Make Our Food Work For Us

by guest blogger Jody Perrecone

Earlier this month, I attended Veggie Fest in Naperville, Illinois.  Not just for vegetarians, this festival drew over 25,000 people, had food demonstrations, dozens of speakers, and over 100 booths.

One of the speakers was Sara Sukumar, PhD, Professor of Oncology and Pathology and Director of the Breast Cancer Program at Johns Hopkins University. She spoke on anti-cancer properties in specific foods.  Here is her list:

The Anatomy Of A Bowel Movement (And How To Cure Constipation)

Many of us take for granted our trip(s) to the porcelain throne each day as we rid ourselves of built up toxins and waste products via nature's evacuation system. Or to put it more candidly, I'm talking about pooping. Everybody does it, but not everybody does it well.

We've all been in this second group of folks, at least at some point in our life, straining and struggling to get those rock hard miniature boulders out of our bottom end to finally provide us some relief. Ultimately, many of us still find ourselves falling short of the call of "duty". This is no fun by any means, so what now? A pill? A powder? An extra gallon of water? A trip to the doctor's office?

I'm going to outline the ins and outs of constipation, as well as what you can do about it, to help you navigate the human plumbing system in hopes of providing you with some much needed relief. After all, everybody deserves to feel good. As an added bonus, you'll get the bragging rights of becoming a super pooper. Now how can you turn down that deal?!

Constipation - Definition and Prevalence

Constipation is officially defined as less than 3 stools per week using the Rome III criteria. The presence of hard stools, straining, and incomplete defecation is present 25% or more of the time. Constipation does tend to be a very subjective disease, however, as lack of agreement between patient and physician can occur when defining what exactly constipation means to each individual. Nonetheless, nobody wants to be constipated regardless of how many or what kind of stools are taking place so no sense in squabbling over diagnosis details.

Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition by Dr. T. Colin Campbell - Book Review

This summer spawned the publication of Dr. T. Colin Campbell's latest book Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition. This was a follow up to his bestseller The China Study  which took the nutrition world by storm back in 2005 and continues to be a leading seller today. Today I provide a book review on Whole.

Both The China Study and Whole paint a picture (and very intriguing one at that) of the health and nutrition world as it's come to exist today. While The China Study gives more of the intricate details of the individual studies relating to health and nutrition, Whole focuses on the bigger picture of how it all fits together within our current "system". Dr. Campbell lays out how a reductionist approach to nutrition, health, and medicine functions within our current system, and, more importantly, why the system operates the way it does.

Whole is comprised of three main parts followed by Dr. Campbell's engaging thoughts in Part IV on how we should move forward if we wish to turn around the current disease-care system we've come to know today.

Whole - Part I - Enslaved by The System

Dr. T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D.

Part I of Whole plants a seed in readers to think differently. It reveals a wholistic approach towards our healthcare system as we move forward. The present-day strategies of using pills, procedures, and/or surgeries to combat the epidemic of chronic disease is, for all intensive purposes, not working. Instead, Dr. Campbell enlightens us on the benefits of a whole foods, plant-based (WFPB) diet in our quest to end the epidemic of sickness and suffering.

Part I goes on to detail Dr. Campbell's background of how he grew up on a dairy farm and then made his subsequent entrance into the scientific world as a leading nutritional biochemist looking to rid the world of hunger and malnourishment. The details of his upbringing provide a very telling story with a surprising twist of fate.

Chapter 1 - The Modern-Day Health-Care Myth
Chapter 2 - The Whole Truth
Chapter 3 - My Heretical Path

Maximize Those Nutrients!

by guest blogger Jody Perrecone

The American Cancer Institute for Cancer Research conducted an analysis of over 7,000 scientific studies on food, nutrition, and physical activity as it relates to cancer.  Amazingly what they found was diet and nutrition are responsible for up to 40% of all cancers.

Fruits and vegetables contain phytochemicals that fight cancer cells.  Here are some methods of cooking that will retain the highest amount of these cancer fighting compounds.

1)  Tomatoes have a cancer fighting antioxidant called lycopene.  Cooking tomatoes will increase our body’s absorption of lycopene.

2) Chopping garlic and onions releases the compound allicin, which boosts our immune system - important in fighting cancer. Let chopped onions and garlic sit 5-10 minutes before using to maximize the effects of the allicin.

