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Be careful, it’s coming your way! The boogey flu will get you! We’re having a pandemic! Everyone is in danger! I say, bah humbug. All this advance notice is very suspicious to me. It seems to me that these are scare tactics so that people out of fear become willing to buy drugs and vaccines for something that hasn’t even happened. There has been no real evidence that the H1N1 flu is any more dangerous than the regular flu. There is however the real possibility of adverse effects from untested vaccines (remember the 1976 swine flu, where people got Guillain-Barre from the vaccines?). I would be much more concerned about the dangers of mandated vaccines, especially if drug companies are not liable for people who get hurt by them. See
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/08/20/Legal-Immunity-Set-for-Swine-Flu-Vaccine-Makers.aspx What to do then?
1. First of all, don’t get sucked into this fear and paranoia – wait for evidence.
2. Keep sensible precautions, such as washing your hands with soap several times during the day.
3. Don’t worry about this all the time. Remember the old saying “That which I feared hath come to pass.”
4. If you get the flu, don’t think of it as a big deal.
5. Treat the flu you get, whatever its name, with sensible natural remedies: rest, plenty of fluids, chicken soup, herbal teas, lots of garlic (a natural antibiotic), and more rest. Here are two great ways to increase your intake of garlic.
1. Peel a small clove of garlic and chop it into small pieces. Swallow this with some juice or water, without chewing, and you will not get garlic breath. It’s a great preventative. 2. Russian Garlic toast. Make a slice of good wholemeal toast. Peel a clove of garlic and rub the garlic all over the toast. It may get all used up. Sprinkle with a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil, and a few grains of sea salt. Eat heartily. You may want to give some to the rest of the family, as this will give you garlic breath. Worth it!
Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D.
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I have a new book out (toot toot). It’s called “The Whole-Food Guide to Strong Bones.” It’s an update of a book I published 10 years ago, and it is MUCH better. Let me tell you a story from someone who read the old version. She wrote to me that she had been through some bone problems – diagnosed with osteoporosis, weak in general, and had been vegan for more than 10 years. In my book I mention that yes, vegetarians are supposed to have less osteoporosis than meat eaters – and there is a general impression that meat is not good for the bones. However, that turns out to be not quite true. Protein is essential for the bones as well.
Recent research shows that people who eat meat have stronger bones than people who don’t. This makes sense to me, because 35 per cent of the bone is the collagen matrix, which is a protein. While the calcium in the bone makes it dense and hard, that is not enough – the collagen makes it flexible. It is the flexibility that keeps the bone from breaking, not the hardness. Some people have thin bones that don’t fracture, and others have dense bones that do. Anyway, this woman mentioned that after so many years of being vegan, and then worrying about her bones, she found my book and started following my recipes, eating some more meat and animal protein with the vegetables, doing more exercise, and a couple of years later her bones had returned to normal. So – more vegetables for some, more meat for others – that’s how people improve their bones.
What hurts the bones, on the other hand, are the refined carbohydrates – sugar, white flour, white rice. Our beloved cakes, cookies, pastries, ice cream – those are good to help us weaken our bones. As osteoporosis and fractures are increasing, and they increase more in countries where people eat those foods, in addition to milk and milk products, we should take note of this sad trend. Whenever I put out a book, I hold my breath until I get the first few feedback comments. I could have written something to the best of my ability, and yet it may not have come out right. But feedback of the kind above, where people find what I write helpful, is the best and most satisfying kind. I think many of us want to help the world be a better place, and we do what we can within our possibilities and limitations. I believe that if only one person benefits from what we offer, we’re doing fine. If more that one benefits, that is so nice to know. So please, I hope that some of these ideas are of use to you, dear reader, and that you will pass along the information to your friends and acquaintances. Annemarie’s book is available from Amazon.com. Click here to purchase:
http://www.amazon.com/Whole-Food-Guide-Strong-Bones-Holistic/dp/1572245808/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236704460&sr=8-1
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Vaccination rates are dropping. I believe that is a good thing. Living has its risks (and its benefits, of course). We are always making choices. In this case, it’s the risk of getting measles vs. the risk of getting autism or other neurological disease. It’s a no-brainer as to which one I would rather expose my children to. Many of us older people – say, older than 45 – have had measles, and survived it quite well, thereby becoming immune for life, no boosters needed.
Let’s remember that human beings are extremely complex organisms. The idea that a single virus will create a disease by itself in a body is absurd. If it were true, humanity would be erased within a day as viruses and bacteria of all kinds are literally crawling all over us when we’re well (as well as when we’re sick). There was a great disagreement between Louis Pasteur (the bacterium does it) and Auguste Bechamp, his contemporary, who insisted that the bacterium only does it in a susceptible terrain. It’s like saying that flies cause garbage, rather than recognizing that when there is garbage, flies appear. Best way to get rid of the flies is in cleaning up the garbage, not by shooting the flies.
