1/. Eat Real Food. Avoid highly processed, factory-manufactured “Frankenfoods” (genetically modified foods)*.Choose fresh vegetables, fruit, whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, and lean animal protein such as fish, chicken, and eggs.
2/.Clean Up Your Diet. Look for animal products that are pasture-raised, grass-fed, and antibiotic, hormone, and pesticide free. Go on a low mercury diet by sticking with small, wild, or sustainably farmed fish.
3/. Go Organic> Pesticides and chemical fertilizers poison your metabolism, your thyroid, your sex hormones, and our planet. Buy as much organic food as your budget allows. Refer to the “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean Fifteen” lists at http://www.ewg.org
4/. Stay Local. Seasonal, local foods you find at farmers’ markets or community-supported agriculture projects (CSAs) are healthier, taste better, are typically sustainably grown, and help you recognize the intimate relationship between the ecosystem of your body, and the broader ecosystem in which we all live.
It is possible to heal our planet and our health in one step. What you put on the end of your fork has a broad impact on agriculture, energy consumption, the environment, politics, the economy and your biology.
• Current genetically modified foods are:
Soy, corn, cottonseed, Hawaiian papaya, crookneck squash, zucchini, canola oil, sugar (from sugar beets)
Buying certified organic produce and products avoids the risk of consuming genetically modified foods and ingredients.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Spring Clean Your Mind!
The following are tips taken from an interview with Coach Meg of Well Coaches (ACSM)
It is the same organization that I received my training as a Wellness Coach. It is a dynamic program, and I highly recommend working with a Wellness Coach to "ramp up" your own health and happiness. Questions? Please contact: susan@nutressante.net
1. Sweep your mind clean of frenzy by experimenting with 2-3 things together to elicit a calm, fun, spirited mindset. Then when long summer days come you'll have some new tricks to relax and savor the summer's treasures.
2. Calm your heart to calm your mind. Get more exercise (early morning walks?) and quality sleep to improve cognitive function. Put mind-calming habits in place so you get more done and fully enjoy your vacation this summer.
3. Catalog your major distractions, name them and put them in "mind" drawers, pulling them out when you choose rather than having them all open all of the time hijacking your productive time.
4. Bring your impulses into the sunlight. Schedule time to enjoy your impulses, what you really love to do on the beautiful spring days, so that your impulses don't interfere with high quality focus periods.
5. Improve your cognitive fitness. To improve your working memory and cognitive agility, read books, blogs, magazines and listen to radio/tv to consider and debate points of view that differ from your own.
6. Stretch your brain. Use some of your improved focus to challenge your brain and learn some new skills such as cooking new recipes with summer fare, experiment with a new sport or exercise activity, or a new hobby.
It is the same organization that I received my training as a Wellness Coach. It is a dynamic program, and I highly recommend working with a Wellness Coach to "ramp up" your own health and happiness. Questions? Please contact: susan@nutressante.net
1. Sweep your mind clean of frenzy by experimenting with 2-3 things together to elicit a calm, fun, spirited mindset. Then when long summer days come you'll have some new tricks to relax and savor the summer's treasures.
2. Calm your heart to calm your mind. Get more exercise (early morning walks?) and quality sleep to improve cognitive function. Put mind-calming habits in place so you get more done and fully enjoy your vacation this summer.
3. Catalog your major distractions, name them and put them in "mind" drawers, pulling them out when you choose rather than having them all open all of the time hijacking your productive time.
4. Bring your impulses into the sunlight. Schedule time to enjoy your impulses, what you really love to do on the beautiful spring days, so that your impulses don't interfere with high quality focus periods.
5. Improve your cognitive fitness. To improve your working memory and cognitive agility, read books, blogs, magazines and listen to radio/tv to consider and debate points of view that differ from your own.
6. Stretch your brain. Use some of your improved focus to challenge your brain and learn some new skills such as cooking new recipes with summer fare, experiment with a new sport or exercise activity, or a new hobby.
From Harvard Medical School - The Gut-Brain Connection
Out of sight, out of mind, your digestive system is working around the clock delivering the nutrients in food to your bloodstream. As long as the system is running smoothly, you tend not to think about it. Once trouble begins, however, your gut — like a squeaky wheel — suddenly demands your attention. This Special Health Report covers the major sources of gastrointestinal distress: irritable bowel syndrome, gastric reflux, upset stomach, constipation, diarrhea, and excess gas. It also includes a special Bonus Section describing how emotional stress and anxiety can cause gastrointestinal distress.
Have you ever had a “gut-wrenching” experience? Do certain situations make you “feel nauseous”? Have you ever felt “butterflies” in your stomach? We use these expressions for a reason. The gastrointestinal tract is sensitive to emotion. Anger, anxiety, sadness, elation — all of these feelings (and others) can trigger symptoms in the gut.
The brain has a direct effect on the stomach. For example, the very thought of eating can release the stomach’s juices before food gets there. This connection goes both ways. A troubled intestine can send signals to the brain, just as a troubled brain can send signals to the gut. Therefore, a person’s stomach or intestinal distress can be the cause or the product of anxiety, stress, or depression. That’s because the brain and the gastrointestinal (GI) system are intimately connected — so intimately that they should be viewed as one system.
