Friday Favorite: Avocados

Recently I was in Mexico for vacation, one of my favorite things about traveling is enjoying the foods of different cultures. In Mexico, they typically use a lot of fresh fish and local vegetables in their cooking.

One of my favorite meals on the trip was the fresh fish ceviche made with grouper, raw vegetables and avocados in lime juice. My other favorite meal was guacamole made with local avocados mixed with peppers, onions, tomatoes, cilantro and lime.

Both of these meals are a way to eat raw vegetables and a variety of other nutrients – especially monounsatured fat. There are types of healthy fats, monounsaturated fat for example, found in coconut oil, raw nuts, avocados and other foods can actually help reduce cholesterol levels. The lutein in avocados, a member of the carotenoid family, is found to be a natural anti-oxidant and great for maintaining eye and skin health.
 
As most Americans lack fiber in their diet, avocados are a great source ranging from 11 to 17 grams of fiber per avocado depending on the type.

Take a tip from the Mexican culture and try making guacamole with fresh avocados, using them on salads or even just peeling and eating raw avocados for a great heart healthy snack!

Spice It Up!

This article was originally posted on 360mainstreet.com.

Most people have a natural pharmacy in their homes and don't even know it—the spice cabinet. Spices not only add excellent flavor to your food, but they are loaded with health benefits. Although they have been used for years as natural medicine, they are sometimes overlooked as a health food. One of the easiest ways to take your health to the next level is by adding some spice to your meals!

Here are a few of my favorite spices:

Cinnamon not only tastes wonderful but has many health benefits associated with it. One of the most important benefits of cinnamon is its ability to help regulate blood sugar. It also has been shown to help reduce pain, stiffness and bad cholesterol. Cinnamon is also great to help relieve stomach discomfort from excess gas. Try putting cinnamon in your tea or on foods such as quinoa or oatmeal.

Garlic has been thought of as a super spice for years, and it does more than just keep vampires away. In more than 1,200 pharmacological studies, garlic has been shown to be an antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiviral, antihypertensive, and antiparasitic, and it can lower lipid levels. It has also been shown to help prevent the common cold and help with weight loss. To receive the most health benefits, crush or chop garlic and don't put it in the microwave. I add garlic to the majority of the dishes I prepare. One of my favorite ways to eat it is to mash the fresh garlic with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and then use it as a bread dip.

Ginger has been touted as a cure-all in Ayurvedic (traditional medicine originally from India) and Chinese medicine for years. One of its most common uses is as a natural remedy for an upset stomach. Ginger has been shown to be more effective than Dramamine in treating sea sickness, and another study showed that almost 75 percent of pregnant women who used ginger received relief from morning sickness. Nearly every morning, I drink green tea with fresh crushed up ginger in it.

Turmeric is my all-time favorite spice. It has a unique flavor and seems to have unlimited health benefits. Typically used in curry dishes, this bright yellow spice is a staple in India. Known for its tremendous anti-inflammatory properties, it has been shown to provide pain relief just as powerful as most over-the-counter pain medicines, such as ibuprofen, but without the side effects. Inflammation in the body can lead to such problems as asthma, heart disease and cancer, so you can see why this spice can work wonders! Try putting turmeric on eggs or mixing it in with stir fry.

All of these spices (and many others) are available at most local grocery or health food stores. Instead of relying on margarine, table salt and other unhealthy additives for flavor, add spices to your daily foods to transform them from average foods into super foods. To get the maximum health benefit, put your favorite spices right next to the stove where you will see them and are more likely to use them regularly. So, the next time you are cooking, remember to spice it up!

Whey it ain’t so! The Health Benefits of Whey Protein Powder

Anti-aging research is always looking for the fountain of youth. Although they may never find the actual fountain there has been some pretty interesting research published recently.

A lot of the new research focuses on telomeres. Bundles of DNA found in every cell, telomeres are like very long ribbons that shorten naturally with age. Similar to biological clocks, the longer your telomeres are, the longer you will potentially live!

As of now, there is no way to slow the shortening of these telomeres (whey it ain’t so!), but you can avoid accelerating their shortening. Living an unhealthy lifestyle, eating processed foods, having chronic mental stress and not exercising are all examples of things that could possibly shorten your telomeres. 

Another way to prevent the acceleration of your biological clock is to consume more glutathione. Found in whey protein, GSH increases the integrity of telomeres and protects them from stressors like free radicals. Not only is whey protein a source of GSH but it’s also one of the most potent sources known!

Dr. Mercola named whey protein one of the Top 7 Foods That Slow Your Aging. To learn more about telomeres and life span, watch this 10 minute video.

Kehres Health & Chiropractic in Saginaw carries high quality whey protein available in vanilla, chocolate and unflavored. To order contact us at 989.607.4322 or drkehres@kehreshealth.com

Preventive Nutrition: Food and MS

Recently Kehres Health was featured on healthcentral.com in the article Food and MS: Nutritional Food Sources by Vicki Bridges.

Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1989 and a long time Amigo owner, Vicki shares her experiences and knowledge as a regular contributor to healthcentral.com and through her blog Down the MS Path.

