With promising new areas of research and investigation underway, Dr.Blum tells Self.com what is needed to reverse the trend.
LOADED!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3 Reasons to Detox This Spring
Your body will benefit from cleansing at any time of the year, but there’s a reason why spring is a special season for detox. When the weather starts to shift, so does the energy in your body. It’s a time to release the old and make space to welcome the new.
1. Come out of hibernation. Hit the reset button and clean up your diet after a long winter to assist your body’s shift into spring. During the winter your body needs more moisture, therefore we eat foods that are richer and higher in fat. Sweep out of this excess moisture and lighten up with liver supportive, low-fat greens, vegetables, and juices.
2. Eat alongside nature. The winters grounding root vegetables, warm soups and hearty meals become “off-season” for both your body and the earth. The ground starts to soften and rain adds moisture to the soil. Lighter vegetation sprouts like crisp greens, light fruits, and herbs arise in abundance. Feed your body with these spring vegetables and live in tune with nature.
3. Clear out mind clutter. Just like the rain washes away the snow and prepares the ground for new growth, so should your efforts to clean out the toxins in your body and the negative patterns in your mind, making room for new thoughts and positive experiences. It’s the perfect time of year to get “unstuck” and get active. Take advantage of the warm weather, begin a new exercise program, or start meditating.
There’s lots of different ways to begin a detox program. At Blum Center for Health we offer a variety of programs in May, whether it be a 5-Day, or 21-Day detox program, or make small steps to big change and take a cooking or meditation class.
View our class programs and sign up here: http://bit.ly/whichdetox
Choosing Upstream Medicine
Dr.Blum gives a heartfelt first person account of her experience from childhood through medical school, and shares her determination to build a medical practice that delivers “upstream” medicine to patients.
Whey Better Than A Protein Bar
We know how tough it can be to get out of the door during the morning, let alone feed yourself a healthy and satisfying breakfast. Our quick and easy alternative to a bowl of carb charged cereal or grabbing a sugar laden protein bar is a Whey protein smoothie.
Why is Whey so important? Made from grass-fed cows, Whey protein is packed with antioxidants and immune boosting nutrients to protect the body and keep it strong. It’s is filled with immunoglobulins, natural substances that fight infections and helps repair tissue and make new immune cells.
The protein will help you stay full and satisfied without the sugar crash and cravings, making it a great choice for those jam-packed mornings and days you’re always on the go. It’s so healthy and delicious we bet your kids will even want to try your grown up milkshake for breakfast!
Purchase Blum Whey Protein at the Blum Center Store.
Follow our BlumKitchen recipe or get creative with your fruits and add ins!
Treat Allergies Naturally
For some people, there is no escaping the wrath of allergy season. Even a simple walk outside can leave some feeling the effects for days afterwards. Rather than letting allergy sufferers exist in a histamine-induced haze, Dr.Blum offers tips on treating this season’s symptoms, naturally.
Dietary Supplements: Know what you’re really buying
Dr. Blum lends her advice to the Journal News on what to look for when choosing supplements.
Raising Healthy Families Using Food As Fuel
Dr.Blum shares her inspiration for creating Organic Pharmer and how her patients and their families benefit from the new grab and go eatery.
Cholesterol: Do You Really Need Medication?
Cholesterol lowering medication is the #1 selling prescription medication in this country. Somehow, everyone has
ended up on these drugs. While I am not anti-medication, I believe there should be a discussion that weighs the cholesterol lowering medication
risks and benefits to see if each prescription is right for you. It shouldn’t be an automatic reflex with no review of alternatives to taking a statin, for example. This is our focus today, and also the topic of my free monthly talk at Blum Center for Health on February 27.
Myth #1: Lowering my cholesterol will lower my risk of heart disease and death.
While this may be true for some of you, for most, the studies don’t prove this. People are put into risk categories, and for the highest risk people, getting your cholesterol down to a very low number and quickly, might be the right answer. But who is at high risk? Certainly not women after menopause who naturally have a rising cholesterol level—they all don’t need a statin. There are a lot of side effects from statins including impaired memory, which is a concern for many people as they age. Studies are now emerging that show that post-menopausal women without a personal or strong family history of cardiovascular disease are in the low risk zone.
So who is in the high-risk zone? Anyone who has diabetes or knows they have atherosclerosis or plaque because they had a test from a cardiologist; if one of your parents had a heart attack or stroke when they were in their 50’s or younger; and finally, you need to have the advanced cholesterol test—the NMR Lipoprotein Analysis—to look at the size and shape of your cholesterol before it is deemed too high or a problem and before deciding if you are in the high risk zone. The routine numbers done in a basic lipid panel don’t tell the whole story.
Myth #2: Treat the number, it’s all that matters.
Wrong. Just getting your numbers down isn’t good enough to prevent heart disease. We need to make sure your cholesterol isn’t damaged from free radicals because that’s what makes them sticky and form plaque. This happens cholesterol if your body is inflamed or deficient in antioxidants. We need to look at this and treat it, no matter what your cholesterol numbers are. Mary will focus on this in the nutrition section below.
Myth #3: The only way to lower cholesterol is with medication.
Wrong again. First, think about WHY cholesterol goes up? There are some people who have genetically high cholesterol, but they are the minority. For most people it is about lifestyle. Since cholesterol is used as a raw material to make the stress hormone cortisol, too much ongoing stress will prompt the liver to make more cholesterol to
support your hormones. Elizabeth will talk more about the stress-cholesterol relationship and what to do about it. The other big cause is the foods you are eating. A diet filled with processed flour, sugar, saturated fat, and lots of animal foods like dairy will increase cholesterol. Fixing your food by eating a plant based diet filled with fiber, plant sterols, and essential fatty acids is the best way to lower cholesterol and get the antioxidants needed to keep the cholesterol you do have from getting sticky and making plaque. Of course, taking fiber, fish oil, and plant sterol supplements will help, but nothing works better than actually changing the food you eat.
Myth #4: If I take medication, I can eat whatever I want!
This idea can really get you into trouble. Studies have shown that people who take statins are at an increased risk of diabetes. You can’t keep eating all those processed sugar and flour products while your medication keeps your cholesterol down. This false sense of security will make you sick and increase your risk of heart disease.
The bottom line:
First, get a good risk assessment before you decide to just treat the number. And then work on making a few of the changes below to lower your cholesterol with lifestyle change.