
If you have any questions, would like tips to build your favorite recipes, or would like to suggest topics for future episodes, feel free to reach out to me on my website contact page.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease happens to be one of the most common diseases that we may not know about.
Having spent decades in the nutrition business, I thought I was unshockable. Until now, anyway. I just read that 70 to 80,000,000 Americans may have nonalcoholic fatty livers and I imagine it would surprise most of us to know that.
So I looked into several studies on the subject. For a layperson's perspective on how this disease got out of control, you may want to check out this article from CNBC. The Mayo Clinic has a patient oriented article that defines diagnosis and symptoms. It can be found here. The national Institute of health (NIH) describes the disease in an article that is geared towards health professionals. It can be found here.
In a recent episode I discussed why antioxidants are so necessary to maintain health. You can find that episode here.
If you need assistance with healthy changes in your dietary habits and lifestyle in general, feel free to contact me here. I am a Nutritionist and a Wellness Coach in private practice and I would be happy to help you with both counseling and logistics (recipes, meal plan) in making positive changes to prevent this terrible disease.
Today I take a look at rapid eye movement therapy by actually trying it out for myself. It's a therapy technique that came about specifically to treat trauma or the psychological consequences of a traumatic experience.
There are a couple of YouTube videos that describe the therapy and give you a sample of what it looks like. The 1st is geared toward healthcare professionals and it 1st describes the symptoms of PTSD. That video can be found here.
This 2nd video is more of a demonstration of the process for people who might simply be interested in trying it out for themselves.
As always, if you have any questions or would like to suggest topics for future episodes, feel free to contact me on my contact page, which is on my website, healing outside the box.
Today I take a deep dive into some of the scientific theories that are now connecting the foods we eat to our moods. But I first considered calling this episode something like "the CHIP diet, revisited" because some of these studies were conducted on subjects following this particular diet plan.
CHIP stands for complete health improvement program, which was first studied in 1998 and looked at reducing symptoms of coronary artery disease. I devoted an entire episode to the chip program (episode 185) and you can find it here.
I mentioned an organization called SPUR, out of Eastern Massachusetts. They gave me a :thank you" bouquet of flowers for my volunteer work with schoolyard vegetable gardens. Here is a link to a story about them. Hint: this could be put together in almost any city or town in the United States.
I also mentioned a couple of articles on the link between inflammation and depression. This study links depression to interferon treatment in cancer patients.
Here it is another study that links inflammatory toxins (like the toxin that causes botulism) to depression.
I would love to hear your thoughts on suggestions for new episodes! Please feel free to suggest future topics by reaching out to me on my website contact page.
I was recently looking over my list of previous episodes and I noticed that I have at least 5 that are partly or mostly about Monsanto. I think there is general agreement that Monsanto is one of the true bad guys of food corporations. So today I pull out memorable pieces of some of my previous episodes for a greater impact about how bad Monsanto really is. And oh, they are bad!
There was an article in the Guardian that reviews a recent lawsuit put out by a man named Dwayne Johnson. Here is the link to the article in the Guardian.
In episode 130, entitled "what has Monsanto been up to?", I talk about a secret backdoor meeting that Pres. Trump had with the CEO of Monsanto and the CEO of Bayer. That meeting was bound to give us all a big fat headache.
In episode 167, entitled "how to avoid Monsanto products", I tell you (not surprisingly) how to avoid Monsanto products.
In episode 177, entitled "now that Bayer has purchased Monsanto, what's next?", I run down the history of attempts to pass and put into law, the requirement for labeling on GMO products. We still have an uphill battle there.
In episode 151, entitled "the latest on GMOs and Monsanto", I discuss the fact that Roundup has now been linked to birth defects, respiratory illnesses, DNA damage in adults, leaky gut, nonalcoholic fatty liver, and of course, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
As always, if you have any questions or would like to suggest topics for future episodes, feel free to contact me on my website contact page, Healing outside the box.