Fish Oil Reviews - The Evidence Behind Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplements

Like many individuals, my day starts with an eagerly awaited trip to the kitchen after a quick hop in the shower. By this time, the alarm clock haze has finally worn off long enough to realize the neurotic taste buds in my mouth are going crazy. They need their morning bowl of cinnamon oatmeal with mixed berries or else!

In the past, I'd always follow breakfast with a handful of vitamins and some fish oil supplements before heading out the door. I was off to fill prescriptions and make the world a healthier place! As a pharmacist, I dispense pills and educate others on all the benefits they have to offer, including a few over-the-counter supplements. Fish oil is one of these supplements. In school I learned that pills equal health. Pharmacists dispense pills. Therefore, pharmacists dispense health.

Since I am the expert on pills, I deem it my responsibility to keep up with the scientific literature behind all of these pills as best I can. After all, medicine is a constantly changing environment and if you snooze you lose (and so do your patients). Today I present you with the evidence behind fish oil supplements, known widely for benefiting cardiovascular health and many other chronic diseases, or so they say.

Oyster Mushrooms Help Fight Disease

by guest blogger Jody Perrecone

Oyster mushrooms are a mild tasting mushroom that grows on the trunks of trees.  This, along with many other mushroom varieties, have many healthy antioxidants that may help to reduce the risk of cancer, improve blood cholesterol, and boost the immune system [1].

Oyster mushrooms contain complex carbohydrates called polysaccharides that stimulate the immune system to fight cancer. They can up-regulate (turn on) the genes which stop tumors from growing and support tumor regression [2].

Eating oyster mushrooms can lower cholesterol, reduce triglycerides, and have antioxidant properties that fight oxidized LDL. Unique to the oyster mushroom is the lowering cholesterol molecule lovastatin [3], which inhibits the production of cholesterol.  In a study published in the “Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology” in 2003, rats with high and normal cholesterol were fed oyster mushrooms.  Total cholesterol was reduced 28%, LDL (bad cholesterol) by 55%, triglycerides by 34% and HDL (good cholesterol) increased 21%.

What's The Best Plant-Based Diet?

Your health depends heavily on your lifestyle and, more importantly, the foods you choose to include in your lifestyle. Over the past few years there has been a popular and growing movement to transition towards a plant-based diet in order to achieve better health and trimmer waistlines. The science and evidence is certainly there to support this move towards a plant-centered diet, not only in terms of health, but also in terms of benefiting the environment and the welfare of all living beings on the planet.

Along with these many benefits comes many choices. There's at least a dozen or more different plant-based diets to follow so which one is the best? Which provides the greatest benefit to you?

We'll get to these questions soon, but first let's take a look at just a few of the popular plant-based diets out there to give you a sense of what's available.

Popular Plant-Based Diets

1) The Fab Five - The Plant-Based Pharmacist

I've laid out some simple guidelines to adopting a whole foods, plant-based diet and which foods to incorporate as part of this eating style at my website. This includes five basic food groups I like to call my Fab Five:

• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Legumes
• Whole Grains
• Nuts/Seeds

I focus on keeping things simple and including all of your calories from these five food groups. The amounts of each food group and tips on how to adopt this health-promoting diet can all be found here.

Searching For Quality In Healthcare - Studying A Study And Beyond

Health information is everywhere these days!

Have a weird pain in your side? Google it. Want to know what to expect from a new medication? Google it. Curious as to the best treatment for whooping cough? Google it.

As we've made our way into the 21st century our definition of 'seeking advice from your doctor' has went from getting it while sitting in the exam room to obtaining it via the internet. People are searching for answers, and they're finding them too. But what's to believe and not to believe? How is one to find quality health information via the internet?

Whether you're a healthcare professional or a lay person, I hope to offer you some reliable, quality health resources I've found useful in my quest for trusted health information. My goal as a medical professional is, and always has been, to seek out the most effective, safest, and least costly approaches in treating the healthcare needs of others. With that being said, I have always been, and will always be, adamant about using evidence-based scientific and medical literature free of commercial bias, if at all humanly possible to achieve this.

