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What Role Do Genetics Play In Your Health?

by Elizabeth Greig, FNP

Several times a week, I see someone at Blum Center who has multiple autoimmune conditions or cancer or both and has had a moderate to high level of toxicant (toxin) exposures.  For example, they may have lived on or near a farm with an apple orchard and drank well water growing up in the 60s, they spray their apartment weekly or monthly with roach-killer, they play golf regularly, or they’ve taken many prescription drugs over many years.  All of these toxicants can be removed by the detoxification pathways in the body, particularly those found in the liver.  The efficiency of this process is determined in part by your genes.

How much effect – or risk – a particular gene, or group of genes, has on your health or illness is determined in part by your environment, such as food, chemicals, stress, and infections, as well as by interaction with other genes.  The part that environment plays is the part you have some control over.

For example, if you have a genetic tendency to diabetes, you can control your intake of sugar, sweets and starchy vegetables and be sure to exercise and thus reduce the likelihood that you will become diabetic.  This effect that lifestyle has on your genes to turn them on or off or modulate their expression is called “epigenetics.”  So, rather than:

Genes = Destiny

The answer is determined by epigenetics:

Genes + Lifestyle + Environment = Destiny

Some people have a collection of genetic mutations in their detoxification pathways that decreases their ability to rid the body of these toxicants and can increase the risk that those toxicants will cause problems.  The toxicants stay in circulation longer because they aren’t being removed efficiently. Then they can have a prolonged suppressing or damaging effect on the immune system and other systems that maintain the body’s health.  With genetic testing, we can identify some of these mutations and then make recommendations about foods, supplements and lifestyle changes that can help you decrease those toxic effects, helping you to heal and stay healthy.

Come find out more about some simple genetic testing you can do, learn about epigenetics, and discuss lifestyle, nutrition and supplement changes you can make to help you express your best destiny! 

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7 Ways You’re Making Your Immune System Weaker

Lack of sleep, too much stress, a crazy work schedule—it’s common knowledge that none of this is great for your health. But what about that new diet you’re on? Or even the medication you take? Turns out, you may be chipping away at your immune system without even knowing it. The good news: A few lifestyle changes or new habits can help you rebuild your body’s defenses against illness, infections, and disease. Check out these 7 ways you’re making your immune system weaker—and how to fix them.

 

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HOW TO HEAL YOURSELF FROM CHRONIC PAIN

By Gary Goldman

Over the last 30 years, I have been sick with various illnesses that have caused me to be out of my office, sometimes for significant amounts of time.  Although these were not deadly illnesses, they did greatly affect my life and my family.  They included migraine headaches, chronic back pain and ulcerative colitis.

meditation

After many drugs, hospitalizations and only days away from spinal fusion surgery, I was able to heal myself with the help of some very special MD’s using mind-body medicine.

At The Center for Mind Body Medicine I learned techniques of self-care, self awareness, and mindfulness. The focus is on the interactions between mind and body and the powerful ways in which emotional, mental, social and spiritual factors can directly affect health.  Using these techniques, I was able to heal myself. I now have a regular yoga and meditation practice and live a life without being in constant pain.

Now that I have healed myself I want to pay it forward.  Below is an easy technique you can practice at home to help ease your pain and discomfort:

Place: Pick a place in your home that is quiet and where you will be undisturbed.  By doing a practice in the same place each time, you begin to build an energy in that place that will support your practice.

Time of Day: Most people find either the beginning of the day or the end of the day easier for their schedules, but anytime that is you can maintain a consistency of the practice will work.

Length of Time: 10 Minutes is a good starting point, working up to longer periods of time.

Regular and Consistent: These are the keys to making progress with your practice.  This is YOUR time.  You deserve it.

No Judgment: The best meditation is the one you do! Keep watching, noting, being aware without attaching good or bad thoughts to the practice.

The Practice:  Settle in.  Close eyes. Breathe in and out slowly.  Feel the breath.  Observe the breath.  If any thoughts come in, let them in and let them out.

As you breathe in, say the word “soft” to yourself.  As you breathe out, say the word “belly”.  Continue feeling the body calm and relaxed.

My training has enabled me to lead and teach others in these effective mind-body techniques.  My passion is to help others live a pain free life, to be of service, and share my experiences with others who have chronic pain and just cannot find a way out.

Join me at Blum Center for Health this month for a 4-week Mindfulness for Pain Relief Series. Click here for more information and to sign up!