Today I talk about one of my favorite topics, and that is, rats. More specifically, laboratory rats. Yes, I know. They're scary looking rodents. But laboratory rats do something for us that is very important.
We cage them, give them cancer, kill and dissect them. All so that we can learn about what foods may possibly harm human beings.
On 2 separate occasions, I had a job in nutrition pathology labs doing studies to secure the safety of food ingredients. In my 1st laboratory job, I worked for Dr. Paul Newberne, who was the famous scientist behind the hot dog study from the 70s. He was able to show conclusively that nitrites and nitrates that are in hot dogs and other processed meats can potentially cause cancer.
After a media blitz, the sales of hot dogs changed very little. But now the World Health Organization (WHO) has put out a conclusive report linking processed meats of all kinds to cancer. I review the findings in general, but if you want to read details of the report, start here.
Some of these links that you follow may want you to sign up to become a member. If you do not wish to do that but would like to read the report, email me on my website contact page and I will send you the text of the report.
As always, if you have any questions or want to suggest future topics, feel free to send me a note on my website contact page.
If you're trying to stay healthy eating all those great fruits and vegetables, but have trouble finding good ones in the winter, fear not. There are plenty of healthy late fall and winter fruits and vegetables that will meet your needs for vitamins and antioxidants. Today I go through a list of the best ones with ideas about how to use them.
Now, I got this idea from an online Time article I read recently. You can read the article here.
As always, if you have any questions or would like help with recipes for these winter produce, feel free to email me on my website contact page.
We all basically know that we crave salty foods when we're feeling overtired, stressed out, or bored. But there are also physiological reasons that date back to the caveman days. It all gets jumbled up in a mix of physical and psychological factors that determine what foods we crave and why.
I mention a study I read regarding the link between appetite hormones and cravings for salt. Psychological stress, as it turns out, can trigger these appetite hormones. The link to the article is here.
If you have any questions or comments about this episode, or if you'd like to suggest topics for future episodes, feel free to contact me on my website contact page.
Today I played hooky from my nutrition-related material to bring you a personal story from my upcoming memoir. It's about domestic violence, courtroom drama, drug abuse, laughter, tears, lust (not mine), betrayal, bank embezzlement, and the loss of a child.
Here we go again.
We've thrown caution to the wind over the holiday season and now we're going to buckle down and make a New Year's resolution to cut calories, carbohydrate, or fat to lose those extra few pounds. But if we try too hard to cut too much, could we be shooting ourselves in the foot? Let's discuss.
If you want to improve your eating behavior and need a nutritionist to help you out, I am available for one hour sessions. Feel free to contact me on my contact page with this or other questions. My website is Healing outside the Box.
Happy New Year!
I somewhat reluctantly make a list of meal suggestions for a ketogenic diet this week. The reason I say reluctantly is because it is difficult to stay on this type of dietary regimen for very long. However, I'm aware that many people like to take off a quick 5 to 10 pounds after the holiday season is over.
If you want copies of my recipe suggestions, feel free to email me on my website contact page, which is here.
Starting in the new year, I will devote at least one podcast episode to Mediterranean diet meal suggestions. Stay tuned and happy holidays!
Carb cycling, simply put, is alternating a ketogenic diet with a carbo loading diet. It is commonly used by elite athletes to optimize their lean body mass between athletic events with carbo loading just prior to an event. This can work with either a marathon or a boxing match. The question I'm posing here is: will it work as a long-term weight loss regimen?
Recently I did a podcast episode on the ketogenic diet. It's episode 191 and you can find it here.
If you want more information about either a ketogenic diet or a carbo loading diet, feel free to contact me on my contact page, which can be found at healingoutsidethebox.com.
Today I bring you an episode that I had originally produced 3 years ago that may be another tool in the toolbox for healing. And it's music as therapy.
Over the past 10 years there's been some increased interest in using music therapy for Alzheimer's patients, Parkinson's patients, and even people on the autism spectrum. I looked into music as a therapeutic tool for people with chronic diseases and stress related disorders.