Many of the resources below are focused primarily on conventional medicine. While I often advocate for the use of lifestyle medicine (diet and exercise) over conventional medicine—due to its superior efficacy and safety profile when treating most chronic diseases—I also believe it's important to highlight the benefits and/or risks of conventional treatments so both patients and providers can make informed decisions regarding their health and how to achieve their goals in regards to this. In addition, the resources below will offer medical professionals some very valuable tools to help them in their everyday clinical practices.

Rheumatoid Arthritis - What Is It & How To Treat It

Arthritis is a growing and leading public health concern in many developed countries. In the United States, it's the number one cause of disability, and its prevalence is rising due to the increase in obesity and age amongst the population [1]. In fact, data from the CDC found that 22.2% (49.9 million) adults age ≥ 18 had self-reported doctor-diagnosed arthritis. 42.4% of these arthritis sufferers reported limitations in their daily activity level because of the disease.

Arthritis is also an expensive disease, costing a total of $128 billion annually in the United States [1]. Clearly, this chronic condition warrants serious attention in our efforts to prevent, limit, or even reverse the debilitating effects it has on individuals.

Rheumatoid Arthritis - What Is It?

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most common forms of arthritis (osteoarthritis being the other) and is characterized by an autoimmune reaction affecting an individual's joints [2]. This process results in tenderness, pain, swelling, and stiffness in the affected joint(s). Over time, chronic inflammation from RA can lead to destruction of tissue and bone in and around the joint resulting in permanent deformities. A continual reduction in one's quality of life is typically seen as the disease progresses. Some patients with advanced disease even struggle to tie their own shoes or button their own shirt due to the severe pain it causes. Many individuals end up having to quit work and go on disability for the rest of their life. RA literally devastates those it affects.

Food Co-ops - The Smart Buyer's Destination For Locally Grown [Organic] Produce

"But it's too expensive to eat healthy!" If I had a dime for every time I heard this excuse I'd be one of the youngest retirees on the face of the planet. Eating healthy has become synonymous with eating expensively, but it doesn't have to be. It is what you make of it.

You can spend a fortune shopping at the trendiest and fanciest health food store down the block filling your cart full of high end organic produce, or you could accomplish the same by seeking out less conventional routes for grocery shopping. This is where food co-ops come into play.

What Is A Food Co-op?

A food cooperative (or food co-op) is simply a food distribution outlet organized by a group of volunteers working together to meet their common economic and social needs. In other words, it is a member owned "grocery store". This doesn't mean there has to be an actual grocery store to shop at. Many food co-ops simply have pickup sites where once a week members will come pick up their "share" of the crop for that week.

Food co-ops almost always focus on buying from local farms if at all possible. Many will also concentrate on buying organic goods or at least have organic goods available for their members should they choose this option.

Overall, buying the bulk of your fresh produce from a food co-op can save you a lot of money. It's not unheard of to save 50% or more off of regular retail prices at the local supermarket for the same items. Plus, the fruits and vegetables are typically fresher since they've been picked a day or two prior (if not the same day) to you picking them up. You get fresh produce at a fantastic price that's even organic in many cases.

The Incredible, Edible Egg or Not?

Eggs have long been part of the traditional American diet especially when it comes to a hearty breakfast. Gym junkies also swear by eggs, highlighting the egg whites as a perfect low-fat, low-calorie source of protein. Others say eggs are an essential food for good health citing the fact they are an excellent source of vitamin A, B-complex vitamins (specifically choline), and two carotenoids (lutein and zeaxanthin) which are important for healthy vision. Along with these health claims proponents also often say you should limit egg consumption. The Mayo Clinic states to consume no more than 4 eggs per week to avoid increasing cholesterol levels.

So are eggs really the perfect food? Are there any downsides to eating eggs? Should you eat eggs or not eat eggs? What does the science say about eating eggs?

Eggs - The Evidence vs. What They "Say"

Egg advocates often highlight a few vitamins and antioxidants contained in the egg to help boost the case of them being a health food.  The cholesterol and fat content is usually downplayed as a source of concern when it comes to egg's overall effect on health by these same proponents. I believe it's important to look at the actual evidence when contemplating whether or not to eat eggs before making your decision. Relying on hearsay is of little benefit when it comes to your individual health.

