I don't want no Inflammation!

Hi there,

Firstly, I'd like to recommend that you make an appointment with a new doctor who has a holistic understanding of the complex workings of the body. I recommendPatients Medical, they will be covered under your insurance for out-of-network coverage so you will likely pay more than what you have for your previous in-network endocrinologist but what you get in return is a much more comprehensive approach to health with the basic directive that your body is able to heal itself and can do so with some investigation, support, and balancing by the doctor. Make the appointment this week, you need to have a series of blood tests and a medical doctor to finally provide you with the right diagnosis, supplements, and possibly medication to help get your thyroid and immune system back to optimal functioning. All of my recommendations will help to support this so you're already on the right track!

Ok, let's talk nutrition. Understanding how certain foods affect your body is key to having a conscious sense of balanced nutrition. So this week I'd like to discuss floured foods like breads, pasta, and pizza and explain why I've asked you to begin to limit your intake of them. White bread, white rice, pasta, muffins, bagels, pizza, and other foods made with refined wheat flour affect you negatively in two main ways: they have a high glycemic index, and they are pro-inflammatory.

High glycemic index means that your body converts them into glucose quickly, causing an immediate spike in your insulin response and then a sudden drop shortly after. This yo-yo effect is an unhealthy cycle that pushes your body to extremes and increases your risk of being susceptible to stress-induced diseases. Bready foods are often refined, so they are also devoid of most nutritional content and are basically empty calories that provide a false sense of fullness. Whole-grain cereals, multi-grain bread, brown rice, quinoa, oats, and buckwheat are a much more beneficial choice since they are loaded with B vitamins, fiber, and other micronutrients that cause them to be digested at a slower more rapid pace that eliminates the shock on your system.

Pro-inflammatory means just that, they promote inflammation and that is considered to be the underlying cause of many diseases. The obvious foods that go into this category are junk foods that contain processed ingredients, chemical additives, and preservatives. sugary foods. That includes candy, cookies, drinks with high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, chemical additives, honey, and chocolate that is less than 60% cacao. Red meat is also in this category, as well as wheat and refined flour products, and basically anything that would make you say 'what is that?'. These foods cause glycemic stress and they aggravate inflammation (aside from simultaneously malnourishing you and making you gain weight). They also causes you to feel weak, achey, and sluggish. Inflammation speeds up the process of aging and can give you a sickly appearance. It is also extremely taxing on your immune system which is forced to waste its' time in your digestive tract when it could be battling more serious invaders in other systems of the body. Giving your body inflammatory foods is inviting toxicity, your immune system is basically treating these things as though they are not food. Avoiding these foods altogether is highly recommended for anyone who has a compromised immune system and is genetically susceptible to disease. I eat gluten-free due to my thyroid condition and I'll be totally honest, 1. transitioning takes a little getting used to mostly because these foods are so prevalent in our culture and society, but once they're gone 2. the type of foods you would substitute with will give you a much more satisfying sense of overall health, fullness, and nurtured balance. I'm not saying you need to quit these foods now, but gradually over time, it would be ideal if you avoided them as much as possible.

Now for the good news!

I certainly don't want you to go hungry and if the foods mentioned above are what you're used to it might seem daunting to figure out what you CAN eat. So next time you go food shopping, in addition to getting your red leaf lettuce, lemon, and fruits, get some whole grain brown rice and Quinoa. Brown rice gets a bad rep as being boring, but I want you to approach this with an open mind, this is a food that has sustained civilization in Asia for thousands of years, it is rich in nutrients, is filling, and most importantly, healing.

• Brown rice has all bran layers intact and thus contains all of its naturally present nutrients (unlike white rice which has had all the bran layers stripped and what remains are essentially tiny balls of sugar). Brown rice maintains its healthy fatty acids, B vitamins, iron, vitamin E, amino acids, and linoleic acid. It is high in fiber, low in sodium, and is 80% complex carbohydrate. It takes longer to digest and will provide your body with sustained energy throughout the day (a low glycemic food).

1. Soak the brown rice if you can, perhaps soak it in the morning before you leave for work, or even just for an hour or two shortly before you know you're going to be making dinner. Soaking the rice helps to soften it and makes it more digestible. put 1 cup of dried rice into a bowl of water and mix it around with your fingers, you'll see the water turn cloudy and this cloud is a combination of phytic acid (a naturally occurring organic acid in the outer layer of the bran) which, if left on the rice, could bind with minerals in your body and excrete them thereby depleting you, it can also add a bitter flavor to the rice. After you mixed it around a little, drain this water, add more water, and repeat until the water looks clear, then leave to soak for anywhere between 30 minutes to 12 hours.
2. Rinse the rice. Especially if you didn't have time to soak it at all, definitely rinse it in a sieve to get rid of the phytic acid.
3. Heat two cups of water, add 1 cup of soaked/rinsed rice, bring to a boil and reduce heat.
4. Cover and let simmer for about 30 minutes or until you see the rice is soft and the water has been absorbed.
5. Remove from heat, add salt and any other desired seasonings, fluff and serve.
6. For flavor here are some variations I enjoy: 1. add a small pinch of cinnamon after cooking to give it a slightly sweet flavor. 2. add 2 cloves of garlic while cooking to add garlic flavor. 3. add the rind of parmesan cheese while cooking to give it a bit of cheesiness. (I don't suggest using all three in the same batch!)
7. Some additional brown rice recipes.