So, to prevent disease, let’s strengthen the human terrain. Good, nutritious food is the best means for that. In the case of measles, it is well recognized that a deficiency in vitamin A increases the morbidity and mortality of this disease. Studies show that vitamin A supplementation in children is associated with a reduction of 23% to 30% in mortality risk and a noticeable reduction in the severity of symptoms. (Cad Saude Publica. 2007 Nov;23(11):2565-75. [Evidence of the impact of vitamin A supplementation on maternal and child health] [Article in Portuguese] Oliveira JM, Rondó PH.) I would extend that discovery to the notion that malnutrition in general can increase the risk for infectious diseases. Keeping those two concepts in mind, here is how to reduce the risk of measles in children, especially in very young ones:
1. Breastfeed them for at least 6 months, but better still, for 2 years. Solids can be introduced when they become interested and start putting things in their mouth to chew – about 6-8 months. The mother’s diet, of course, should be rich in nutrients.
2. Offer regular sources of vitamin A. These include plant foods (orange vegetables such as carrots, winter squashes, and yams, as well as leafy greens), and animal foods (organic, grass fed butter, liver and eggs with their yolks).
3. As vitamin A is fat soluble, there should be reasonable amounts of healthy fats in the diet, including extra virgin olive oil, organic butter from healthy cows, flax oil, coconut oil.
4. For supplementation, the classic European custom of giving children cod liver oil is probably one of the best.
Should they still get measles, heaven forfend, treat it with homeopathy. Then you can be reasonably assured that it will be mild and give them lifetime immunity.
Here is my favorite recipe for greens, which my kids used to eat with gusto from the time they were about 5.
Garlic greens (about 4 servings)
1 lb collards, kale, or mustard greens, stems removed. 2 T extra virgin olive oil 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced Fresh grated nutmeg 1 tsp lemon juice (optional)
1. Fill a large pot with water, bring to a boil, drop in the greens, and simmer them, uncovered, for about 10 minutes. Push them down with a wooden spoon if they poke out too far.
2. Fish out the greens with a colander, and chop into bite size pieces. (You can drink the “greens water” with a little lemon juice while hot, a great alkalizer – discard once it has cooled, it gets too bitter).
3. Heat the olive oil in a skilled, add the garlic, sizzle for a minute, add the greens, stir and heat for about 3 minutes. Dust a faint sprinkling of nutmeg all over (less than ¼ teaspoon), add the lemon juice if desired, and serve hot. (If there are leftovers, add some beaten eggs with a pinch of seasalt, and make a scramble or a frittata next morning.)
Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D.
ANNEMARIE COLBIN, Ph.D., CHES, is an award-winning leader in the field of natural health She founded Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts (TM) in New York City in 1977, and is adjunct professor of nutrition at the city’s Empire State College. She is the author of four books, including The Book of Whole Meals (Autumn Press, 1979; Ballantine Books, 1983), The Natural Gourmet (Ballantine Books, 1989, 1991), and Food and Healing (Ballantine Books, 1986, 1996). Her website is: www.foodandhealing.com
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Soy has been used
traditionally in China, Korea and Japan for thousands of years. As a
legume high in both protein and fat, it yields numerous products,
many of which are now part of large industries. Among the
traditional products are the unfermented tofu and soy milk, and the
fermented miso, soy sauce, tempeh, and natto. In the early days of
the “health food movement”, mid to late 1970’s,
these products were brought to the public’s attention by the
Japanese macrobiotic movement, and became adopted as excellent
additions to vegan and plant-based diets. Since the late 1980s
there has been a great deal of emphasis on using soy for the health
issues of women. Curiously enough, that is also about the time that
soybeans began to be genetically engineered. I always found this
timing coincidence curious. Soybeans are known to
contain both phytoestrogens and goitrogens. Effect on women
Phytoestrogens
(genistein is one of them) are similar to the female hormone
estrogen, and thus they can have both positive and adverse effects.
They may diminish hot flashes in post-menopausal women; on the other
hand, when taken by pregnant women, genisteins may adversely affect
the reproductive system of their developing male and female embryos.
They may also provoke the same effects as excessive estrogen, and
encourage the growth of endometrial and breast tissue. Soy products
are recommended against osteoporosis because the assumption is that,
being estrogenic, they will have a positive effect on bone mineral
density, although that does not mean that they prevent fractures.
