Insomnia Relief & Restful Sleep

After I wrote that piece on tryptophan and mood I had some great feedback, in particular how tryptophan and sleep disorders are closely related.  Because so many of us do have sleep issues I wanted to share some of these thoughts with you and also add a few of my own to ensure that you get some good, restful natural zzz’s at night.

Here are the tips from one of my clients who suffered from severe insomnia:

“I had insomnia for a year straight, here is what worked for me” LS
Hydration
Bananas
Yogurt
apple juice
Sunflower seeds
Brown rice with warm milk and honey
Sleepytime Tea
Stretching before bed
Meditation before bed
Exercise during the day
CALCIUM supplements

I will add:

For dinner and bedtime snacks, eat foods that are high in complex carbohydrates, with a small amount of protein that contains just enough tryptophan to relax the brain. Avoid any and all carbohydrate snacks high in sugars as they will rev you up not calm you down. Sugar will increase your blood glucose levels, insulin levels and you’ll miss out on the sleep-inducing effects of tryptophan in addition to possibly setting off the roller-coaster effect of plummeting blood sugar followed by the release of stress hormones that will keep you awake.

The best bedtime snack is one that has both complex carbohydrates and protein, and perhaps some calcium, just like LS suggested above. Calcium helps the brain use the tryptophan to manufacture melatonin. This explains why dairy products, which contain both tryptophan and calcium, are one of the top sleep-inducing foods. Other foods that contain calcium include kale, collard greens, bok choy, broccoli, and oranges. tofu and cooked dried beans. (http://ag.arizona.edu/maricopa/fcs/bb/nondairy.htm)

Other ideas: Avoid caffeine after 2 pm, have a cup of chamomile tea before bed, spray lavender on your bed sheets and pillow,

And try this pre sleep relaxation;

Sit or lay down in your bed, be comfy.

Close your eyes.

Breathe….breathe….breathe in, breathe out….breathe

repeat the above as many times as you like!

Enjoy…

 

Can certain foods boost your mood?

Well this morning when I got up and saw the clouds and looked at the temperature which read 11 degrees, I have to say I was not a happy camper. So I thought that maybe this blog will be a reminder for me and perhaps helpful to others as well who may suffer from SAD or just a low-grade blues syndrome once in a while and need a little midwinter, I am not going anywhere warm anytime soon boost.

Feeling happy can be complicated. It involves a complex interaction between hormones, life circumstances, the right balance of foods, neurotransmitters in the brain, enough sunshine, solid relationships, the right DNA, and the list goes on really….For now lets just look at the brain and the neurotransmitter Serotonin that is responsible in part for our mood and also critical for our general sense of wellbeing, hormone balance, sleep and weight management.

People who take Prozac for example, do so because they want to feel better. Prozac increases the amount of serotonin available to the brain which in theory makes people ‘happier’. As a doctor, yes I have seen this effect but before you go on medication, how about trying a more holistic approach first.

In this case, with serotonin, it is made up of an amino acid called tryptophan. The body cannot make tryptophan on its own so we must get it from our diet. Which food you ask? Flax seeds (you knew that I created those flackers for more than one reason right? www.flackers.com ), lentils, Spirulina, soy, spinach, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, watercress, seafood, egg whites, peanuts, pork and turkey are the most common.

If you do not eat enough tryptophan studies have shown that you are more prone to depression, irritability, weight gain, difficulty losing weight,and difficulty sleeping as well. People who are low in tryptophan also tend to crave carbohydrates which only makes things worse.

What to do?

1. Eat foods that are high in tryptophan

2. In order for the tryptophan to be available to the body you must eat these foods with a carbohydrate.So, eat carbohydrates (whole grains, brown rice, quinoa) with tryptophan-containing foods to make this calming amino acid more available to the brain.

3. For better sleep, which will improve your mood, help you to crave less sugar through the day, and also help you then to control your weight try the following; snack on both complex carbohydrates and protein, and perhaps some calcium in the evening. Calcium helps the brain use the tryptophan to manufacture melatonin. This explains why dairy products, which contain both tryptophan and calcium, are one of the top sleep-inducing foods.