• Quinoa is another incredibly wholesome grain that is super easy to make. Quinoa has the highest nutritional profile and cooks the fastest of all grains. It is an extremely high-energy grain and has been grown and consumed for thousands of years in the high plains of the Andes Mountains. It is the only grain that is also a complete protein, it is high in B vitamins, iron, zinc, potassium, calcium and vitamin E, it is easy to digest and will provide you with great endurance.

1. Quinoa does not need to be soaked but it should always be rinsed to remove its' naturally occurring but bitter coating called saponin.
2. Heat two cups of water, add 1 cup of rinsed quinoa, cover and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook approximately 15 minutes or until you see all of the water has been absorbed.
4. Season with a small pinch of salt and the seasoning of your choice.
5. Quinoa is great to mix with vegetables to make a complete meal on days when you don't feel like eating meat. Combine with peas, corn, mushrooms, peppers, broccoli, and any other veggies of your choice. You can steam the veggies separately and add to cooked quinoa. Perhaps a little cheese on top to help Jay get a taste for it :)
6. More quinoa recipes here.

Both of the grains above are gluten-free and therefore non-inflammatory, they both have a multitude of cooking and flavor variations, are easy to make, can be paired with any protein, and are low glycemic and therefore strengthening and energy-sustaining. I encourage you to give them both a try, if you've had them before then use them more frequently to replace wheat foods like pasta.

I hope by now you have written down your detailed goals for five years from now, and have allowed this important vision to fill up the first few pages of your new journal. As you continue to experiment with new foods and health practices I encourage you to use this journal to write down your observations, the feelings you may have about certain foods that I'm asking you to limit and why it is that you like them, as well as what it means to you to be addressing your health concerns now and how you want to feel when you have reached your ideal state of 'healthiness'.

This week I'd like for you to schedule at least 30 minutes a day for 3 days (not consecutive, just any of the upcoming 7 that suits you) that you dedicate to a relaxing activity that you enjoy. Perhaps it's writing in your journal, perhaps it's dancing to 80's music as you reorganize your closet for the Fall season, perhaps it's taking a bath with a candle and a good book. Turn off your phone, ask Jay to give you some privacy, and whatever it is, consciously bring attention to the fact that you are doing this activity to nurture your sense of inner peace and emotional balance. Breathe deeply and relax your muscles, bring calmness to your mind, and evoke the feeling of love that you have towards others and direct that love towards yourself. You deserve this, you are worthy of your own precious time, and doing this regularly will help to heal your body from the inside out. Write down in your journal what these activities are, why you are doing them and how your mind and body feel after you have done them.

Intuitive lifestyle

Hi there,

This week I'd like to share with you some general self-care practices that you can begin to incorporate into your life. With the exception of the first recommendation, which should be done immediately, some of these can take weeks or months to fully implement, but once you do they will become involuntary habits of your general lifestyle and well-being.

• Get rid of your microwave! If you use one, the best thing you can do with it is throw it away and replace it with a toaster oven. I promise it's just as quick and convenient to use and it heats the food much more evenly. If you don't have time to read the article in the link I'll sum it up for you: microwave radiation decays the food and not only deprives it of 60-90% of its' nutrient content but it deforms the molecular structure of the food and creates a toxic byproduct that your body cannot absorb. These harmful byproducts are carcinogens and the radiation tunes your body into other harmful frequencies that affect your mood, energy, and behavior. If there's only one thing on this list that you follow, let it be this one!

