On GOING Pain GOING On Before GONE
Please explain why you came to our office.
“Was having on going neck pain with flashes of pain into head.”
Please describe your response to treatment.
“Has been gradual but definitely improving, particularly this past week.”
60 year-old male
New Office Hours for March
For the month of March, our office will not be opened on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We will have hours three days a week–Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays from 10 am to 6 pm.
Office Closed Tuesday 2/21/23
Our office will be closed Tuesday, February 21, 2023. We will resume normal working hours on Wednesday at 10 am.
Is Your “Healthy” Diet Making You Sick?
Anti-nutrients get lost in the hype of superfood promotion. Anti-nutrients, you say? What are those?
Most people don’t know, and if they are eating the standard American diet it is likely not an issue for them because these anti-nutrients are not in animal foods and are much lower in most highly refined foods such as white flour, sugar and oils. But what if you are food conscious and working towards improving your health by “cleaning up” your diet? Perhaps you are making it more “plant-based” with almond or cashew milk, green smoothies, sweet potatoes and chia seeds. Before you dive into the world of “superfoods”, you need to know about anti-nutrients.
Anti-nutrients are natural compounds in plants that the plant makes to protect and promote growth in itself or its seeds. They are present in seeds, leaves and roots/tubers of various plants–some plants/plant parts having very high amounts of various anti-nutrients, especially seeds. The reason we need to be aware of them is that they can make us sick and deficient in various nutrients. If you think about it, this makes sense as a protective mechanism for the plant. The plant wants not to be eaten by an animal and wants to give its seeds stores of nutrients so they will grow later on. Anti-nutrients such as phytates, enzyme inhibitors, oxalates are examples of how plants guarantee survival when good conditions for growth occur in its environment. They have been known about and researched extensively for many decades and animal studies give us really clear examples of their possible negative impact on human health.
So the nutrient facts on the label of a food product may list so many milligrams of calcium in a serving but you may not absorb all or any of that calcium if anti-nutrients are also present in the meal. Wow! That means you think you are getting all this wonderful nutrition plus the phyto wonder compounds that are touted as miracle ingredients in the product infomercials, and you could be losing nutrients!
One anti-nutrient, oxalic acid, is the topic of a recent book, “Toxic Superfoods” by Sally Norton. If you have had kidney stones, you definitely want to read this book to know what foods to avoid to reduce the formation of stones. Some of the foods with the highest amounts of oxalic acid are spinach, swiss chard, beet greens, sweet potatoes, quinoa, buckwheat, dark chocolate, almonds and chia seeds! And it is possible that other health problems superfood eaters–especially vegans or vegetarians-suffer from are related to an accumulation of oxalic acid in their organs, glands, muscles, eyes, etc.
In summary, in my experience studying nutrition over the years, animal foods are an important part of the human diet. Plants are very valuable too–please don’t misunderstand– but consumers need to be educated in finding the right balance. If you are unsure about your diet and its anti-nutrient content and the effect they could be having on your health, make an appointment for a nutritional consult. We’re here to help.
Breastfeeding Much Better!
Please explain why you came to our office.
“My baby had a frenectomy and we were having issues with tension and breastfeeding.”
Please describe your response to treatment.
“Our baby is doing much better! She no longer favors looking to one side. Her mouth is nice and relaxed and breastfeeding is doing much better!”
~Mom for her 2 month-old baby
GF Pumpkin Bread
Well, it’s actually butternut squash bread but it’s as good as pumpkin bread and people know what that is! I have found butternut squash to be a perfect and practical substitute for pumpkin. It is easy to bake whole in a 350 degree oven for an hour; let it cool, cut in half lengthwise, and remove/discard the skin and seeds. The flesh that is left can be used directly or kept in the fridge for up to a week or frozen for later use. I use it for pumpkin pie, soup, sauteed vegetables (see previously posted recipes by searching butternut squash). This bread recipe is quick once you have the cooked squash. I use a food processor but hand mixing works fine.
Makes 4-6 serving
2 cups of cooked butternut squash
1 cup shredded dry coconut
1/2 cup tapioca flour or arrowroot flour or equal parts of each
1/2 cup tigernut flour (if you don’t have it, use rice flour)
1/4 cup brown flax seed ground in a blender or food processor
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup raisins, optional
1/2 cup pumpkin or sunflower seeds, optional
Place all dry ingredients except raisins and seeds in a food processor or bowl and mix well. Add squash and mix well again. Add eggs (beat separately in a bowl first if you are mixing by hand). Mix very well. Stir in raisins and seeds if you desire. Transfer the mix into a muffin tin or baking dish (greased with a little ghee first). Bake at 350 degrees F until a knife in the center comes out clean. Let it cool before cutting or removing from pan. Better the next day, just like pumpkin pie.
Watch Out For Belly Fat
This is one study that confirms what nutritionists have been warning about for years now. You may appear thin and be normal weight for your height but how does your middle look? Fat around the middle is a metabolic problem that predicts diabetes. There’s even a name for this presentation: MONW or metabolically obese normal weight.
The very significant results of magnetic resonance measures of the visceral/abdominal fat and liver fat of middle-aged Asians is what caught my eye about this study. Visceral fat was two-times higher and liver fat four-times higher in the metabolically abnormal (insulin resistant) subjects compared to matched controls. Wow!
Increasing belly fat with age is a very common occurrence among Americans. And we are seeing it show up in younger and younger people, just as type II diabetes is showing up in younger and younger people . It is best in my estimation that we adapt our diet and lifestyle to our life stage–and we can gauge how well we are doing by taking a good look at our waists! Making diet changes is not always easy as we are creatures of habit and habits are not easily broken. If you need help assessing and addressing your diet and lifestyle habits, make an appointment with Monica. The body has an amazing healing capacity if you will just work with it!
Which Eggs to Buy?
Eggs are good for you when they come from healthy chickens that have free access to grass pasture, are fed an organic feed, and are properly taken care of. When the yolks are golden yellow–almost orange–and the shells hard, these are good signs. Very often even organic brands have pale yolks and thin shells. When we don’t know about the farm where our eggs are produced, it is difficult to know which brand to buy. If you don’t know your farmer and his/her practices, visit Cornucopia Institute’s organic egg scorecard. Their list and the ratings will help you make a good choice at your local, natural foods grocery. Once you find a brand that you have available locally, go to the scorecard and click on the name to open the criteria list with individual ratings. The long list of criteria which determines the rating is very educational! Check it out!
Safer, Healthier Breast Screening in Roanoke
The next Thermography screening at our office in Roanoke will be on Monday, February 13, 2023, from 2-5:30 pm. Please note that you will need to call the number below to schedule an appointment–our office does not do scheduling for thermography.
Thermal imaging is FDA registered, safe, painless and non-invasive plus it can detect breast tissue changes very early. It is also used to detect and follow inflammation; half-body and full-body screenings are available in addition to breast screenings. To learn more or to schedule a screening call 888-580-0040. Also, check out the website www.longevitythermography.com.