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RECIPE: Sunrise Nori Wraps

Text excerpted from EATING CLEAN, © 2016 by AMIE VALPONE. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.  Screen Shot 2016-03-06 at 2.55.53 PM

Sunrise Nori Wraps with Spicy Tahini Drizzle   Serves 4

If you like California rolls, you’ll love these nori wraps (though personally, I think they’re so much better!). The tahini dressing is truly addictive—you’re going to want to dress everything in it—and the cabbage provides a nice crunch. If possible, use a food processor to slice the cabbage so you can get it super thin.

Also, make sure the vegetable strips are all the same width and length so that they don’t hang over the edges of the nori sheets; this will make rolling up the wraps easier. Use leftover tahini drizzle as a dressing for salads or as a dip for crudités.

Sunrise Nori Wraps 

4 nori seaweed sheets

¼ small head red cabbage, very thinly sliced

1 large carrot, peeled and julienned

1 small yellow summer squash, julienned

1 small cucumber, julienned

1 large ripe avocado, pitted, peeled, and sliced

1 recipe Spicy Tahini Drizzle

Spicy Tahini Drizzle 

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 ¼ tablespoons chickpea miso paste

1 tablespoon raw tahini

2 medjool dates, pitted

1 garlic clove, minced

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Water, as needed to thin the drizzle

Place the nori sheets on a flat surface. Divide the cabbage, carrot, squash, cucumber, and avocado among the sheets. Top each pile of vegetables with a heaping tablespoon of the Spicy Tahini Drizzle, and then roll up the nori sheets into a tube shape.

Make the tahini: Combine all of the ingredients except the water in a blender. Blend, adding water 1 teaspoon at a time as you go, until the mixture becomes a thin sauce.

To purchase Amie’s new book click here.

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How Eating Like Your Ancestors Can Help You Lose Weight

Blog Photo FastingBy Mary Gocke, RDN, CDN

The key to losing weight in 2016 might be found by going back in time and eating like our ancestors.

What if fasting was a part of your healthy lifestyle and offered the benefit of weight loss? Please, don’t get nervous and don’t go anywhere. Keep reading. This is the real deal.

We’re talking about intermittent fasting and it’s how our ancestors ate – think feast or famine. When there was food available, they ate; when they didn’t have food, they didn’t eat. They couldn’t run to a fast-food restaurant or pop a frozen-food entrée in the microwave.

Intermittent fasting does not mean you have to starve yourself. It does ask you to look at your lifestyle, notice how often you eat and especially observe late-night snacking – you know, when you’re stressed and watching late night television to take your mind off things and unconsciously eating the bag of potato chips or pint of ice cream.

What if you stopped eating after dinner and didn’t eat again until breakfast? There you go – intermittent fasting! 8pm to 8am – 12 hours of intermittent fasting. Maybe your schedule is 7pm to 7am; not a problem. There’s flexibility here. It’s not the time that matters; it’s the timing – setting yourself up for a period of 12-14 hours when you are not eating. And giving your body a chance to detoxify and rejuvenate itself.

The benefits of intermittent fasting are well-studied and vast, including:

  • Improve metabolic efficiency and metabolic flexibility
  • Reset your body to use fat as its primary fuel source
  • Boost enzyme production to facilitate digestion and weight loss
  • Generate production of human growth hormone
  • Increase insulin sensitivity
  • Reduce markers of chronic inflammation

Intermittent fasting is one aspect of the revolutionary weight loss program offered at Blum Center for Health this month. We want to help you lose weight and we want you to keep it off with a healthy lifestyle plan.

Learn more and join our Group Weight Loss Program.

 

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What is Kitchari?

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Kitchari is an ancient Ayurvedic meal consisting of Mung beans and rice cooked into porridge. Kitchari (kitch-ah-ree) literally means mess – referring to this warm, delicious, satisfying (not messy!) porridge.

The Ayurvedic culture discovered the magic of the Mung bean; they do not cause gas; they are anti-inflammatory; and they are hypo-allergenic.

As a cleanse, kitchari is eaten for 7 days – breakfast, lunch and dinner as a mono diet, meaning eating one food. This limits the diversity of food which helps decrease inflammation while supporting digestive enzymes and the entire process of digestion.

At Blum Center for Health we perform the Kitchari Cleanse once a year, during the winter months.  We  find this cleanse both nourishing, healing and weight reducing. Typically, a pound a day is lost with ease.

Kitchari is comfort food, warming and nourishing for this time of year.

