In this Newsletter:
1. Naturopathic Philosophy Highlight Fun Facts:
a. Highlights of November 2011 Top Reads:
b. The Gluten Monster
c. You are What you Experience
d. Probiotics better than Placebo for Respiratory Infections
e. Bonus: Yummy Gingerbread Cookies (Gluten Free)
2. Upcoming Events!
a. Upcoming Essential Oils Workshops with Terry Quigley and Lori Mershon at the Healing Garden. Contact Terry at 518-831-9469
b. I’ll be in Arizona from December 8th-December 13th learning about Biotransformation and Detoxification! I will not be available for emails/phone at this time, but look forward to sharing with you all at that time. Emma will still be available for scheduling, general inquiries.
3. Radio For Your Body-Mind-Soul:
a. Ten Years Younger with Marcelle Pick, NP
Steven Masley, M.D., author of Ten Years Younger, has a passion for empowering people to achieve optimal health. Tune in to hear him talk about the Ten Years Younger program he has developed: secrets to looking and feeling healthier, sexier, trimmer and stronger.
b. Living Life with the Attitude of Gratitude with Dr. Darren Weismman
Join Dr. Darren as he interviews Diane Gates for the first ½ hour about emotional and physical triggers leading to compulsive eating patterns.
4. Book of the week: Body Ecology Diet by Donna Gates
A book that promotes health and aims at a lifestyle approach vs. calorie counting and confusing food plans!
Finally, a book about lifestyle and how to promote health! Confused about diet? Diane offers some tools that focus around fermented foods which promote probiotics in our microflora to boost immunity and boost wellness.
Remember, following one type of plan doesn’t work for everyone, we are all different. Donna’s book about encourage the use of whole foods and fermented products are good points for everyone to consider, even if not called upon to follow the whole program.
5. Don’t miss out:
a. My latest Blog: November 2011 Top Reads & Going Gluten Free
b. My interview on 360menopause Radio Show-Panic Attacks and Menopause
c. Check out my latest answer and more on Dr. Oz’s Sharecare: My latest answer summarizing what causes sugar cravings
d. View the Updated Link Resources on my homepage
e. Help me get the word out on Naturopathic and Functional Medicine!! The more people that subscribe to my blog (if your email has changed, you need to update this via my website by unsubscribing then re-subscribing), the more likely I’ll be a guest on international webinars!
November Top Reads is Here!
Wow, we are already into December and moving peacefully and healthily through the holiday season. November’s Top Reads is jam backed with goodies! (Pun Intended). Below are some highlights to wet your appetite! ( I can’t help myself!)
It’s Back!!
The Gluten Monster! Many of you know by know that I think avoiding gluten is a good idea for most. One of you, my wonderful patients, brought this NY Times article to my attention, providing proof the mainstream is paying attention to what Integrative Practitioners have been touting.
Should We All Go Gluten Free (NY Times)
But Guandalini didn’t buy it. And neither did Dr. Alessio Fasano, another Italian who was practicing at the University of Maryland. The genes were here, Fasano recalls thinking, courtesy of our European ancestors, and so was the gluten, a natural component of wheat that provides the elastic qualities that make for delicious baked goods. But the protein is also difficult to digest. And even a healthy intestine does not completely break gluten down. For those with celiac disease, the undigested gluten essentially causes the body’s immune system to lash out at itself, leading to malabsorption, bloating and diarrhea — the classic gastrointestinal symptoms — but also, at times, joint pain, skin rashes and other problems. In Italy, Fasano routinely saw celiac disease. Surely it was in the U.S. too. Hence, in 1996 Fasano published a paper, asking, in the title, a simple question: “Where Have All the American Celiacs Gone?”
O’Brien, K. Should We All Go Gluten Free? New York Times. November 25, 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/magazine/Should-We-All-Go-Gluten-Free.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&sq=gluten%20free&st=cse&scp=1
Naturopathic Fun Facts:
You Are What you Experience
A recent study from Virginia Commonwealth University analyzed over 12,000 identical twins over a lifespan. The study included nine data sets of individuals who experienced anxiety and depression. By assessing identical twins, the researchers were evaluating the impact of genetics vs. environmental impacts on mental outlook.
The researchers found that environmental impacts had a significant impact on symptoms, especially in relation to life experiences early in life. According to Eurekalert:
Our life experiences — the ups and downs, and everything in between — shape us, stay with us and influence our emotional set point as adults, according to a new study led by Virginia Commonwealth University researchers. The study suggests that, in addition to our genes, our life experiences are important influences on our levels of anxiety and depression.
“In this time of emphasis on genes for this and that trait, it is important to remember that our environmental experiences also make important contributions to who we are as people,” said principal investigator Kenneth Kendler, M.D., director of the VCU Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics.
This means we really do have the power to change our mind through the choices we make!
