18 Ways to Thrive and have Healthy Happy Holiday Season

    Happy Holiday's 

1.    Keep up you renewal routines.

Take the time to nourish yourself with exercise, whether it is walking, running, yoga, meditation, biking etc?  It is as important if not more important during the busy holiday season.  Exercise provides fresh oxygen, blood and nutrients to all the joints, organs and the brain.  It also stabilizes blood sugar and is a big stress reliever.  Time strapped do the 7 minute workout.

2.   Make breakfast high energy

Make a high Protein shake or smoothie. It must have clean high quality protein powder, good fat, (flax seed oil, nuts and seeds) leafy greens and a small amount of fruit.

3.  Cut the Carbs on Turkey Day.

Stuff your turkey with celery, onions, herbs and spices instead of the high fat high carb loaded version.  Switch high carb pumpkin pie for pumpkin soup with a dollop of yogurt and skip the bread roll.

4.   Make new Traditions

Most holiday dinners are upwards of 2500/3000 calories and that does not include alcohol or eggnog.  Old Traditions have made us fat and put a huge load on the digestive system and the heart.  It is time for new healthier traditions.

5.   Give the Gift of Love

One of the best gifts one can give a loved one is the gift of positive and loving behavior and words.  If you see all the wonderful things in your spouse, kids family members, friends etc. just imagine how great that would be and it is guaranteed to improve your relationships. The photo is my best friend Graeme and his family in 2012.

   6.    Use a minimalistic approach to Decorations and the Table.

We do not need more stuff and we all have tons of Holiday décor and the thing is that most of your guests don’t notice as much as we think they do.  What they notice is the energy and feeling of your home.  So skip the extra running around and stress and light candles.

 7.  Do a Digital Detox

Make a pact with your friends and family to put phones and iPads etc. away during dinners and outings. Spend some quality time together really listening and engaging with each other.

     8.  Connect with Community and Give Back

Giving to others during the holidays helps us help others and in turn helps us. We like to do a turkey trot and move our feet before we eat. It is something that whole family can do that is fun and good for you.  The proceeds go to charities.  We also collect bears for the local children’s hospital. Pick a couple of community events that match you giving philosophy.

      9.   Go Grain Free, Gluten Free and Zero Refined Sugar

If you need tasty ideas go to www.hemsleyandhemsley.com. These two sisters also have a great cookbook called The Art of Eating Well. Perhaps a good holiday gift for someone you know.

   10. Listen to your Body

Are you aware of your stress levels?  How often do you pretend to be fine? Pay attention to the clues your body gives and nurture yourself.

   11. Keep your Immune system strong

Sugar and stress depresses you immune system leading to colds, flu, coughs, allergies and stuffy nose. Load up on antioxidants and decrease your sugar intake.

   12. Preserve Sleep

The body rests and repairs during quality sleep.  It makes no rational sense to pull an all-nighter just to get a couple of dollars off on Black Friday. A better idea is to go to bed at 10pm and get up at 5am if you have to have those door busters.  Aim for at least 7 hours

   13. Choose a different response

How you respond to stress is what matters. Step out of the situation and view it from the outside.  Take a few breaths before you respond or don’t react at all.

   14.  Eat your Veggies

This is a great time to enjoy all those fabulous root vegetables.  They are high in fiber and loaded with nutrients.  Chew them well.

   15. Drink your Veggies

If you don’t get your adequate servings of veggies per day, drink them.  Enjoy a green drink.

   16. Hydrate

Aim to drink a minimum of 64 ounces of water a day.  Not only will your digestive system thank you but your skin will too.  If you are flying during the holiday season drink more… I know it is a hassle to go to the bathroom when you fly, however the benefits outweigh the discomfort of dehydration.

   17. Take it Easy on the High Calorie Beverages

Alcohol, Eggnog and a Pumpkin Spice Latte count as non-nutrient dense calories.  We have a mind set that what we drink does not count as part of our consumption however it has a huge impact on weight gain, sleep quality and depresses the immune system.

   18. Beware of the Buffett

Be consciously selective when it comes to the buffet table. If you know that the choices available will not be healthy then try to eat good for you food before go to your event.

Bonus Tips

   19. Stress can be good for us

Our bodies are designed to handle stress in appropriate amounts.  Some stress can kick us into gear to get things done, provide focus, clear thinking and take action.

It is when stress is too much for too long that problems arise.

   20. Don’t sweat the small stuff.

Put on bright red lipstick and a sparkly top and you are good to go…. When you look good you feel good. When you feel good you look good!

Is Chocolate a Health Food??

Happy Halloween!

I know that most of you are going to overdo it in the candy department this next week and perhaps some of you all the way to Valentine's Day?? 

Chocolate candy is going to be everywhere, at home, the office, events,  parties etc etc.. Before you or your kids indulge in way too much of the yummy stuff know that consumption comes with a price.  It is loaded with extra calories, it is hard to stop at just one and worst of all it a depresses the  immune system.  It is no wonder kids come home from school with the sniffles right after Halloween. 