This is especially true in cases where a person experiences gastrointestinal upset with no obvious physical cause. For such functional GI disorders, it is difficult to try to heal a distressed gut without considering the role of stress and emotion..
Stress and the functional GI disorders
Given how closely the gut and brain interact, it becomes easier to understand why you might feel nauseated before giving a presentation, or feel intestinal pain during times of stress. That doesn’t mean, however, that functional gastrointestinal illnesses are imagined or “all in your head.” Psychology combines with physical factors to cause pain and other bowel symptoms. Psychosocial factors influence the actual physiology of the gut, as well as symptoms. In other words, stress (or depression or other psychological factors) can affect movement and contractions of the GI tract, cause inflammation, or make you more susceptible to infection.
In addition, research suggests that some people with functional GI disorders perceive pain more acutely than other people do because their brains do not properly regulate pain signals from the GI tract. Stress can make the existing pain seem even worse.
Based on these observations, you might expect that at least some patients with functional GI conditions might improve with therapy to reduce stress or treat anxiety or depression. And sure enough, a review of 13 studies showed that patients who tried psychologically based approaches had greater improvement in their digestive symptoms compared with patients who received conventional medical treatment.
Is stress causing your symptoms?
Are your stomach problems — such as heartburn, abdominal cramps, or loose stools — related to stress? Watch for these other common symptoms of stress and discuss them with your doctor. Together you can come up with strategies to help you deal with the stressors in your life, and also ease your digestive discomforts.
Physical symptoms
Stiff or tense muscles, especially in the neck and shoulders
Headaches
Sleep problems
Shakiness or tremors
Recent loss of interest in sex
Weight loss or gain
Restlessness
Behavioral symptoms
Procrastination
Grinding teeth
Difficulty completing work assignments
Changes in the amount of alcohol or food you consume
Taking up smoking, or smoking more than usual
Increased desire to be with or withdraw from others
Rumination (frequent talking or brooding about stressful situations)
Emotional symptoms
Crying
Overwhelming sense of tension or pressure
Trouble relaxing
Nervousness
Quick temper
Depression
Poor concentration
Trouble remembering things
Loss of sense of humor
Indecisiveness
Have you ever had a “gut-wrenching” experience? Do certain situations make you “feel nauseous”? Have you ever felt “butterflies” in your stomach? We use these expressions for a reason. The gastrointestinal tract is sensitive to emotion. Anger, anxiety, sadness, elation — all of these feelings (and others) can trigger symptoms in the gut.
The brain has a direct effect on the stomach. For example, the very thought of eating can release the stomach’s juices before food gets there. This connection goes both ways. A troubled intestine can send signals to the brain, just as a troubled brain can send signals to the gut. Therefore, a person’s stomach or intestinal distress can be the cause or the product of anxiety, stress, or depression. That’s because the brain and the gastrointestinal (GI) system are intimately connected — so intimately that they should be viewed as one system.
This is especially true in cases where a person experiences gastrointestinal upset with no obvious physical cause. For such functional GI disorders, it is difficult to try to heal a distressed gut without considering the role of stress and emotion..
Stress and the functional GI disorders
Given how closely the gut and brain interact, it becomes easier to understand why you might feel nauseated before giving a presentation, or feel intestinal pain during times of stress. That doesn’t mean, however, that functional gastrointestinal illnesses are imagined or “all in your head.” Psychology combines with physical factors to cause pain and other bowel symptoms. Psychosocial factors influence the actual physiology of the gut, as well as symptoms. In other words, stress (or depression or other psychological factors) can affect movement and contractions of the GI tract, cause inflammation, or make you more susceptible to infection.
In addition, research suggests that some people with functional GI disorders perceive pain more acutely than other people do because their brains do not properly regulate pain signals from the GI tract. Stress can make the existing pain seem even worse.
Based on these observations, you might expect that at least some patients with functional GI conditions might improve with therapy to reduce stress or treat anxiety or depression. And sure enough, a review of 13 studies showed that patients who tried psychologically based approaches had greater improvement in their digestive symptoms compared with patients who received conventional medical treatment.
Is stress causing your symptoms?
Are your stomach problems — such as heartburn, abdominal cramps, or loose stools — related to stress? Watch for these other common symptoms of stress and discuss them with your doctor. Together you can come up with strategies to help you deal with the stressors in your life, and also ease your digestive discomforts.
Physical symptoms
Stiff or tense muscles, especially in the neck and shoulders
Headaches
Sleep problems
Shakiness or tremors
Recent loss of interest in sex
Weight loss or gain
Restlessness
Behavioral symptoms
Procrastination
Grinding teeth
Difficulty completing work assignments
Changes in the amount of alcohol or food you consume
Taking up smoking, or smoking more than usual
Increased desire to be with or withdraw from others
Rumination (frequent talking or brooding about stressful situations)
Emotional symptoms
Crying
Overwhelming sense of tension or pressure
Trouble relaxing
Nervousness
Quick temper
Depression
Poor concentration
Trouble remembering things
Loss of sense of humor
Indecisiveness
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