There are now music therapists who use music almost exclusively to help with autism, stress, I call that "music in therapy". There is a YouTube video that discusses a therapist who uses music to help treat autistic children and young adults. That video can be found here.
The "go to" guy in this field is a neurologist by the name of Oliver Sacks. He has a short YouTube video that describes his philosophy about using music for L Simon's patients.
There is a fascinating documentary called "Alive Inside" that shows people with chronic diseases responding to music. This documentary can be found on YouTube, ($1.99), Amazon , (Free with prime) and iTunes ($2.99). If you would prefer just to watch the shorter video clip of "Henry" from the movie, you can find that on YouTube.
As always, if you have any questions or comments about this podcast episode, feel free to reach me on my contact page, that is on my website, Healing Outside the Box.
Tis' the season for thanks and giving.
Having filled my belly with yummy food and expressed my thanks for having such a wonderful family and loving the great food I had, it's time to turn my thoughts to giving.
I took a look around at the various food charities and what they are offering, and came up with a list of my favorite food charities.
They are:
1. UNICEF... Here is the link to the page I recommend.
2. Drs. without Borders. They distribute a shelf stable supplement especially made for children in starving areas of the world.
3. Salvation army. Very reputable and can be found online for donations.
4. Action against hunger. Always a good bet.
5. Heifer international. My personal favorite... For the $120 donation, they will buy a milking goat for a poor family anywhere in the world.
Here's a link to a company that provides shelfstable organic 2% milk and will ship it to a local food shelter or metropolitan area food Bank.
As always, if you have any questions about this or other nutrition related topics, feel free to contact me on my website contact page.
We've been all told to eat lots of colorful fruits and vegetables to get plenty of antioxidants. But how do they help us and, more to the point, why do we need them so badly? I look into this in this week's episode.
Before I get into the antioxidants, I want to tell you about a couple of studies I ran across discussing the cardiovascular effects of all those energy drinks we're consuming now. Nutrition facts.org has a short video that sums it up quite nicely. Another NIH study looked at the cardiovascular effects of energy drinks and found that there is blood flow resistance going to the brain with the strength compared to placebo. The reduction in blood flow to the brain was worse in women than men. Another study from the European Journal of nutrition also showed reduction in blood flow to the brain with energy drinks, both in men and women.
If you have any questions or would like to list of popular antioxidants, feel free to reach out to me on my website contact page, which is healing outside the box.
I thought I would review a book that describes a specific meditation technique brought to us from India, so that you can get a feel for how mainstream it can be.
This book is called meditation as medicine, and I recommend getting the audiobook version of it If you're interested in this meditation.
The author, Dhama Singh Khalsa, MD, converted to Sikhism. but describes this meditation as a spiritual technique rather than a religion.
He goes into detail describing a form of meditation that works with the seven chakras. A very good description of the chakras as it relates to Indian philosophy, can be found in this article.
He then gives specific examples of four different meditations that he practices himself. Unlike other books on meditation that describe how you will feel when you meditate, the author gives you some insight as to why vibratory sounds in mantras are beneficial from a biomedical standpoint. The medical nerdiness in me found that interesting.
If you have any questions for me or suggestions for future episodes, feel free to email me on my podcast contact page, which can be found here.
This week I read the Democratic and Republican party platforms: both because you wouldn't have to and because I wanted to see exactly what they had to say about our right to eat healthy and safe food.
It also turns out that our right to eat safe food is written right into the Constitution, as it should be. But the Democrats and Republicans are far apart when it comes to specifically what they want to accomplish, using food as a political football.
First, I explain how much easier it is to subscribe to my podcast on IOS and android. If you have an iPhone, there is a new app called Apple podcasts. On android, there is a new app called Google podcasts. They are not too imaginative, but easy to find.