  

Here is the skinny so you can make good for you choices for yourself and your kids: 

The cocoa bean, actually a seed, grows in pods on trees. It contains compounds called flavanols, which have been shown to lower blood pressure, improve blood flow and reduce overall risk of heart disease. Three scientific analyses published in the past six months pooled results of smaller studies to conclude that cocoa is good for the heart. Scientists believe flavanols work, at least in part, by stimulating production of nitric oxide, which relaxes vessels and improves blood flow.

Most chocolate isn't labeled with milligrams of flavanols and there's no industry or scientific standard yet for measuring flavanols in chocolate. One objective measure is the cocoa percentage on the label. Milk chocolate can be as little as 10% cocoa paste by weight, with the rest in sugar, milk and other ingredients.

Dark-chocolate bars typically contain 50% to 85% cocoa by weight, scientists say. "The higher the percentage of cocoa, the higher the flavanol content, the higher the antioxidant content and thus we believe the greater positive health benefit," says Washington, D.C., nutritionist Joy Dubost, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

My take on the above information is that a little goes a long way. If you have a chocolate craving and are trying to lose weight one or two squares of the 70-80% Dark Chocolate  after dinner or as a healthy snack should  satisfy. If you crave Chocolate all the time you might be deficient in Magnesium! 

Take it easy on yourself this holiday season.... and make good for you choices.  You are in charge of your health and wellness... Now that is Scary!!

Happy Halloween

Paleo Protein Bars

Makes 10

1 large egg white                                    I Cup of chopped raw nuts
I Tablespoon of Honey or Agave         ½ Cup of raw seeds
¼ Teaspoon. Cinnamon                        ¼ Cup chopped apricots or prunes
Pinch of sea salt

Preheat Oven to 325 Degrees

Line a muffin tin with 10 cupcake liners. 
In a bowl whisk egg white, honey, cinnamon and salt. Add Nuts Seeds and Fruit. Combine all ingredients and stir well.

Divide mixture evenly into the muffin cups.  Bake 16-20 minutes until golden brown. Remove and transfer to a wire rack.

Cool completely then wrap each Bar tightly in plastic wrap. Keeps for 5 days a room temp and 2 weeks in fridge

Variations: 

Replace Dried Fruit with Coconut
Replace Cinnamon with 2 teaspoons of unsweetened dark choc powder. 
Replace Cinnamon with Ground Ginger

GLUTEN-FREE, EARTHY AND VERSITILE

 Buckwheat is NOT what it seems. 

 Though it looks like a grain and tastes like a grain it is not part of the cereal family.  Buckwheat is a nutritionally dense and gluten-free relative of the rhubarb and sorrel family.

The kernels, called groats are hulled, roasted and serves as a side dish, stuffing or ground into a blue-gray flour which can be used in a variety of dishes.  Buckwheat has become the darling of pastry chefs everywhere and therefore that is good news for all who are gluten sensitive or intolerant.  Give it a try!

FOOD ALLERGIES AND SENSITIVITIES

Unfortunately about 96% of the population has one or more food allergies or sensitivities. The net result can be simple water retention where people are bloated or constipated from the food reaction to major health problems being created.

There are lab testing available to determine a person's food allergy/sensitivities however this test can come back different every time it is done. The "Gold Standard" in pinpointing food problems is to do an elimination diet and thereafter re-introduce the main food allergens to see what kind of reactions take place.

In this way not only is it most accurate but people see what happens to them when these foods create problems for them. In this way they can decide if the food item should be minimized or totally eliminated from their diet.This is why food issues need to also be addressed when practitioners want to address the root cause of people's symptoms as many times their affect on health can be very serious. 

Our Purification Program addresses these issues and we work with you to help you reintroduce different food groups so you can learn which foods affect you. 

Flow with Nature

Many of my clients and Facebook fans have been asking me if a Purification Program or Nutritional Reset or Detox Program is a good idea with the change of seasons.

And I said YES !!!

This is one of the absolute best times of the year to do it, so it’s much more than just a “good idea.”Resetting or cleansing your body nutritionally and emotionally is a perfect way to flow with nature and the seasons and get in balance with yourself and your environment. The season is changing and so will your body and thus, your mind.

Although many people may stick to the same diet all year round, nature is speaking to us with each and every harvest. We need to perk up our ears (and tummies) and listen! Our nutritional cycle in nature is an annual cycle (we go through three seasons). It actually takes an entire year for all of our nutritional needs to be met.

When you nourish yourself properly, your body gives back to you in the form of energy, excess reduction and positive outlook.

And most importantly, beyond even the cycle as a whole, fall is the time to flush our systems of the excess heat from summer and get on board with how we can balance our workload, stress and our emotions.