Soy weakens the thyroid
The presence of
goitrogens – substances that weaken the thyroid –
in soy has been known for at least 30 years. I mentioned that in my
book Food and Healing (Ballantine 1996), the first edition of
which was published in 1986. This is an issue that is mostly
overlooked in the great soy marketing push: soy does weaken the
thyroid. For clients who come to me for consultation, if they have
any thyroid issues, I will suggest that they completely avoid any
kind of soy, with generally good results. In addition, as a legume,
soy in its uncooked state contains substances called trypsin
inhibitors, also called proteinase inhibitors. These
substances interfere with the protein-digesting activity of the
digestive enzymes trypsin and chymotrypsin. Animals
fed raw soybean meal show reduced growth and extensive damage to the
pancreas. Cooking helps eliminate most of the trypsin inhibitors. Growth problems
Soy is also a source of
phytic acid, or phytates. According to the Weston A. Price
Foundation
(http://www.westonaprice.org/brochures/SoyAlertTrifold.pdf),
high levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium,
magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. High phytate diets have caused
growth problems in children. Phytic acid in soy is not neutralized
by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting and long,
slow cooking, but need to be neutralized by fermenting.
Therefore, tofu and soy milk, which are unfermented,
are poor food choices, both for children and adults. Miso, soy
sauce, tempeh, and natto are better sources in this regard, but there
still is the problem of goitrogens, which appear to be linked to the
phytoestrogens in soy, the very substance that makes them desirable
for those looking at women’s issues. Let’s remember also
that allergies to soy are extremely common, especially among
children.
At this time (in the
first decade of the 21st Century), about 89% of the soy
crop in the United States is GMO, or genetically engineered, most
commonly to resist an herbicide. Studies on mice show that when fed
GMO soy, there are unfavorable changes in the liver, pancreas, and
testes of these laboratory animals. When these animals were switched
off the GMO soybeans and fed the standard non-GMO soy, their organs
returned to normal. How to be safe with soy
To be safe, if you are
using soy products, it’s essential that they be organic,
non-GMO, and fermented, such as tempeh, natto, and soy sauce. I
think it’s OK to use tofu here and there, mixed into stir-fries
or other dishes, but not too much. I really don’t like soy
milk as a dairy substitute; it’s just a white liquid, like
milk is, but highly processed. Real homemade soy milk tastes like
bean water, which it is. The commercial stuff has a lot of
ingredients in it, including sweeteners – just read the label
carefully. While I have met women who feel that their hot flashes
have diminished from drinking soy milk, as a whole I would advise
against unfermented commercial soy as a healthy food, because of all
the other problems mentioned. Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D.
ANNEMARIE COLBIN, Ph.D., CHES, is an award-winning leader in the
field of natural health She founded Natural Gourmet Institute for
Health and Culinary Arts (TM) in New York City in 1977, and is adjunct
professor of nutrition at the city’s Empire State College. She is the
author of four books, including The Book of Whole Meals (Autumn Press, 1979; Ballantine Books, 1983), The Natural Gourmet (Ballantine Books, 1989, 1991), and Food and Healing (Ballantine Books, 1986, 1996). Her website is: www.foodandhealing.com
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First of all, let’s make sure we get our vitamin D this summer – by getting sun on our skin without sunscreen! Just make sure you don’t burn. Any little bit of sunshine will help, and your body will store the vitamin D it makes in the summer for several months. It also feels wonderful!
Then, make sure to eat lots of colorful plant foods, and especially berries, which are high in antioxidants, and which will help you resist sunburn! A nice breakfast bowl of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, or any other local berries easy to obtain, will help you feel really summery. Put some almonds and cashews on it, or walnuts (for the Omega 3’s) and pumpkin seeds (for the zinc), and there is your daily brain food.
If you want to relax and take it easy this summer, avoid caffeine if at all possible, or at least cut down to minimum. Caffeine makes your brain speed up; it is great when you have lots of brain work to do – and it can also keep you from relaxing properly, so be cautious.
To keep cool, iced herbal teas are great. If you go to a shop, the best way to get iced tea is by asking for a cup of your favorite (peppermint, hibiscus, whatever), and a separate cup of ice. Then you pour the hot tea onto the ice, and there you are – immediate iced tea! The best part is that you know there is nothing in there you don’t want. I find that pre-made iced teas usually have some sugar or other sweetener in them, or flavoring, or whatever.
And here is my favorite cold summer soup, always fabulous for summer lunch.
COLD CUCUMBER AVOCADO SOUP
1 clove garlic
2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 avocado, halved, pit removed
1 quart unsalted chicken stock or water
½ teaspoon sea salt or to taste
1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)
1. Run the blender with the cover on but without the center cup. Drop the clove of garlic in, put the cover on, and let it get chopped and plastered to the walls of the blender.
2. Add the cucumber chunks, scoop the avocado into the blender, add half the chicken stock, the salt and lemon juice, and puree until smooth. Add as much of the rest of the chicken stock as needed for the consistency you like. Adjust taste. Chill. Makes about 6-8 servings. Serve cold.
Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D.