In her recent article, Vicki says “For MSers, good nutrition does more than make us feel good. Some nutritional elements seem to affect the number or intensity of relapses, so it seems the way we eat can change the course of our disease. That being said, many people do not follow a nutritious diet, maybe because it sounds complicated or difficult. It doesn't have to be.”

The article includes health tips about gluten-free diets, magnesium, vitamin D and fish oil, as well as sugar.

"In excess, sugar is poison to our body and creates unwanted stress on our hormones and nervous system,” Dr. Dan Kehres said. “The majority of grains convert into sugar as soon as they are digested, so grains can be just as harmful to our bodies as sugar. When reading nutrition labels, basically anything that ends in the letters '–ose' is going to be a sugar, including fructose, sucrose, glucose, etc."

Read the full article here. Thank you Vicki for including Kehres Health in your article!

Chiropractic for Asthma

As asthma becomes more prevalent so does the use of asthma drugs. Unfortunately, these medications don’t come without a cost both physically and financially. Many asthma medications seem to reduce asthma at first, but ultimately mask the underlying problem while potentially causing life threatening conditions.

Due to safety concerns, as of February 18, 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is requiring changes in four of the major asthma medications; Advair, Serevent, Foradil and Symbicort because of their potential life threatening side effects.

It is estimated that 22 million Americans have asthma, and more than 6 million Americans use one of the four medications mentioned above.

  

There are many other types of treatment for asthma that don’t have the risk of life threatening side effects. Chiropractic is a natural treatment that has been shown time and time again to help relieve and prevent asthma in many patients.

The stress from our daily lives puts excess stress on our bodies and our nervous systems. Chiropractic helps to reduce the stress on our bodies, reducing inflammation and increasing joint motion. Proper joint motion in the mid back is especially important for people with asthma as it increases rib motion, allowing more oxygen to be inhaled. With all joints moving and inflammation reduced as much as possible, our nervous systems can function properly which is essential for true health.

“I used to take Advair daily to control my asthma, but after one adjustment, I wouldn’t need to take Advair for at least a month,” Jordan, 22, chiropractic patient, said. “Ever since I have been getting adjusted regularly, I haven’t needed to take Advair or any other type of asthma medication.”

 

Elimination of dairy and inflammatory processed food has also been shown to greatly reduce asthma symptoms.

Consider chiropractic or other types of natural treatment for asthma, to avoid the risk of potential life threatening side effects, especially with children.

Friday Favorite: Food, Inc.

“Imagine what it would be if, as a national policy, we said we would be only successful if we had fewer people going to the hospital next year than last year?” says owner of Polyface Farms, Jole Salatin. “The idea then would be to have such nutritionally dense, unadulterated food that people who ate it actually felt better, had more energy and weren’t sick as much… now, see, that’s a noble goal.”

Featured in the film Food, Inc., Salatin lets his livestock graze on grass, the way nature intended, his animals are healthier, he uses sustainable, eco-friendly farming practices and Polyface Farms meat tastes better.

Directed by Robert Kenner, Food, Inc. was recently nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary and is a must watch for anyone that cares about their health and wants to learn more about the food system. In the past 60 years, food has been produced at a rate much faster than we have ever seen in history – at a cost of our health.

Global food production is primarily controlled by a handful of multinational corporations with a stronger emphasis on business than health. These corporation’s goals are to produce as much food as possible at the lowest cost and largest profit margin. Putting health as a number two priority has led to 1 in 3 Americans born in 2000 developing early onset diabetes; among minorities, the rate will be 1 in 2.

To change our current food system and improve our health, the public needs to demand healthier food and fix our current systems. In 1972, the FDA conducted 50,000 food safety inspections. In 2006, the FDA conducted only 9,164.

Gary Hirshberg, founder of Stonyfield Farms says “When we run an item past the supermarket scanner, we’re voting.”

Want to know why a fast food hamburger costs more than a head of broccoli? Rent or buy Food, Inc. Visit FoodIncMovie.com for more information, watch the trailer. 

Friday Favorite: Omega-3

Omega-3, Omega-6, fatty acids, fish oil… what does all this mean? Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids need to have a balanced ratio in our body. Ideally it is good to have a ratio of 4:1 or less of Omega-6 to Omega-3 acids, but recent studies show that 95% of foods consumed in the U.S. are processed, driving this ratio up to 20:1 or even 50:1 in some people.

Keeping a balanced ratio helps reduce inflammation, and inflammation can lead to a variety of conditions ranging from mild back pain to heart disease and cancer. Eat more green vegetables, grass fed meats, cage-free farm fresh eggs, wild game, fresh fish, flaxseeds, chia and hemp seeds. Avoid processed foods that have high amounts of Omega-6’s including grain, flour, corn, seeds, seed oils, grain fed meat and eggs, and farmed fish.

Besides healthy eating, supplementing your diet with high quality fish oil is very beneficial. It is important to take a high quality fish oil supplement to be sure it does not contain high levels of mercury.