Time for tricks, treats, and good, healthy eats!
Dr. Sarah LoBisco
It’s time to prepare for two great events in one great month—Halloween and Dr. Sarah’s Top Reads.
In this Blog:
1. Naturopathic Philosophy Highlight Fun Facts: Features in October 2011 Top Reads:
a. Your Leaky Gut is Making You Fat!
b. A Plea for Bone Health
2. Healthy Halloween Treat Alternatives
3. Radio For Your Body-Mind-Soul:
Core Balance for Women’s Health
Marcelle Pick
October 25, 2011 An Energetic Heart is Key to Overall Wellness
Join Marcelle Pick, NP and Functional Medical Practitioner, as she discusses the mind-body-science of heart coherence with Dr. Deborah Rozman.
4. Book of the week: The HeartMath Solution: The Institute for HeartMath’s Revolutionary Program for Engaging the Power of the Heart’s Intelligence
5. Don’t miss out:
a. Read the rest of my latest Blog on the Top Health Stories of October 2011
b. Check out my latest answer and more on Dr. Oz’s Sharecare: How does Naturopathic Medicine view Autism?
c. View the Updated Link Resources on my homepage
Recommended Reading Lists
Vaccine information
Highlights from the latest and greatest news of October 2011.
A Leaky Gut is making you fat!
Your gastrointestinal tract is not just about digestion and assimilation (and pesky gas from an occasional “no-no”), but rather, it’s the major mediator in immunity, mood, and inflammation. Today, the importance of the gut’s integrity for overall wellness is finally getting the attention it deserves-by headlining in some of the most well known health-oriented newsletters. This is very exciting for Naturopathic and Functional Medical Doctors who have been droning on about this concept for years their patients.
Below, I’ve highlighted an abstract that reports on the connection of inflammation in the gut leading to higher visceral fat in rodent and human models. This makes sense, considering it’s your gut microbiota that modulates important inflammatory messengers and that inflammation affects assimilation and healthy weight.
Increased visceral fat, as opposed to subcutaneous/gluteal, most strongly relates to key metabolic dysfunctions including insulin resistance, hepatic steatosis, and inflammation. Mesenteric fat hypertrophy in patients with Crohn’s disease and in experimental rodent models of gut inflammation suggest that impaired gut barrier function with increased leakage of gut-derived antigens may drive visceral lipid deposition. The aim of this study was to determine whether increased intestinal permeability is associated with visceral adiposity in healthy humans. Normal to overweight female subjects were recruited from a population-based cohort. Intestinal permeability was assessed using the ratio of urinary excretion of orally ingested sucralose to mannitol (S/M). In study 1 (n = 67), we found a positive correlation between waist circumference and S/M excretion within a time frame of urine collection consistent with permeability of the lower gastrointestinal tract (6-9 hours post-ingestion; P = 0.022). These results were followed up in study 2 (n = 55) in which we used computed tomography and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry to measure visceral and subcutaneous fat areas of the abdomen, liver fat content, and total body fat of the same women. The S/M ratio from the 6-12 h urine sample correlated with visceral fat area (P = 0.0003) and liver fat content (P = 0.004), but not with subcutaneous or total body fat. This novel finding of an association between intestinal permeability and visceral adiposity and liver fat content in healthy humans suggests that impaired gut barrier function should be further explored as a possible mediator of excess visceral fat accumulation and metabolic dysfunction. PMID:21852815
Source: Your Leaky Gut is Making you Fat! (Obesity (Silver Spring). 2011 Aug 18. doi: 10.1038/oby.2011.251. [Epub ahead of print])
My plea for bone health:
Did you know Sweden has the highest intake of calcium from dairy products yet earns the highest rating for osteoporosis!! Bone is a metabolically active organ. It plays an important role in maintaining electrolyte balance, structural stability, and blood cell formation. Keeping it healthy and strong is not just about supplementing with calcium, which can lead to calcifications in the soft tissue. Rather, bone health is related to balancing the protein, collagen, and mineral matrix in a healthy, nutritional ratio.
Here’s an excerpt as to why calcium isn’t the key to maintaining bone health:
There are just three aspects of bone health toward which our small, furry friends have contributed data recently:
* Development of brittle bones in the aged is not just a matter of bone mineral loss, but is also caused by over-mineralization of, and loss of, the matrix of bone collagen and protein that forms the “living” part of bones.
* Adequate protein is essential for maintaining bone strength in the elderly.
* Mechanical loading (exercise) builds bone strength, even in the aged.