• Get restful sleep. Getting adequate restful sleep allows your body to repair itself and re-energize you for the next day. It is also good for your brain to store information into long-term memory. Limit drinking liquids for 2 hours before going to bed so that your bladder does not wake you up before your alarm clock does. Experiment with the amount of sleep your body needs to feel refreshed and optimally energized the next day, is it 7 hours or 8? Do you feel groggy if you get too much sleep? Try to go to sleep around the same time each night and do calm activities before bed with the lights low to send your body the signal that it is time to start winding down.
• Listen to your body. Your body is always communicating with you and telling you what it needs. Do you have frequent headaches? Do you sometimes have gas after eating certain foods or food combinations? Frequent aches and pains in a particular area? Don't ignore those signals, try to investigate them. Take note of when you have indigestion and think about what you recently ate, perhaps the next time you eat that food you get indigestion again and realize this is a pattern and could indicate a food sensitivity. If you have an ache or tension in some part of your body, perhaps from sitting in front of your computer for a long time or falling asleep in a weird position, then stop and stretch it out, walk around for a few minutes, rub your hands together vigorously to produce energy and heat and then massage the tense area. Be receptive to what your body is trying to tell you, it knows much more than your brain.
• Keep plants. I'm sure you're well aware that plants absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, they not only clean the air that comes out of your lungs and the new york city streets, but also the off-gassing toxic fumes emitted from carpets, paint, and furniture within your home (for this reason you should also always have a window open even in the winter as much as possible to allow fresh air to come in and stale air to go out). Plants are also shown to benefit your mood and stress level. There is something soothing about them and this is because they are peaceful natural living beings. I would recommend a philodendron, due to their being extremely easy to care for (thrive without any sunlight at all, just water once or twice a week, and they grow droopy vines that you can cut, place in water, and have pretty floating baby plants that will grow roots). Having plants in your home and office would benefit your health greatly, but I would suggest liming the amount you keep in the bedroom since plants have a cyclical rhythm of inhalation and exhalation just like our lungs (large forests are considered the lungs of the earth), so they release carbon dioxide at night. Having them in the living room or kitchen would be ideal.

As you begin to incorporate some of these suggestions into your life I would also like to add a creative element to this transformation. I know that writing has been a creative outlet for you in the past, and whether this has been something you've kept up with from time to time or you haven't had time to give it any serious consideration lately, this would be a great time to renew your focus on this hobby. Get yourself a pretty journal and start fresh, or type it up on the computer if you feel more comfortable with that, you can create a virtual journal! (just google 'writers community' and you'll see tons of great sites where you can post for people to read what you have to say if you want to share).

Set an intention for your writing. Do you enjoy writing your thoughts? Or perhaps you like to compose poetry, or have had an idea for a short (or long) fictional story. Before you write the first word, set an intention for this writing practice and consider how you want it to serve you and what you hope to obtain. Be concrete - something like 'I am going to start a journal where I contemplate the humor of reality' or 'I am going to write a sci-fi young adult story about...' - this way you have a real focus, a goal, even if it's just to write down random thoughts, your goal could be to release those thoughts from your mind and put them out into the universe.

But before you do any of that, the very first thing I want you to write about are your goals as you visualized them during the meditation over the phone with me. I want you to put your vision for your future down on paper. Be as specific as possible, describe every little detail that you can think of and write this in the present tense. If all your important goals in life are fulfilled within the next five years, what will your present be like? Who are you? Who are you with? Where do you live? What do you do every day? Write it down and see it in your mind's eye as you're doing so, allowing yourself to feel the emotion of joy and fulfillment as you do this, how does this happiness feel in your body? Ask yourself these questions and write it all down.

Foodwise

• Continue eating your red leaf lettuce (and that means not iceberg or romaine lettuce, but specifically red leaf and if possible, organic) salads on the side of whatever you're having for dinner every day (even if you already had a salad for lunch) and encourage Jay to do the same but don't push him if he's not interested, just make it for yourself and always offer it to him also.
• Next time you go food shopping maybe also get another vegetable you like, like cucumber, tomato, or pepper. Use your eyes and nose to choose whatever looks freshest. If you're in the mood for cucumbers but the cucumbers look all wilted and unsavory then look around for whatever looks like it was most recently delivered to the produce section because intuitively you are looking for the food that looks the most alive.
• Continue eating your apples, next time you're at the store maybe you can pick up some grapes or blueberries too. You can give them a quick rinse at night and put them in tupperware to take as a work snack for the next day. But it's better to eat fruit by itself, not as a dessert after a meal, because that is how your body will be able to most efficiently extract the nutrients when it is not distracted by digesting other foods that are lacking in enzymes.
• When you go food shopping this weekend, spend a little more time in the produce section and really look around, smell and touch whatever appeals to you and purchase what looks like it could have grown in the our current climate but commit yourself to eating everything that you buy before it goes bad. This means don't overbuy out of your newfound enthusiasm for health, be realistic and don't get anything that you don't find tasty.

I hope you're having a great week!

Becoming aware

Over the next few days I'd like for you to begin to add a little more fresh fruits and veggies that you normally would. Pick up these 4 things at the store and try to eat them daily: red leaf lettuce, lemon, olive oil, apples.

Whatever meal you're having for dinner, cut up some red leaf lettuce and drizzle the oil with a squeeze of fresh lemon on top and just add that to the meal on the side. Take the apples for a snack at work (unless you really hate apples, this is preferable over bananas or other tropical fruit because apples are still in season so your body will respond well to them). You can also add a squeeze of lemon to plain water and have a glass of that when you first wake up in the morning - that will balance your stomach's ph level and alkalize it, giving your digestion a good start for the day's work ahead.

Also, try to become aware of how often you eat foods like pasta, bread, and pizza, you don't need to cut them out but if you have the option of pasta or rice, go with the rice; if you can do without the bread then skip it, maybe order something other than pizza when you have a take-out night. Just be aware and choose something else when you can. We'll get into how these foods affect you later on.