I went looking for anything I could find from 2018 on how the two political parties stand up when it comes to nutrition and food safety, and found almost nothing. I did come across a podcast called "Plate of the union" that can be found on IOS and android (see above).
There is a New York Times article from 2016 that compares the two party platforms with regard to nutrition and food science. They also cover the SNAP, or food stamp program.The link to the article can be found here.
Have you ever wondered why people on the Paleo diet can eat tons of steak, bacon, cheese, fried eggs, etc., and still lose weight? The somewhat "sciencey" explanation is uncovered here. The reason why nutritionists are not surprised that this happens is that the Paleo diet is really the Atkins diet with a new name.
It is clearly effective for lowering weight and blood sugar. But will it increase your chances of getting heart disease and strokes? The Harvard health blog has a common sense approach to this and that article can be found here.
If you have any questions about whether you should try a ketogenic diet, feel free to contact me on my website contact page, at healing outside the box.com.
I once again venture out of my comfort zone to tell the story about how I was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy 36 years ago and I've been waiting (at times not so patiently) for a cure ever since. I now have more reason to hope than I ever have, because gene therapy is indeed, right over the horizon. So I went tip-toeing through the literature to see what I can find that has happened over the past 5 or so years in gene therapy research.
But first, I talk about a few articles that I thought were newsworthy. This Huffington post article caught my attention, so I thought I would pass it along. It discusses the possibility that we have been putting all of our energy about the causes of obesity in the wrong place.
This to part Boston global article on 9/15/18 and 9/16/18 is an in-depth look at the current situation in the home health care field. It's called Stranger in the House.
When I was talking about genetic engineering, I mentioned a 60 minutes episode on genetic engineering. The CBS news website still carries that story. You can find it by going on the 60 minutes website and searching for crispr gene therapy.
There is an interesting article in life science report that talks about a new discovery which might allow stem cell therapy to be available on a large scale basis, making it more affordable. The article can be found here.
Scientists at the University of California have found a way to isolate stem cells that are in our own muscle cells and to perhaps take them out, fix them, and put them back. This way they could treat injuries and neuromuscular diseases. That article can be found here.
A scientist in Wales has recently gotten approval to experiment with stem cell therapies to treat heart disease. That article can be found here.
As always, feel free to send me an email on my contact page, which is on my website, healing outside the box.
After watching a couple of videos on YouTube about edible schoolyard gardens, I got all excited and decided to give you the latest updates on what's going on in schools around the country.
If you're new to this edible schoolyard business, the person to look for is Alice Waters. You can find one of her videos here. I talked about a schoolyard garden video called Ed Utopia, which can be found here.
If you have any questions or want suggestions about how to get started in your community, feel free to send me a message on my website contact page. My website is called healing outside the box.
This episode really isn't about squirrels, or about politics, but what squirrels eat – namely peanuts. Doctors without Borders and UNICEF have been distributing a peanut-based nutrition supplement called Plumpy Nut for over 10 years. But you might be wondering – what about peanut allergies?
As it turns out, peanut allergies are essentially unheard of in the African continent, India, and the Middle East. At the same time, the US and Great Britain have skyrocketing rates of peanut allergies – which makes this critical nutrition supplement impossible to use.
Scientists know that the problem with peanut allergies is man-made and most likely connected to industrial farming.
We clearly need to find out what is causing these allergies in children. We need to stop it before it's too late and we can no longer use this life-saving and easy to dispense food source for the world's starving children. That's what this episode is about.
Today I go lightly frolicking into the wonderful world of berries. Since making lists seems to be the thing to do with these types of blogs, I've listed 10 advantages to eating these berry delicious fruits.
If you have any questions or simply want suggestions for berry recipes, feel free to contact me on my website contact page.
Today I compare the similarities and differences between the causes of obesity in our pets versus in ourselves. We are certainly still at the theory stage about all of this, but there are too many similarities to ignore. And I know that so many cat and dog lovers out there care about our furry friends.