ANNEMARIE COLBIN, Ph.D., CHES, is an award-winning leader in the
field of natural health She founded Natural Gourmet Institute for
Health and Culinary Arts (TM) in New York City in 1977, and is adjunct
professor of nutrition at the city’s Empire State College. She is the
author of four books, including The Book of Whole Meals (Autumn Press, 1979; Ballantine Books, 1983), The Natural Gourmet (Ballantine Books, 1989, 1991), and Food and Healing (Ballantine Books, 1986, 1996). Her website is: www.foodandhealing.com
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There are allergies, and there are sensitivities. Allergists insist that an allergy can only be diagnosed by specific tests, and that people who say they’re “allergic to” some food or other environmental element are often not technically allergic. Basically, it doesn’t matter what you call it: if the food or element specifically affects you in a negative way, we have a problem and it’s worth attending to. Foods most commonly considered allergenic include milk and milk products, eggs, soy, nuts, corn, peanuts, tomatoes, and shellfish. Different individuals may react to others as well. In addition, pollen, cats, dander, and the like may also cause unpleasant symptoms. Avoiding whatever it is you’re allergic to is, obviously, step number one. Step number two: In my experience, eliminating milk products from one’s diet can help diminish the symptoms of other allergies. It’s worth a try, as so many people respond positively. And don’t worry about the calcium issue – just eat plenty of leafy greens, just like the cows, and you’ll have that covered! Enhancing the gut flora may be helpful as well. Consuming naturally fermented vegetables (no vinegar), such as sauerkraut, brine pickles, and unpasteurized miso (in soups and salad dressings), will provide some pro-biotic elements. I would suggest two tablespoons of sauerkraut per day – see recipe below. For cat allergies, my friend Carol Ellis, who is an MD and herbalist, recommends tincture of mullein. When I used to have cats, and an allergic person came to visit, I used to give them a glass of water with two droppersful of mullein, and their symptoms would abate as long as they sipped their water throughout the evening. I refilled the glass whenever necessary. Natural sauerkraut recipe: Cut a small cabbage in quarters, top to bottom, and cut out the core. Slice the quarters into thin strips, and spread out over your cutting board or table. Sprinkle good seasalt all over it, trying to visualize a thin film of salt only one grain thick all over the cabbage. You’re better off using a little too much rather than too little. Gather it all and put in a crock or non-metal pot (porcelain or glass is fine). Put a plate on top with some weights, to press down. Place in a dark and cool spot. Next day, take a look: enough water should have been released to cover the cabbage. If not, add some warmed water, with one teaspoon of seasalt per cup, stir well, and pour in as much as needed to cover the cabbage by one inch. Let sit about a week; remove anything that is sitting on top of the water. Pour into a clean glass jar with the water and keep covered in the fridge. Enjoy in lieu of salad!
Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D.
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It’s spring. This is traditionally a time for cleaning out the stagnation from the winter – cleaning the closets, shaking out the bedding, sweeping out the corners, discarding old junk. The same can be done with our bodies. Traditionally in Chinese medicine, spring is the time of liver/gallbladder; therefore a cleansing and detox program at this time of year is a good idea.
This is also a time for eating freshly growing greens. You may have noticed that at the market, the leafy greens are becoming more aromatic and brighter. These vegetables in general are good liver tonics, as are lemon, garlic, and olive oil. Here are some ideas to incorporate fresh greens into your daily diet, and a green drink if you want to do a few days of cleansing.
1. Eat a daily salad with leafy greens, including some parsley, and a dressing of 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, and 1 small clove garlic (crushed through a garlic press).
2. Make or purchase some good basil pesto. Recipe: 2 cloves garlic, 4 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves, ¼ cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese (use same amount of barley miso for a dairy-free version), ½ cup walnuts. Run the blender or food processor, drop in the garlic until minced and splattered against the wall of the container. Add the basil, olive oil, and miso or Parmesan, scrape the garlic down the wall to mix, and process for 2-3 minutes or until pureed. Add the walnuts and puree a minute longer. Put on pasta, rice, or even in soups.
3. Green drink: 1 garlic clove
2 cups lettuce (leftover salad works fine)
2 cups parsley leaves
1 celery rib, cut up
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
4 cups spring water
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon olive oil.
Process in blender or food processor until smooth. Keeps in the fridge 3-5 days. Makes about 6 cups.
This is a great liver cleanser. Try having two cups for breakfast every morning. For a really good general spring cleaning, follow with vegetable soup and salad for both lunch and dinner. Do this for 3-5 days. It will make a nice difference, I promise.
Let us know your experience.
Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D.