4. Get some sunshine if you can, frolicking on sunny warm beach never hurts when it comes to making me feel better and yet if you cannot get away make sure at least that you take some Vitamin D, and if you are deficient, alot of it, like 1,000-4,000 IU daily.

Also, make sure you take a b complex vitamin and get plenty of omega 3 fatty acids which also help with mood and hormone regulation and bathe the brain in important nutrients that help to relieve SAD and mild depression.

I hope this helps you smile today!

for more info on tryptophan in foods:

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=103

 

Bobbi Brown loves flackers…OMG!!

Check out this fabulous blog and see what Bobbi Brown has to say about Flackers. I have to say she has shared some amazing flacker recipe and she makes them look completely tantalizing and wonderful!!! What a great gift to Dr in The Kitchen today. I hope that you enjoy it too!

http://www.everythingbobbi.com/en/2012/02/24/omg-yum/

http://www.everythingbobbi.com/en/2012/02/24/omg-yum/

 

My skinny on fats

I was at a friend’s house and saw them munching on potato chips. I always love to look at the labels of the foods that I generally chose not to eat, just to see exactly what my body will be saved from, and was shocked to see that olestra was in these chips. I did not even know that this was still legal to put in food. Anyways, it made me think that it was time to mention a thing or two about fats and how wonderful fats can be for your body, tissue, hair, nails, joints, heart, brain!

Fats we need to love:  flax seeds, avocado, sardines, organic free range eggs, extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, walnuts, almonds, seeds like-pumpkin, hemp, sunflower, sesame, wild cold water fish, nut butters

These fats keep us:

1. thin (they help to regulate blood sugar and insulin release, also they keep us feeling full longer so that we eat less),

2. happy (they bathe brain tissue and receptors for neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine which help with mood),

3. lubricated, including our joints, tissues, skin, hair, arteries

4. balanced; by regulating hormones

So put away the fat-free and indulge! Enjoy the creamy feeling of luscious healthy good fats melting on your palate and filling you up with total goodness!

Happy healthy Sunday!

Dr in the Kitchen….

 

Increase your vitality, energy, lifespan with these foods

What if I told you that there was a diet that could increase your vitality and your life span. Would that be of interest to you?

What if I told you that if you ate certain foods or herbs that you could increase your energy and your overall health and longevity. Would that also be of interest to you?

Well I am happy to say that this is not an infomercial but the truth. There is a way to eat that can do all of the above and while it may not cure all that ails you, it may cure some of what ails you and sometimes, if you are really lucky it may cure all.

As a holistic doctor we learn that inflammation, especially chronic inflammation is the root cause of many ailments that we are plagued with, including; coronary artery disease, autoimmune disorders, arthritis, alzheimers, cancer. Through our diet and lifestyle we can dramatically reduce inflammation in our bodies thus reducing our risk of many chronic ailments that are currently present in our society. All you need to do is consider adding the following to your diet;

Spices:

Ginger root; The rhizome of ginger contains pungent vanillyl ketones, including [6]-gingerol and [6]-paradol, and has been reported to possess a strong anti-inflammatory activity.

Turmeric: Curcumin is the active ingredient and a known powerful anti-inflammatory agent. Found in Indian food in the spice curry, giving food the traditional yellow color as well.

Both of these herbs can be taken as a supplements, powdered extracts or CO2 liquid extracts-which is good because you can get higher doses into your system but not necessary. If you like the taste enjoy these herbs daily in your food, add to your soups, your favorite dips and spreads, your salads and/or use freely as a spice when cooking.

Oils: these promote the formation of prostaglandins PGE1, PGE3 which are favorable anti-inflammatory

Flax seeds and flax seed oil, Fish oils (EPA/DHA), Evening primrose oil, Black current seed oil

Digestive Enzymes: Taken with food, these elements will help you digest your foods, taken on an emty stomach howerver, it is hypothesiszed that these favorably influence eicosanoid production which lower inflammation in the body

Papain, Bromelain, Trypsin, Chymotrypsin

 

Say goodbye to Lipitor!