But first, I give you an update on the Dwayne Johnson trial, where he is suing Monsanto because he was told to spray roundup on school grounds and got terminal cancer. He was able to convince a jury that there was a connection between the two since the World Health Organization has called Roundup a probable carcinogen. He was awarded $289 million. The link to the story about this from a public radio station (WBUR) can be found here.
The New York Times jumped on this and wrote an article on the trial, which can be found here.
I mentioned information about an article in the Guardian that differentiates a few of the causes of obesity between pets and people and that article can be found here.
As always, if you have any questions or feel like you would like to hire a nutritionist, feel free to contact me on my website contact page, which is Healing outside the box.
Today we talk about something called "the chip diet". Chip stands for "complete health improvement project". This diet has been proven with many studies to reduce blood sugar, blood cholesterol, blood pressure, and weight. What is there to lose?
I also pose the question "Can we get a community "chip diet project" going in every city and town in the United States? I can't imagine anything that would be a better use of our taxpayer dollar.
Today I opened up a can of worms and discussed the possibility that we may be at risk of developing a leaky brain as well as a leaky gut.
If you'd like to review previous episodes on leaky gut, I have many. Here are a few
episode 165: the 411 on leaky gut. Part 1.
Episode 166: the 411 on leaky gut. Part 2.
Episode 122: what's the status of our gut bacteria? Well, it's complicated.
As always, if you have any questions or suggestions for future topics, feel free to contact me on my website contact page: Healing outside the box.
Have you ever looked at a recipe and thought to yourself: I would like to make this, but I don't like brussels sprouts or I can't eat wheat flour? This week I go over how we can go about substituting an ingredient, or cooking technique, or a lower fat substitution, without ruining the recipe.
But first, I bring to your attention a couple of great videos on you tube. The 1st is a Ted talk by Ron Tinley, the guy they call the guerrilla gardener. It is a great video if you looking for some general inspiration. The 2nd Ted talk is by Jamie Oliver who encourages us not to give up on childhood obesity and the suffering that it causes to our nation's children.
I also update you on the trial of Dwayne Johnson. Mr. Johnson is suing Monsanto because he was told to spray roundup on school yards to kill dandelions and now has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Read the article on the trial here.
As always, if you have any questions about replacing ingredients with healthier alternatives, feel free to email me on my contact page or comment in the comments section.
I am always looking for new ideas for future episodes. If you want to make suggestions, feel free to email me on my contact page. I look forward to hearing from you!
We throw around the terms probiotics and prebiotics like they are the yin and yang of food microorganisms. Actually, they are complementary but not similar or opposites. In this episode, I define the terms and talk about how we can best utilize what we currently know about the positive effects of both of them, working together.
Your G.I. tract will thank you.
I mentioned a small NIH study that examines the health benefits of combining several strands of beneficial bacteria. It can be found here.
As always, if you have any questions or suggestions for future episodes, feel free to contact me on my website contact page.
I decided to do an episode answering frequently asked questions that I've gotten recently. Please get in touch with any nutrition questions for me and I'll include them in my next Q & A episode.
You can comment on my website, which is here.
I mentioned a list of the healthiest cooking oils. It can be found here.
Today I play hooky and bring you an old-fashioned storytelling episode from last April. I tell about jumping through the hoops necessary to get my Medical Marijuana card and going to the Salem medical marijuana dispensary for my edibles. And as is usually the case with me, comedy ensues.
Although it was not my intention, this ended up being a review of the official Medical Marijuana program in Massachusetts.
I would love to hear your feedback if you have a Medical Marijuana card in another state and have had better (or worse) luck with it. You can contact me on my contact page which is on my website, called healing outside the box.
I would love to keep churning out podcast episodes free of charge. So it goes without saying, that I would love your help in doing so. If you would like to donate $1 or $2 per episode, it would be greatly appreciated! Here's the link to my patreon page.
For my final part in this three-part series of the impact of the Bayer-Monsanto merger, I decided to check out what the farmers and the scientists think about this.