ANNEMARIE COLBIN, Ph.D., CHES, is an award-winning leader in the
field of natural health She founded Natural Gourmet Institute for
Health and Culinary Arts (TM) in New York City in 1977, and is adjunct
professor of nutrition at the city’s Empire State College. She is the
author of four books, including The Book of Whole Meals (Autumn Press, 1979; Ballantine Books, 1983), The Natural Gourmet (Ballantine Books, 1989, 1991), and Food and Healing (Ballantine Books, 1986, 1996). Her website is: www.foodandhealing.com
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There is something about spring that gets us bright eyed, bushy tailed, and ready to shake things up. I don’t know how many of us still shake the bedding and leave it out in the sun in the garden, but cleaning out the house and wiping out the dank corners can be done in any abode. So how do we do that with our bodies? Do they need cleaning? On the whole, our bodies are self-cleaning, if we give them enough time. We can’t actually go in there and clean up, except for the large bowel – but whatever is in the large bowel is already ready to come out, so it’s kind of after the fact. But we can encourage the body to clean itself further by some simple, time-tested practices. If you are ready to do a little spring cleansing of your own, try any or several of the following. 1. Eat less! Cut down on the quantity of food by half, and if you get hungry, drink water.
2. Do a 3-day fast on nothing but fruits and vegetables, both cooked and raw.
3. Try a 3-day juice fast, followed by 3 days of only vegetables and whole grains.
4. For good bowel function, add fermented vegetables to your meals – sauerkraut, kim chee, pickled beets – these should be brine-fermented, with salt, not vinegar
5. After the fast, it's a good time to review your eating habits, and say goodbye to those that damage you, such as sugared sweets, soda pop, pastries, and packaged snacks. Stick to nuts and seeds for crunchy snacks. You can do this once or twice a year – say, spring and fall – and such a simple regime can be really good for your health and longevity.
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So many people are worried about their weight! It’s either the look, or the health, or the concern about what other people may say about them, or the bullies in school – all the messages from society are that being chubby, overweight, zaftig, or plump is not OK. At the same time, the common foods we find in cheap restaurants, fast food outlets, snack bars and the like all contribute to that extra weight. Not everybody is overweight; some bodies have a fast metabolism that burns everything. But others are not so lucky, and need to be more attentive. Here are some of the foods or aspects of food that are likely to put weight on susceptible bodies: - Sweeteners: sugar (including “organic evaporated cane juice”), high fructose corn syrup, “natural sweeteners,” as well as artificial sweeteners (it’s not the calories, it’s what they do to the insulin system).
- White flour, which is refined and stripped of its nutrients.
- Milk, cheese, ice cream.
While each one of these may have an effect, it is the combination of the three that is the worst. The sweetener, the flour, and the high-protein cow’s milk products all together seem to produce the most noticeable weight – so, having a meal of pizza, ice cream, and soda is a superfast way to put on weight. Also, the consumption of soft drinks, both regular and diet, is part of this problem. How to make changes?- Replace all soft drinks with a combination of bubbly water (seltzer or mineral water) and natural juices (apple, cranberry, orange, etc), in a 50-50 proportion, or just the bubbly water with lemon or lime slices.
- Eat as many fresh vegetables and salads as possible.
- Replace cow’s milk with coconut milk
- Replace bread with rye crackers
- Replace ice cream with frozen bananas, sherbet with frozen grapes.
- Finally, whatever you eat, CHEW IT WELL. Chewing will perforce make you cut down on calories without counting them, as you will be satisfied sooner. It will also help with digestion, and more than anything, it will get you in touch with what you are really eating, so changes may come much more easily.
While getting rid of excess weight is a good thing, it should, however, not be an obsession. Sometimes the body wants to be at the weight it wants to be, and fighting with it is counterproductive. So chew, enjoy your meals, and live your life!
Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D.
ANNEMARIE COLBIN, Ph.D., CHES, is an award-winning leader in the
field of natural health She founded Natural Gourmet Institute for
Health and Culinary Arts (TM) in New York City in 1977, and is adjunct
professor of nutrition at the city’s Empire State College. She is the
author of four books, including The Book of Whole Meals (Autumn Press, 1979; Ballantine Books, 1983), The Natural Gourmet (Ballantine Books, 1989, 1991), and Food and Healing (Ballantine Books, 1986, 1996). Her website is: www.foodandhealing.com
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I certainly hope you had a grand time, and that the New Year is a good one for you. And does your New Year’s resolution include cleansing and detoxing your system? If so, here are some ideas, from the least complicated to the most committed.
1. EAT LESS! If you just overdid it but don’t want to spend too much time worrying about what you should or should not eat, try just cutting down on what you normally eat. In every meal, pay close attention to how you feel, and as soon as your hunger is assuaged, STOP. This takes some attention, but only while you’re eating, not for planning or cooking, so you’re off the hook there.
2. Go low-fat and vegan for a few days – no dairy, eggs, meats. LOTS of vegetables, soups, whole grain breads and brown rice. Chew well!
3. Start each day with a detox drink. Examples: freshly made fruit or vegetable juice, with some garlic, ginger, and ground flax seed.
4. Try a liver flush: Into the blender, while running, drop a garlic clove, stop when chopped. Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice, ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, blend briefly, pour, drink up. Chase with a glass of water. Then for lunch have a big salad and nothing else, a light dinner. You can do this 3-4 days in a row.