For more info go to www.drpia.com

THE TRUTH ABOUT SPORTS DRINKS

AN INFORMATIVE ARTICLE FROM THE HARVARD MEDICAL JOURNAL

Good Timing: for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) has published several articles revealing the “truth about sports drinks.” That truth is this: drink when you are thirsty and don’t waste your money or calories on sports drinks—choose water instead.

Sports drinks are flavored beverages that contain carbohydrates (usually sugar) and minerals such as sodium and potassium. Those minerals are generally referred to as electrolytes.

The granddaddy of sports drinks is Gatorade, a beverage created in the 1960s for the University of Florida Gators football team. The British Medical Journal says it “started life as a simple mixture of kitchen foodstuffs” like water, salt, sugar, and lemon flavoring. It’s more complicated than that today. The industry is now dominated by multinational companies like Pepsi and drug companies like GSK. In the United States alone, sales of sports drinks exceed $1.5 billion a year.

Before the rise of sports drinks, athletes (and the rest of us) drank water when we exercised or got sweaty. How did we know when to drink, or how much? The way humans have known for eons—thirst. But as the BMJ team describes, sports drink makers spent a lot of money sponsoring less-than-rigorous research damning thirst as a guide to hydration and casting doubt on water as the beverage for staying hydrated. To make matters worse, recommendations once aimed at endurance athletes have now trickled down to anyone who exercises.

Over hydration is more worrisome

There is no evidence that dehydration has ever killed a marathoner, Dr. Arthur Siegel, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a medical advisor to the Boston Marathon, told the BMJ. But the drumbeat that athletes must stay fully hydrated and drink before they become thirsty has spawned a new problem—overhydration. That’s what killed a healthy, 28-year-old woman during the 2002 Boston Marathon. She collapsed a few miles short of the finish line and died a day later. The cause of death was hyponatremia—too little sodium in her blood caused by drinking too much fluid before and during the marathon. According to the BMJ, 16 marathoners have died and more than 1,600 have become critically ill due to overhydration and hyponatremia.

Sports drinks don’t appear to prevent hyponatremia. A study of marathoners by Harvard-based researchers found that 13% had some degree of hyponatremia, and that it was just as likely to happen among those who guzzled sports drinks during the marathon as it was among those who stuck with water.

Trust thirst, drink water

I asked Dr. Francis Wang, the team physician for Harvard athletics, what he tells athletes about thirst and fluids. “For most players, thirst is a good guide for hydration,” he said. Athletes who have had muscle cramps may need to drink extra, and may need more electrolytes.

What about the rest of us, who may run a couple miles in the morning or play a few sets of tennis? Thirst should be our guide, and water our beverage.

One concern with sports drinks is that they deliver unneeded calories. Some contain 150 calories, the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar. Children definitely don’t need sports drinks, says Dr. Claire McCarthy, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. 

A Healthy Gut is Key to our Health!

The language of our deepest feelings, our instincts, and how we experience emotion often involves the Gut.

We have all heard the expressions " A gut reaction" , "Butterflies in our stomach" and "Gut wrenching" These are our verbal expressions of instinctive knowledge manifesting physically. It is therefore no surprise that our true health shows through the challenges we experience in our gastrointesintal tract. Some researchers are calling our gut the second brain.

There are millions upon millions of microorganisms living in our gut. In fact about 4-8 pounds of body weight consists of bacteria. That is a WOW right there! Most of us know that it is important to make sure that we have enough of the good bacteria in our gut to keep the bad bacteria from overtaking and creating an imbalance in our bodies. Unfortunately due to the overuse of antibiotics, the SAD american diet, (bad guys love love love sugar and simple carbs) stress, constipation, low HCL (stomach acid) production in the stomach etc the good gut flora, Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli are over run by the bad bacteria. This leads to a depressed immune system and then over time we begin to see the signs of autoimmune disfunction where the body does not recognize itself and it starts to destroy it's own cells.

One of the most important functions of the good gut flora is to support immune function. 80% of immune function is in the gut, so an imbalance can lead to all kinds of health problems. The body's primary exposure to an immune challenge is in the digestive tract. Seventeen out of the Twenty one known inteferons (sentinel like soldiers who search out harmful toxins ) are produced in the gut. A Healthy Gut is key to Great Health!

Here are only a few of the diseases and disorders linked to Dysbiosis;

IBS, Crohn's, Colitis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Candida, Food Allergies, Asthma, Gas, Bloating, Diarrhea/Constipation, Chronic skin conditions, Anxiety, Depression, Blood sugar problems, Hormone imbalances and the list goes on.

A simple GI Flora Balance protocol is the answer. What you need to do is Cleanse, Feed, Restore and Balance your Gut. You essentially need to Reboot the Balance in the Gut. It's a sensitive issue for most of us and we often are reluctant to seek help. In my opinion we can't afford not to address this issue. Our Goal is to help you take back control of your health and thrive.

As always if you need my help or know someone who does I can be reached by email or

PH: 214 869-6404.

Have a healthy Day

Dr Pia