A very special friend of mine showed me his lab results yesterday; high fasting glucose, high cholesterol, high triglycerides and OY is all I have to say….Actually that’s not what I said to him, to him I smiled, then said, ‘no worries but maybe it is time for a change in your diet/lifestyle routine,’ I can help and I put together the following recipe for him to help lower cholesterol. Next time we can tackle the high glucose level. In any case I thought that it would also be worth sharing these ideas with you, just in case you needed them too.

General tips to help maintain normal cholesterol levels:

• Make sure no ingredients in your      cabinets contain partially hydrogenated oil or corn syrup or high fructose
• Eat more good fats such as: omega 3      -rich foods like flax seeds (or flackers www.flackers.com), salmon,      walnuts, hemp seeds, sardines: Enjoy unsaturated fats like avocados and      cook with extra virgin olive oil or other seed oils and use them in your      salads and dressings as well. Avoid or at least cut back on bad fats like:      saturated fats, hydrogenated oils and trans fats and avoid high fat dairy      products. Avoid red meat intake and trim visible fats.
• Indulge in more legumes, beans and      vegetables at every meal
• Eat more fiber like, flax seeds,      flackers, oats, psyllium, apple peels, fruit and vegetables
• Eat more whole grains
• Delete all sweetened sugar drinks from      your diet
• Delete or really limit alcohol a      maximum  of 3 drinks per week.
• Your should consider taking an omega-3      supplement with fish oils  (EPA/DHA)      or vegetarian sources of DHA
• Do not over-eat! Stop one mouthful short      of feeling full at every meal
• Keep at a healthy weight and an active      lifestyle with exercise regularly /daily if you can even if only for 20      minutes

And finally, laugh regularly, even if it does not directly lower your cholesterol, I know it will make you feel great!

 

Longevity in a delicious spread? Here’s how….

This time of year I find it really challenging to get enough fresh vegetables into my diet. In the summer, I used to just run out into my garden three times a day and literally make myself a fresh cherry tomato, basil, spinach sandwich with a leaf of parsley every time I left my house. Now all I can see are the tips of my kale and collard plants frozen, sticking out of the snow which used to be my garden. Anyways, the point is that it’s cold and so I am less tempted to eat salads and fresh vegetables. I only want really hot, really warm foods and lots of carbohydrates to appease my winter woes and keep me feeling warm. Unfortunately this does not usually translate into optimally healthy and balanced meals.

But I have found a few ways to sneak in  a lot of vegetables and herbs into other things that I may use daily in the winter and so I may be gardenless but I am also guilt free with these idea.

Take your favorite salad dressing or bean dip or salsa or vinaigrette or humus or guacamole and think about the kind of vegetable that would complement the dip/dressing in taste and color. So for example, when I think about my favorite vinaigrette made with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, shallots, lemon juice, sea salt and a dab of balsamic vinegar, two ideas come to my mind

1. Raw or roasted red, yellow and even green peppers; so a multi colored option, may also add carrots, onion, celery and other vegetables that you like.

2. A green version: spinach or kale and fresh parsley, maybe some cilantro, even fresh fennel if you like the flavor of anise.

So what to do now, puree your roasted veggies then blend into your favorite dip or dressing or if you want a raw recipe, just food process your dip or dressing with raw vegetables, herbs and/or spinach and/or kale and now you have your own personalized super food, rich in antioxidant  longevity spread. And you can use this in anything and on anything that you eat.

Then when I make my meals, be it fish, tempeh, soup or carbohydrates like wild rice or quinoa, even if I decide to steam vegetables or eat other raw vegetables-all I have to do is add a tbsp of this ‘rich nutritious antioxidant spread and I am adding a whopping four-five extra servings of vegetables with each spoonful. How fabulous is that!?

Or if you like you can use it on a piece of toast or on a flacker, just plain or else add some goat cheese or other cheese and place in the oven and make yourself a mini ultra healthy pizza.

Try to use at least three different colors of vegetables and be free with the herbs, they add tons of flavor and nutrition. Add garlic for immunity, curcumin for anti-inflammatory needs, olive oil for heart health and my god you will feel fabulous and be healthy all year-long!

Experiment and play with different vegetables and then enjoy! And then if you find a recipe that you think is divine, send it to me and I will then post it so everyone can enjoy that too!