Below is a look at the evidence (not funded by the egg industry) on egg consumption and health:

3 Proven Employer Sponsored Health and Wellness Programs

Healthcare costs are second only to energy costs when it comes the financial worries of Chief Financial Officers (CFO's) throughout corporate America today. A recent survey of 275 CFO's ranked healthcare expenditures a major concern (8 or above on a scale of 10) when it came to the financial viability of their company.

These concerns have rightfully earned their place at the top of the competing business world because an enormous amount of money is at stake here. Providing healthcare coverage to employees is big business and it doesn't take long for these costs to add up. Take the costs of insurance premiums for example. The average annual premium in 2012 for single coverage was $5,615 and for family coverage this rose to $15,745 [1]. While employees are taking on more of the burden with these costs, the fact remains that employers are still paying for the majority of it. On average, employers pay for roughly 77% of healthcare insurance premiums, while employees pay the remaining 23%.

The Essentials On Fats In The Diet

"But I need fat in my diet."

I've heard this line one too many times when talking to others about switching to a healthier, low-fat diet. Somehow, someway we Americans have come to the conclusion if we don't have large amounts of fat in our diet then we'll wither away like the famished populations of Sub-Saharan Africa. The reality of the situation is far from this preconceived notion.

Fat is an essential part of the human diet. This fact is true. However, we consume far too much of it in Western cultures. We also consume the wrong kinds of fats. This article and the accompanying videos at the end will serve to eliminate any confusion on how much and what kind of fats are actually needed for the human body to function properly.

Talking Whole Foods With Holly - Founder of My Plant-Based Family

The plant-based community is an ever growing community of many fascinating and wonderful people. Many of these people are looking to improve their health by going plant-based. Holly was one of these people, and she has a great story to tell!

Not only did Holly take the leap of faith and adopt a whole foods, plant-based diet, but she managed to get her whole family to embrace this lifestyle. And their results speak for themselves. This was certainly no easy task by any means as they had several kids running around the house keeping them busy!

So how'd she do it? What's her secret? Find out the answers to these questions and more in this exclusive interview with her as she reveals the life of her Plant-Based Family...

Jim and Holly

Holly and Jim's two young boys

Dustin:  Holly, I ran across your site (My Plant-Based Family) the other day and have to admit I think it's great! What's it all about and what inspired you to create it?

Holly:  When we initially decided to transition to a plant-based diet I had a difficult time finding resources. I would find websites or blogs that were vegan but used oil, white sugar, and white flour. Other sites or blogs relied heavily on processed products like vegan margarine and faux meat products. Most of the recipes I found were also not suited to families with small children.

I decided there needed to be a resource for families who want to eat whole food, plant-based foods that were affordable, easy, and delicious. I focus on helping people make the transition from omnivore to plant-eater, extending grace when it’s needed and equipping people to actually do it.

The False Hope Of Prescription Medications - A Pharmacist Tells All

For every ailment in today's world there is a pill. A solution in the form of a capsule or tablet or liquid with a concoction of chemicals inside designed to "cure" our misfortunes. Big Pharma has made their mark. As a pharmacist who's been in the medical field for over 10 years, I actually find this quite concerning given the pharmaceutical companys' primary motives for financial growth with little to no regard for patient safety and outcomes. The television commercials say it all. Drug companies are here to market, profit, and prosper off of sick people. You're of no value to them if you're in good health. This might be all well and good if the end goal was truly a nation, or a world, full of vibrant, healthy people who occasionally needed the help of Big Pharma to get back on their feet. But it's not. We live in an era where pill popping is the norm and weight issues and chronic diseases reign supreme. A quick look at the numbers confirms what we already know.

In 2011, a total of 4.02 billion prescriptions were dispensed at a grand total of $319.9 billion [1,2]. In case you were wondering, this amounts to approximately 12.9 prescriptions for every man, women, and child living in the U.S. at a cost of roughly $1,026.68 per year per person. Most of this isn't hitting our pocket books, not directly anyway. Insurance companies pay for the majority of the costs. In 2011, the average copay for 75% of all prescriptions dispensed in the U.S. was $10 or less thanks to the increasing availability of generic medications and prescription drug coverage [1]. I could write an entire book on the statistics behind the legalized drug world, but I'll stop for now. If you care to look into the subject any further you can read the IMS Institute for Health Informatics report here.