5. Do a one-day vegetable juice fast – try carrot, celery and apple, or carrot, celery, beet, parsley, in the juice machine, and one snack of freshly squeezed orange juice. Then only soups (no flour or cream) and salads with lemon juice and olive oil the next day. Back to normal eating the third day.
Eating with consciousness – that is, chewing well and paying close attention to how your food makes you feel – is a good idea, as it will prevent “eater’s regret” next time you have a fine event where the food is truly tempting. If you just eat some of it, savoring it slowly and stopping when you had enough, you are less likely to overdo it.
Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D.
ANNEMARIE COLBIN, Ph.D., CHES, is an award-winning leader in the
field of natural health She founded Natural Gourmet Institute for
Health and Culinary Arts (TM) in New York City in 1977, and is adjunct
professor of nutrition at the city’s Empire State College. She is the
author of four books, including The Book of Whole Meals (Autumn Press, 1979; Ballantine Books, 1983), The Natural Gourmet (Ballantine Books, 1989, 1991), and Food and Healing (Ballantine Books, 1986, 1996). Her website is: www.foodandhealing.com
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The holidays are coming, and we’re all looking forward to stuffing ourselves with all the special and delicious dishes that mark the season.
But what to do with the aftermath of bloat and guilt? Here are some thoughts.
- To prevent overeating and stomach aches, the best technique is a very simple one: CHEW EVERY BITE 25 TIMES OR MORE. Yes, I know, sounds onerous, but believe me, if you do this you can eat anything you want and not get bloated or stuffed. Chewing initiates the digestion of carbohydrates through the action of the salivary amylase enzyme, and this is an essential first step in good digestion. Chewing also gives notice to the body that food is coming down, so the stomach, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, etc., all get ready, and bloating is avoided. Then, as sufficient notice is received, the appestat signals that enough food has come in, and the message to your brain is that you can stop eating now – so you will not tend to overeat.
- If you have eaten too much rich and fatty food, get some lemon – hot water with lemon is my favourite after-dinner drink, and you can also try seltzer with lemon or peppermint tea. That helps cut the grease, and according to Chinese medicine the sour taste stimulates the liver.
- Finally, two words about guilt: Forget it. It’s a useless emotion around eating. Either enjoy the food you’re eating to the fullest, or don’t eat it. And if you’ve eaten something you think is no good for you, hold off with the guilt. Instead, pay careful attention to the results of your gastronomic adventures – see how you feel, act, sleep, if you get pimples or hives, and how your stomach reacts. In other words, whatever you eat, consider it RESEARCH! That is how you get to be an expert on the effects of food on your own health.
Have a wonderful 2007 holiday with your friends and family!
Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D.
ANNEMARIE COLBIN, Ph.D., CHES, is an award-winning leader in the
field of natural health She founded Natural Gourmet Institute for
Health and Culinary Arts (TM) in New York City in 1977, and is adjunct
professor of nutrition at the city’s Empire State College. She is the
author of four books, including The Book of Whole Meals (Autumn Press, 1979; Ballantine Books, 1983), The Natural Gourmet (Ballantine Books, 1989, 1991), and Food and Healing (Ballantine Books, 1986, 1996). Her website is: www.foodandhealing.com
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 In the early sixties, I got what I eventually recognized as “the blues”. I had a series of low level jobs, and at times had brief fantasies of sweeping everything off the tables and making a mess. These feelings surprised me, as they were new. I associated the feelings with the German expression “weltschmerz,” or “pain about the world.” Mostly, I felt sorry for myself and didn’t like how I felt. Life sucked, as we would say today. I ascribed it to the state of the world and my understanding of how people messed everything up.
As I recently looked back on those days, I realized that those feelings of nameless despair had long ago disappeared and never returned, regardless of my personal circumstances of trouble or happiness in the ensuing 40 years. What was it that had made the difference?
First of all, diet. Early on I found that the food most clearly associated with the “blues” is sugar. My late friend William Dufty, whom I knew well and saw often during the late ‘60's and early ‘70s, knew what he was talking about when he called his book Sugar Blues. About 8-10 days after I quit eating sugared breakfasts (coffee with sugar, donuts), as well as desserts, the gloomy feeling lifted completely. In other words, if you are sad, blue, mildly depressed, sighing about the miseries of your life - the first thing to do is to quit eating refined cane and other sugars. And I mean ZERO sugar. No sweetened cereals, no breads or bean salads with sugar in them, no muffins, no cookies, no jams, no desserts. This means careful label reading, as well as very conscious eating – none of this shoveling food into your mouth without noticing what it is.
After eliminating sugar, the next step for me was replacing all refined carbohydrates with whole grains: brown rice instead of white, steel cut oats instead of farina, wholegrain bread instead of white, even whole grains instead of potatoes. That made another big difference, as it gave me a sense of strength and groundedness. For many, that means also avoiding wheat products and dairy foods, as mild allergies often manifest in emotional states.