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5 Tips to Eat Mindfully During the Holidays

By Susan Blum, MD, MPH

1.  Stick to your healthy diet during the day if you know you have a holiday party at night.  It sounds logical, but it’s easy to start indulging during office parties or grabbing unhealthy snacks while you’re on-the-go. If you stick to a healthy diet all day like veggies and lean protein, you can treat yourself at night. 

2.  Never leave the house hungry.  Have a healthy snack like carrots and hummus around 4-5pm before you leave for your festivities and you’ll be less likely to fill your plate at the party. 

3.  Taste Everything!  Try bites of all the food offerings but leave the rest on your plate.  If you ate a snack and you’re not starving, you will be able leave your plate full but still enjoy indulging in the holiday fare. 

4.  Swap water in between cocktails to stay hydrated and full. 

5.  Reset on Monday!  I always tell my patients to enjoy themselves during special occasions and plan to reboot on Monday with a full day of healthy juices and foods that detoxify the body. It takes the stress and guilt off holiday eating and guarantees to soothe the digestive system and replenish the body with vital nutrients and antioxidants.  At Organic Pharmer, we offer a 1 – Day Reboot cleanse just for this purpose!  https://www.organicpharmer.com/cleanses/1-day-juice/1-day-juice-cleanse 

Wishing you happiness and health this holiday season!

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Are Your Hormones To Blame?

The holiday season is a good time to make a few simple changes that can make a big difference in how you feel.  Healthy food, fresh air, and targeted supplements balance your hormones and build up your reserves against stressors. 

Do any of these issues sound familiar?

  • difficulty losing weight
  • fatigue
  • low libido
  • thinning hair 
  • bad skin
  • anxiety and irritability
  • depressed mood
  • brain fog

Or are you just not feeling like yourself lately?

When we consider hormones and their relationship to these symptoms, we tackle the big picture.  It is never simply a low thyroid issue – nor are estrogen and testosterone levels solely to blame.  There is an entire hormone orchestra that can fall out of tune, and when this is addressed appropriately, we feel better!

The holiday season is also one of insight and peace. A great time to find your calm! 

So my first recommendation for a hormone-balancing change is to add a mindfulness practice to your routine and make space for it every day.  That can be as simple as a five-minute deep breathing exercise in the morning before your coffee or tea.  Or it can be a short walk outside in the fresh air.  Restart the meditation practice you’ve put on hold.  A yoga practice or other movement routine counts as well, as long as it’s done mindfully. And don’t forget to mix it up!  Changing your routine keeps it interesting and helps you stay on track.  These kinds of mindfulness exercises support the adrenal glands and are the first steps toward harmonizing your hormones.

Schedule an HRT consult with one of our Functional Medicine providers!   

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Healthy Thanksgiving Side: Whipped Sweet Potato Bake

Healthy Thanksgiving Side: Whipped Sweet Potato Bake

Untitled designChef Amy gives us a healthy, dairy-free version of a Thanksgiving favorite.

She chose healthy fats, like coconut oil,  as an alternative to butter, and used coconut milk to give sweet potatoes a creamy, thick consistency.  Warm autumn spices and a touch of maple syrup add a rich flavor the whole family will love!

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The Bloat Blog

C892C2EF-7610-4971-802D-FD7AE558D4E4Do any of these scenarios sound familiar?

Your stomach looks like you’re in the third trimester and you’re not even pregnant.

You have a beer belly and don’t drink beer.

You produce gas that could be lethal?

You’re always searching for an Altoid to fix wicked bad breath?

These are all signs of a gut gone bad! 

Honestly, the causes can come from a variety of offenders.  It could be gluten, dairy, fructose, stress, or an overgrowth of bad bugs in your gut.

As nature would have it, gas is produced in the large bowel and for the most part does not cause any problems.  But when bloating and gas happen in the small intestines, it can become problematic and produce a distended, fermenting belly.

It’s embarrassing, but the good news is that it is fixable.

Usually, the biggest gas producer is DAIRY and the reasons are twofold.  Dairy contains lactose and most us are missing the enzyme that breaks it down, so it forms gas.  The other reason is the protein in dairy, casein, is highly allergenic.  A reaction to casein can cause inflammation in the gut that results in bloating.

So first, remove the dairy from your diet and assess if you feel!  If you’re interested in further exploring how to heal your gut, check out our online programs that include supplements and food plans or schedule a session with one of our Functional Medicine providers!