 

Do you know what’s in your food?

Do we really know what we are eating? One would think that a food label would help but think again! Did you know that 60% of the processed foods in the market contain genetically modified/engineered ingredients. It is bad enough that Americans are in love with and are consuming tons of processed foods, (and I will actually leave that issue alone today) …OK, may be I will just make one single point about this and that is if you read the ingredient label on a food product and you cannot pronounce the word and/or you have never seen the ingredient before and then have to look it up on Wikipedia to see what the ingredients means because it is not really a food but an additive or a chemical preservative, then please consider putting it back on the shelf and trying something else. Okay, got that out….

So what was I saying, yes, genetically modified/engineered ingredients. Be aware that currently the FDA does not require a food label to announce that it is GMO free or full of GMO ingredients. So my suggestion is that if this is of concern to you, look for foods packages that are labeled GMO free. Companies that go out of their way to use GMO free ingredients, will likely go out of their way to label it.

To your health!

Dr in The Kitchen…

 

‘Zap that cold away’ remedy

I sometimes feel bewildered that scientists are able to get people to the moon but we still have not figured out the best way to treat the common cold and flu. Sure we have remedies that help with symptom control, but none of these actually prevent or shorten the duration of time we are ill. Having said that, in the holistic world, things are a little more optimistic. Put away the pharmaceuticals. here are some of my effective,favorite remedies that work.

Elderberry Extract This botanical is my favorite when it comes to treating colds and flu. There are few antiviral remedies available to us but elder. also known as black elder, is one of them – and it works . The extract of elderberries has been tested repeatedly and found to shorten the duration of symptoms by as much as four days, and the extract has been found effective at fighting up to 10 strains of flu virus. Nearly all of the scientific studies conducted on elderberry have used a commercial product called Sambucol, which is available as a liquid supplement from a number of different companies.

Zinc: Over and over again studies are showing that zinc shortens the duration of the common cold. So the first thing I would do at the sign of a sniffle is take about 25-30 mg of zinc. You do not want to exceed 50mg per day.

Thyme
Keep a supply of thyme essential oil or dried thyme on hand in the event that you fall ill with either the flu or with a common cold. Thyme has long been known as an expectorant, which makes coughs more productive (that is, it helps clear out your lungs faster so you feel better sooner). You can brew a thyme herbal tea by steeping two teaspoons of fresh thyme in a cup of boiling-hot water for 10 minutes. Or, make a thyme steam bath: Toss either a handful of dried thyme a few drops of thyme essential oil into a bowl of hot water, and lean over the bowl, covering both your head and the bowl with a towel. Inhaling the steam will help loosen mucus in your chest.

Garlic boosts the health of your immune system and a number of studies have found that animals given regular doses of garlic supplements are better able to ward off viruses like the flu and various strains of rhinovirus, the kind responsible for the common cold. In one study from 2001, volunteers who took a daily garlic supplement were less likely to get colds from volunteers taking a placebo, and even when the garlic takers did get sick, they recovered more quickly. For the sake of people who have to talk to you, garlic supplements are probably the kindest way to go. But you can also get the same benefits by chewing on a clove of garlic once a day for prevention or twice a day to get over a cold or flu. Mince a clove of garlic into some honey if the flavor is too overpowering. It’s not clear whether adding more garlic to your cooking affords the same protection, but if you love the flavor, you can add more to your recipes while possibly getting an immune boost.

And finally, as my mama used to say, remember, the best way to stay healthy is to avoid getting sick! Get plenty of fresh air, eat a lot of whole foods, fresh, local and seasonal is best, get a little sunshine, laugh a lot and while saying the prayer or chanting the mantra of your choice, throw salt over you left shoulder and knock on the nearest piece of wood!

To your optimal health!

From the Dr in the Kitchen

 

Snack on this and stay healthy …

In addition to providing antioxidants and anti-inflammatory nutrients, 1 cup of cauliflower provides 91 % of the recommended daily dose of vitamin C. While cooking, sprinkle a little turmeric on this, a little ginger and a little garlic and now you have quite the potent anti-pain arthritis snack, not to mention very potent cold protection recipe.

Be well…..