As it turns out they have a lot to say. The farmers are worried about pesticide drift onto organic farms and a growing weed tolerance of their weeds to the roundup formulation. There also worried about getting cancer. What a surprise. You can read more from the article I quoted here.
This NIH study talks about the harmful effects of any pesticides or herbicides that kills biological life.
A favorite topic of mine is herbicides and soil health. You can read more about that in this article.
As always, you can reach me with any questions, comments, or suggestions for future topics on my website contact page.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I have just found a few solid studies that have detected substantial amounts of the active ingredient of roundup and our food supply. So once again, I'm having the talk about how important it is for us to lead the way by example and avoid Monsanto products.
A chemist from the FDA was quoted in an email as saying that he found detectable amounts of roundup in his children's granola cereal. You can read about glyphosate in granola and crackers in this article.
Glyphosate isn't the only active Ingredient in roundup. Another study (that is discussed here) compared glyphosate alone to roundup and found that the roundup formulation caused cancer more frequently than glyphosate alone.
This article in Ecowatch describes a landmark case where a gentleman by the name of Dwayne Johnson is suing Monsanto, arguing that roundup caused his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Dwayne Johnson had worked on properties in California spraying roundup on school grounds.
Now that Bayer has purchased Monsanto and plans to make Monsanto's name disappear, will their bad boy reputation disappear as well? I don't know. I do know that we cannot forget what roundup and these harsh chemicals are doing to our food.
I'm re-play a 2016 episode about Monsanto killing Vermont's GMO labeling bill.
If you would like to contribute $1 or $2 or $3 to my new patreon page, I would so appreciate it! You can go to my patreon page to contribute. Thanks!
You can avoid all those health magazines in the grocery store aisles if you're looking for ways to keep your skin looking young and healthy. And that's because most of all this is common sense. Eat fresh and healthy to look fresh and healthy.
Does that sound pretty ho-hum boring? Well maybe. But... Would you rather feel not-bored, or feel young and beautiful at any age?
I thought so.
I mentioned a study done through the Royal Society of Medicine in London. You can find their website here.
I would love your suggestions for future topics! Feel free to drop me a line on my website contact page.
Food activist Karen Washington was interviewed in the Guardian recently regarding racism in the food industry. I thought the timing was right to discuss her thoughts and the thoughts of so many people like Karen who are doing great things to promote healthy food for everyone.
First, here is the link to her article in the Guardian. I recommend that you read the whole article because she has some terrific insights about this issue.
This podcast called "the racist sandwich" talks about the way we consume food as a political part of our culture.
I found this annotated bibliography on structural racism present in the US food system.
There’s a free online book called: Unshared bounty. How structural racism contributes to the creation and persistence of food deserts
As always, feel free to email me on my website contact page with any questions or suggestions for future topics.
Anyone who is considering having bypass surgery for weight loss may want to weigh the pros and cons before making such a commitment.Today I'll discuss some of the benefits and risks involved. However, I recommend having an ongoing dialogue with your physician if you're thinking about moving forward with it. Your physician may also recommend that you speak to another specialist before making your decision.
I mentioned BMI, or body mass index, as an approximate way to determine the line between overweight and obese. This NIH webpage explains BMI and allows you to calculate your own.
If you have any questions about the nutritional consequences of gastric bypass surgery, feel free to contact me on my website contact page.
Two of the more notable experts from the food Revolution summit were Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. Mark Hyman. They both are encouraging a plant- based, high-fiber diet for pretty much, whatever ails you. And what ails Americans, quite frankly, is a lot. I thought these 2 interviews were worth reviewing in this week's episode.
As always, if you have any questions or want to suggest topics for future episodes, feel free to contact me on my website contact page
This week I'm telling a funny story about my originally tragic story about my day on the witness stand in a criminal court case. I first posted this episode early in 2017, but justice is just as blind now.
And, oh yes...I eventually get to the nutrition advice.
Enjoy.