Insuring that I got enough protein was another step for mental health, and especially for avoiding sugar cravings. I found that some animal food in each meal (not much, one egg, 4 oz meat or fish) was a great help for insuring steady moods.
Eating only fresh, home cooked foods (instead of frozen meals or canned vegetables), was a major aspect. This is not a new idea, nor is it an airy-fairy notion of the counterculture. More than 30 years ago, in the 1977 report of the Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs of the US Senate, chaired by then senator George McGovern, there was an extensive discussion of the dangers of relying on frozen and highly processed foods. Mention was made of prisons where inmates stopped complaining about the food and throwing their meals against the wall when they were again fed properly cooked meals. Mary Goodwin, a Montgomery County public health nutritionist, was quoted as saying “if you eat enough precooked, frozen, reheated foil-and-plastic packed lunches out of machines, part of you will starve to death.” (Dietary Goals for the United States. Printed for the use of the Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, United States Senate. US Government Printing Office, Washington: 1977)
So the dietary approach to getting out of mild depression includes the following:
- no cane sugar (white, brown, or organic); no corn syrup, molasses, high fructose corn syrup, regular fructose (refined), or artificial sweeteners (which confuse the blood sugar regulation system and so can affect moods)
- eating sufficient protein (meat, fish, organic chicken, organic eggs) daily
- choosing only freshly prepared foods (nothing canned or frozen)
And finally, if food is not enough, look into therapy, acupuncture, energy healing or soul retrieval. We humans are very complex beings.
Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D.
ANNEMARIE COLBIN, Ph.D., CHES, is an award-winning leader in the
field of natural health She founded Natural Gourmet Institute for
Health and Culinary Arts (TM) in New York City in 1977, and is adjunct
professor of nutrition at the city’s Empire State College. She is the
author of four books, including The Book of Whole Meals (Autumn Press, 1979; Ballantine Books, 1983), The Natural Gourmet (Ballantine Books, 1989, 1991), and Food and Healing (Ballantine Books, 1986, 1996). Her website is: www.foodandhealing.com
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High blood pressure is considered a “silent epidemic,” as lots of people have it but don’t know it. The usual treatment is drugs, and there are some dietary suggestions as well, especially cutting down on salt and fat as promoted by Dean Ornish and Nathan Pritikin. Stress reduction is highly recommended as well. However, there seems to be more to the issue than salt and stress.
Samuel J. Mann, M.D., an associate professor of clinical medicine at the Hypertension Center of The New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, is a hypertension specialist. Dr Mann has seen thousands of people with all varieties of high blood pressure. He began to notice a pattern that did not accord with the common view that stress is linked to this condition. “Even patients with severe hypertension did not seem more emotionally distressed than others,” he writes in his book Healing Hypertension: A Revolutionary New Approach (John Wiley & Sons, NY: 1999). “If anything, they seemed less distressed. Their high blood pressure appeared to be more related to what they did not seem to be feeling than to what they were feeling.” He began to see in his patients that old, un-healed, repressed trauma seemed to be a major culprit in the problem.
These are the main concepts covered by Dr Mann in his book, and they warrant serious attention.
1. Blood pressure fluctuates all the time, day by day, and there has been extensive over-diagnosis and unnecessary treatment of millions of people.
2. Anger or stress can elevate blood pressure temporarily, but do not actually cause hypertension.
3. Here is the kicker: “it is our hidden emotions, the emotions we do not feel, that lead to hypertension and many other unexplained physical disorders.”
4. To deal with hypertension at its core, it is necessary to bring those hidden emotions to the light, to consciousness, and to deal with them.
5. For those who are under the care of a physician for hypertension, incorporating this new information can help the physician select a more appropriate drug, if required, to match it to the cause of the condition.
While for many people there are contributing factors to hypertension such as genetics, obesity, and salt consumption, for countless others it may be driven mainly by repressed feelings due to traumatic experiences. Generally it is not easy to deal with these, and the process can be painful. However, it may be worth it. What I liked best is that Dr Mann points out that we have a choice: those who are willing to face their hidden demons can take on the work of uncovering them, while those who do not want to deal with these issues can opt for the standard medical treatment to help control the condition. What is not advisable is to ignore it.
For a dietary approach, cutting out added salt is the standard route. It would also pay to avoid all manner of commercial foods with added sodium, of which there are many. Read the labels carefully! In addition, high-fat eating may contribute to the problem, so eating lots of vegetables, cooked and raw greens, beans and grains would be a good idea, as proposed by the Pritikin and Ornish diets. Curiously enough, plant foods with natural sodium, such as celery and bananas, can also help in lowering blood pressure, so some pieces of celery daily and a banana before bedtime would be good. Give it a try! Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D.
