zzzzzzz to help you eat well

Sleep. Getting enough movement and balanced rest is essential to our body’s health and our mental emotional wellbeing. If you’ve ever been a little sleep deprived (or a lot) you may notice changes in your appetite or craving patterns. There’s a reason!

Our brains have two hormones – ghrelin and leptin. Grehlin is a stomach-derived hormone that stimulates our appetite, while leptin is a hormone that suppresses our appetite, or helps us feel satisfied. When we are sleep deprived and under this type of chronic stress, the levels of these two hormones go awry – leptin goes down and ghrelin goes up. This imbalance has been shown to be associated with people with less total sleep and lower sleep efficiency. This study below found correlations with adults sleeping 7.7 hours per night or less. So – find a sleep duration that helps you feel focused and balanced during the day, and try to stick to a similar sleep and waking time each day. Rest well to live well.

“What Did They Find?

The researchers found that people who slept less were on average heavier. And people who slept less had lower levels of leptin and higher levels of ghrelin, another hormone that controls food intake.

What Does This Mean?

The combination of low leptin and high ghrelin is likely to increase appetite. In other words, short sleep might stimulate appetite, which increases weight.”

To read abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC535701/

Rest well tonight!

Cheri

ADD/ADHD? Read up on details from Dr. Pam Popper…

I found this really interesting, and very necessary information for a wide swath of the general public. Too many kids (and adults?) are labeled as ADD or ADHD and need to learn how to manage their symptoms by choice. Through lifestyle. With nutrition. Dr. Pam Popper speaks so candidly, read below for more.

Visit her website as well, the wellness forum dot com for details or to sign up for her newsletter…

Dear Dr. Pam: My naturopath has recommended DHA supplements and fish oil for my child, who has ADD. She says this is needed because the brain needs fat for function and my child cannot get enough of these fats from foods.

“First, there is no evidence that children (or adults) cannot get enough of any nutrient, including fat, from a well-structured plant-based diet. So there is no need to supplement the diet with more fat; in fact, most children eat too much fat and need to reduce fat consumption.

There are some studies showing that children improve while taking these supplements, but just as many that have shown no effect. My objections to using them are several. First, I do not like to make recommendations based on scant evidence. If the preponderance of the evidence does not support a protocol, I’m not likely to recommend it. There just is not clear evidence that supplementation with fish oil or any other supplement for that matter, improves behavior and focus. Second, supplements, like drugs, only address symptoms not underlying causes. Taking DHA pills will not address parenting issues, discipline, and a child’s propensity to make bad choices, which must be addressed in order to insure a productive and happy future for children.

Last but not least, there are side effects from taking supplements that must be considered. While they are (usually) less toxic than drugs, anything, including a dietary supplement that has the potential to have a positive effect will by its very nature have a side effect. In the case of Omega-3 supplements, a large meta-analysis published in the British Medical Journal showed little positive effects from taking these pills, and an increased risk of cancer could not be ruled out.

The plan of action I outlined previously addresses the underlying issue and is a better and safer option.

An important last comment regarding the ADD/ADHD issue…

I am vociferously opposed to the labeling of children (or anyone for that matter) with titles like ADD, ADHD, depression, anxiety, etc. When children are given these labels, they begin to be defined by them. They see themselves as defective individuals who are helpless to change their circumstances and therefore must be medicated. Home, school, and other environments then accommodate their “disability” with special classes, dispensing of medication, and other adjustments. This is, in my opinion, not the best way to prepare children for life. The world can be a very unaccommodating place for people who are disadvantaged and while I am a huge proponent for making sure that people are not discriminated against due to disabilities, I am also a huge proponent for making sure people are no unnecessarily led to believe that they have disabilities.

I am sure my comments will make some people quite angry, but I abandoned most attempts to be politically correct in favor of being truthful and helpful a long time ago.”

Vit. C for Your Cold?

We all try to take care of ourselves, and one way we think we do this is by drinking OJ for the vitamin C.  We do this so we don’t get sick or shorten the duration of the cold.

So does this really work?  Not really – sorry, but you will be sick for almost just as long and often whether you drink OJ or not.  So where did this idea come from, the whole drinking OJ for a cold?  From Linus Pauling, Nobel Prize-winning chemist wrote an article called “Vitamin C and the Common Cold” in the 70’s.  He used very little to no scientific evidence, and since a glass of OJ a day does not hurt and has antioxidant properties there has been little effort to correct the theory the Vit. C helps limit the common cold.

So are there any benefits to drinking a glass of OJ?  Yep!  OJ contains:  polyphenols hesperidin, diosmin, linalool, and some are fortified with calcium and vit. D.  So what do these mineral do?

• Polyphenols Hesperidin – helps to reduce the inflammatory markers, so protecting against heart disease.
• Diosmin – strengthen varicose veins and reduce bruising.
• Linalool – calmative chemical in lavender.
• Calcium/Vit. D – Relatively good food for maintaining bone strength, however, you also NEED to eat green veggies for Vit. K.  (It has been prove to be just as effective as a glass of milk.)

You can see there are four great reasons to have a glass of OJ a day, however, keep in mind that there is a lot of sugar in OJ.  If you want to maximize your health benefits from OJ and reduce the amount of sugar, actually eat oranges, or make homemade OJ!  Why?  Because eating the orange adds fiber to your diet.  And, if you decide to make your own OJ, 1) if is fresh, 2) it contains 40% more nutrients than buying it the store, because you are bruising the peel as you squeeze it yourself, releasing those wonderful nutrients.

So raise your glass to the citrus family tomorrow morning!

~Paula

Bowtie Past with Artichokes and Mushrooms

• 10-12 oz Bowtie pasta
• 8 oz white mushrooms
• 10 oz package frozen artichoke hearts, or 14 oz can artichoke hearta, drained (reeserve liquid) and quartered.
• 8 oz soft, low-fat cream cheese
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 C toasted wheat germ
• 1/4 C shopped fresh Parsley, or more or less to taste

1. Cook the pasta in rapidly summering water until al dente
2. While the pasta cooks, spray a lg skillet with cooking oil spray and place it over high heat.  Add 1/4 C water and “sweat” the mushrooms, cover, for 2-3 min, or until slightly wilted.  Add the artichoke hearts and continue cooking, uncovered, until most of the liquid is gone about 3 min.
3. Cut the cream cheese into several pieces and add them to the skillet with 1 C of water or the reserved liquid from the canned artichokes plus enough water to make 1 C.  With a wooden spoon, gently smooth the sauce while it comes to a simmer.  Add the lemon juice and pepper, plus an additional water, if needed, to bring the sauce to a medium consistency.
4. When the pasta is done, drain it, then combine it in a lg serving bowl with the sauce and mix well.  Sprinkle the pasta with the Parmesan chees, then the wheat germ and parsley, ans serve immediately.

• 200 Cal
• 9g Fat
• 31g Chol
• 19g Carb
• 9g Protein
• 207g Sodium

Paula’s Tips:

• Triple the veggies, I added:  1- green pepper, 1- red pepper, 1- onion, 1 C of frozen peas, 2 head of broccoli, and 1/2 bag spinach.
• 1/2 the cream cheese.
• I used red wine for to wilt the mushrooms.

This will help decrease some of the fat and cholesterol by reducing the cream cheese, AND … we can never have too many veggies, so just keep adding them to every meal!