Source: Brown, S. Kudos to the Mighty Mouse-Bone Health Hero! Betterbones blog. http://www.betterbones.com/blog/post/Mighty-mouse.aspx?
To view more exciting headlines, click here.
Happy, Healthy Halloween for Kids!? Why?
A few weeks ago, I discussed the importance of what we give our children and the long-term impact on their health:
The fact is that the daily decisions of what we put in our children’s mouth and body are affecting them, not just in the long term, but even more acutely. Youth are being diagnosed with diseases commonly associated with adulthood at a higher frequency today than in the past. One study, reported by WebMD, even showed over a 30% increase in strokes among teenagers and young adults:
It’s not that our society is intentionally trying to damage our children’s bodies and brains with high sugary snacks, soda pop, and other processed chemicals. The fact is, we are bombarded with advertising and marketing ploys that lure us into believing that we deserve these “treats” based on our everyday hectic lives. However, do we really deserve the long term side effects on our health?
Recently, Dr. Mercola discussed the upsetting trends of food marketing to our children. The disturbing facts are:
· Food and beverage companies spend $2 billion a year promoting unhealthy foods to your kids
· The fast-food industry spends more than $5 million every DAY marketing unhealthy foods to children
· Nearly 40 percent of children’s diets come from added sugars and unhealthy fats
· 95 percent of kids’ foods marketed as healthy contain added sugar
· The researchers concluded what you probably already suspect: kids who were exposed to junk food, soda and fast food, via advertising and also because their parents fed them these foods, learned to recognize and prefer these foods over healthier choices. This does have an impact on their health, as nutrients from quality foods are critical in helping your child reach his or her fullest potential!
· One study from British researchers revealed that kids who ate a predominantly processed food diet at age 3 had lower IQ scores at age 8.5. For each measured increase in processed foods, participants had a 1.67-point decrease in IQ.
· As you might suspect, the opposite also held true, with those eating healthier diets experiencing higher IQ levels. For each measured increase in dietary score, which meant the child was eating more fruits and vegetables for instance, there was a 1.2-point increase in IQ.
So, what’s the solution? One is to read the above link on how to implement changes, and then click on the Mercola link to show your support for our youth’s health and to say no to junk food marketing.
Healthy Halloween Treats
So, what’s a busy parent to do during this scary time of year and with our everyday frankenfoods. Thankfully, Nourishing Kids can be as easy as a click. I stumbled on the website Nourishing Thoughts when looking for a good base for healthy children recipes for my patients. Here are some Naturopathic tips for the below:
++Replace sugar with xylitol, butter with ghee, and flour to gluten free if necessary or organic
Halloween Recipes for Kids- Kids Cooking Fun for Autumn
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds Recipe -National Geographic Kids
Pumpkin Smoothie Recipe – NW Kids
Apple Wrap Dessert Picture Recipe – Kids Cooking Activities
Pumpkin Spice Cookie Recipe- Nourish Interactive Healthy Makeovers
Rainbow Fruit Sticks -Today I Ate a Rainbow
Kale Chips Recipe – Weelicious
Click here to download a PDF of healthy Halloween Subsitutes
References:
Mercola, J. Stop Junk Food Marketing to Children. Mercola.com. October 24, 2011. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/10/24/stop-junk-food-marketing-to-kids.aspx?e_cid=20111024_DNL_art_2
Nourishing Thoughts. Parents Scoop on Family Nutrition. Healthy Halloween Recipes for Kids. http://www.nourishinteractive.com/blog/2010/10/06/healthy-halloween-food-tips-kids-cooking-recipes-seasonal-fun/
Radio for the BODY-MIND-Soul:
Core Balance for Women’s Health
Marcelle Pick
October 25, 2011 An Energetic Heart is Key to Overall Wellness
Dr. Deborah Rozman. of HeartMath talks with Marcelle about the role your heart plays in reducing stress and enhancing performance, productivity and the quality of your life and work. She will explain the science of coherence and how emotional and mental energy can be transformed to benefit wellbeing. Deborah is an author and coauthor of more than a dozen books, including HeartMath’s Transforming series. She is also a key media spokesperson on the role of the heart in performance, wellness and personal growth.
Highlighted Book of the week:
The HeartMath Solution: The Institute for HeartMath’s Revolutionary Program for Engaging the Power of the Heart’s Intelligence
Doc Chidre and Howard Martin provide science and techniques that explore why becoming coherent with your heart manifests in lowered stress, better hormonal balance, and a happier, healthier life.
Read my summary on the heart-brain and the hormonal and immune boosting powers of the heart.