Source: Eurekalert. Virginia Commonwealth University study: We are what we experience. Life experiences influence set point for anxiety and depression October 5, 2011. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-10/vcu-vsw100511.php
Probiotics for Acute Upper Respiratory Infections
Medscape’s Week in Review recently published the 2011 Game Changers in Primary Care. Number 9 of 10 was the use of probiotics to aid in treatment of upper respiratory tract infections and preventing the overuse of antibiotics! We are getting there!
A Cochrane Review published in September[2] suggested that probiotics were better than placebo in reducing the number of participants experiencing episodes of acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) and reducing antibiotic use. This indicates that probiotics may be more beneficial than placebo for preventing acute URTIs. However, the results have some limitations and there were no data for older people.
The study was also one of the top 5 accessed this year by primary care physicians through the McMaster Premium Literature Service and received 6 out of 7 stars for clinical relevance.
The Cancer Screening Issue: On the Negative Side
Another major game changer is the US Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) lowering the recommendations of screening of PSA, cervical cancer, and CSA:
The recommendations from the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) in 2009 that limited mammography screening[7] caused great controversy among medical societies[8-10] and among the general population. In 2011, the task force stirred the same pot with 2 more recommendations that discouraged screening for common cancers. In November, a review of the evidence for the USPSTF concluded that prostate-specific antigen-based screening results in small or no reduction in prostate cancer-specific mortality and is associated with harms related to subsequent evaluation and treatments, some of which may be unnecessary. Benefits appeared limited to men younger than 65 years of age.[11] For Medscape news on this issue see Recommendation Against Routine PSA Screening in US.
Less frequent testing for cervical cancer was recommended in 2 separate proposed guidelines issued in October 2011 — one from the USPTF[12] and the other from the American Cancer Society, working in collaboration with the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology and the American Society for Clinical Pathology. The 2 sets of guidelines are similar, and both recommend against testing every year, which has been the convention until now; instead, both recommend testing every 3 years for women 21-65 years of age. See the Medscape news article Less Frequent Testing for Cervical Cancer Proposed.
Screening for ovarian cancer with CA-125 also took a hit this year in the PLCO study reported in JAMA.[13] The 13-year study included nearly 80,000 women ranging in age from 55 to 74 years. The women were randomized to receive either 6 years of annual screenings with CA-125 levels along with transvaginal ultrasound for 4 years or to regular usual care. The results were disappointing. The difference in survival between the 2 groups was not statistically significant. Furthermore, the women in the screened group were subjected to more medical interventions, more oophorectomies, and 20% of these women had surgical complications. See the Medscape commentary Screening for Ovarian Cancer: Any Survival Benefit?
Source: Carol Peckham. 2011 Game Changers in Primary Care. Medscape. November 29, 2011. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/753946_2
Other Don’t Miss Topics include:
1. The Flu and Blood Type
2. Green Tea and Milk Thistle’s Power
3. Probiotics for Baby??!
4. Don’t take Aspirin with your Anti-depressants!
5. More, More, More!
YUMMY BONUS!
Gingerbread Christmas Cookies
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon finely ground flaxseed
3 tablespoons hot water
1 ½ cup brown rice flour
1 cup millet flour
1 cup arrowroot flour, plus more for rolling
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon (NS & B’s omit cinnamon)
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 large egg
½ cup molasses
½ cup butter, softened
How to Make it:
To start, mix flaxseed with hot water and set aside for 10-12 minutes. The flax and water will mix and become slightly gelatinous; this will help the texture of the dough later on.
Next, whisk brown rice flour, millet flour, arrowroot flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in a large bowl until well combined.
In a separate, medium bowl, whisk the egg, molasses and softened butter. Add the flax mixture and stir to incorporate. Pour the wet molasses mixture into the flour bowl and stir until combined and free of lumps. At this point, the dough will be very thick and slightly sticky, but it should form a ball easily.
Roll dough out onto a large sheet of parchment paper and wrap the paper entirely around the dough so that no dough is exposed. Place the wrapped dough in the refrigerator to set for 1 hour. The cold will make the butter harden and thus create a firmer dough.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Once the hour is up, take half of the dough and roll it out about ¼” thick onto a floured surface. Leave the remaining dough in the refrigerator. Pat the top of the dough with a small amount of flour and rub a touch of flour on the rolling pin to prevent sticking. Use a gingerbread, star, or any shaped cookie cutter you like to cut shapes into the dough and line on baking sheets. Leave 2″ between cookies on the baking sheet because they do expand while baking.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are firm to the touch and if tested with a cake tester, would come out clean.
Cool on a cooling rack and serve immediately or keep in a cool dry place for 1-2 days. Cookies can be stored in a sealable glass container in the freezer for up to a month.
Decorating suggestions: If you can have sugar, mix confectioners sugar with (almond, soy, rice or cow’s) milk until desired consistency (should be relatively thick) and top with a variation of dried fruit: blueberries, pineapple, cherries or cranberries and mini allergy free chocolate chips!
Source: D’Adamo December 2011 Newsletter.