ANNEMARIE COLBIN, Ph.D., CHES, is an award-winning leader in the
field of natural health She founded Natural Gourmet Institute for
Health and Culinary Arts (TM) in New York City in 1977, and is adjunct
professor of nutrition at the city’s Empire State College. She is the
author of four books, including The Book of Whole Meals (Autumn Press, 1979; Ballantine Books, 1983), The Natural Gourmet (Ballantine Books, 1989, 1991), and Food and Healing (Ballantine Books, 1986, 1996). Her website is: www.foodandhealing.com
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Here are my four top tips for helping your children to stay healthy and avoid illnesses in the new school year.
The foods that make kids the sickest are sugar and dairy.
1. Avoid dairy
If you can possibly raise them without milk products, you will prevent the most common mucus conditions, especially colds and ear infections. Milk is a great mucus producer; bacteria love living in it, and casein, the protein in milk, is commonly used in laboratories to set up bacterial cultures. Cheese is just as much of a problem, and yogurt is little better. And it’s not because of the fat – in fact, butter does not bring on infections, according to my observations – it is the protein and the calcium, which in cow’s milk are intended to help baby cows become big cows (or steer), and are excessive for humans.
2. Don’t reward them with sugar
If you can avoid giving your kids sugared foods – including sugared breakfast cereals, cookies, cake, candy, and ice cream – you will allow their immune systems to do a better job of keeping them healthy. Sugar is known to depress the immune system, and what is worse, it is really addictive. According to a recent study at the University of Bordeaux, France, it appears to be more addictive than cocaine. I know that we tend to reward the children with sweet goodies, but that habit is perhaps best reconsidered – crayons, balloons, comic books or nuts and raisins might be a better idea for rewards.
3. Give them lots of protein
To keep the kids healthy, they also need to eat sufficient protein (some in each meal, such as fish, chicken, meats, or beans and legumes), with lots of vegetables both cooked and raw, as well as good quality fats (extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, organic butter). See my post on protein breakfasts for more advice.
4. Make sure they get plenty of rest
Most importantly, they need enough sleep and rest, which will allow their bodies and their brains to recuperate and restore, as well as grow. Lack of sleep is one of the major causes of stress and illness.
So there you have it: feed them well, keep them off the ice cream and sweets, and make sure they sleep enough, and they will avoid many illnesses.
Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D.
ANNEMARIE COLBIN, Ph.D., CHES, is an award-winning leader in the field of natural health She founded Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts (TM) in New York City in 1977, and is adjunct professor of nutrition at the city’s Empire State College. She is the author of four books, including The Book of Whole Meals (Autumn Press, 1979; Ballantine Books, 1983), The Natural Gourmet (Ballantine Books, 1989, 1991), and Food and Healing (Ballantine Books, 1986, 1996). Her website is: www.foodandhealing.com
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Let’s start by eliminating dry cereal with milk, a really wimpy breakfast that doesn’t carry you for more than a couple of hours. Here are some easy ideas:
For cold weather:
- Oatmeal with one fried egg on top, with a light sprinkle of good sea salt.
- Oatmeal with a handful of almonds and hazelnuts, a little salt or soy sauce.
- Left-over dinner, such as cooked fish, chicken or steak, quickly sautéed in a little butter with left-over vegetables, rye crackers
- For the vegetarians or the adventurous: cooked beans or chili, reheated, in a whole wheat wrap with some cucumbers and tomatoes
- Obviously, eggs any style, with rye crackers, maybe some nitrite-free sausage or bacon.
- Miso soup with brown rice eel-avocado sushi and pickles
- Canned salmon and egg omelet with sauerkraut
For warm weather:
- Smoked salmon or whitefish on wholegrain toast, with butter or cream cheese, onion slices, pickles (a real New York weekend breakfast)
- One poached egg atop one slice of toasted sprouted wholegrain bread, which has been sprinkled with about a tablespoon of really good extra virgin olive oil, plus a little good sea salt and freshly ground pepper on top.
- Rye crackers with almond butter
- A bowful of soaked and roasted nuts, including almonds, pecans, walnuts, cashews, sunflower seeds. Add some soaked raisins for a sweet touch.
- Kippers, with chopped raw tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers
- Canned tuna fish with 3 tablespoons chopped celery, same of onions, 1 tablespoon good quality mayonnaise, sea salt to taste, on rye crisps
I trust you’ll find something to eat here!
Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D.
ANNEMARIE COLBIN, Ph.D., CHES, is an award-winning leader in the field of natural health She founded Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts (TM) in New York City in 1977, and is adjunct professor of nutrition at the city’s Empire State College. She is the author of four books, including The Book of Whole Meals (Autumn Press, 1979; Ballantine Books, 1983), The Natural Gourmet (Ballantine Books, 1989, 1991), and Food and Healing (Ballantine Books, 1986, 1996). Her website is: www.foodandhealing.com
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