Happy New Year! I hope 2010 brings you all great health and happiness!
I went to a great seminar this past weekend about conventional and holistic pediatric treatment approaches and options. It was taught by a renowned pediatrician, Dr. Lawrence Palevsky, MD, who focuses on the holistic approach to children's wellness. Instead of treating the symptoms with antibiotics and other medications, he treats the cause of the symptoms with diet and lifestyle changes, Chinese medicine, chiropractic referrals, essential oils, and many other holistic approaches. You can learn more about him at www.drpalevsky.com.
The thing that he stressed most the entire weekend was the importance of diet in our health. Where have you heard that before? ;) Whether it is asthma, allergies, bed wetting, ADD/ADHD, eczema, ear infections, etc., many can be prevented and even treated without the use of antibiotics and other medications. In fact, he hasn't prescribed an antibiotic in over a decade. How many of you have had a child that has had an ear infection that was treated by an antibiotic only to return after the antibiotic is finished? Could it be that something else is playing a role in the inflammation in the ear? Well, over my next few posts, I will be going over various childhood illnesses and giving you some helpful preventative tips to use at home!
Live Well.
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Food, Inc.
I watched a very interesting movie the other night called Food, Inc. It was a documentary that allowed a look into the food industry and our nation's food supply. It showed how our food production has become controlled by a few corporations. It might not have taught me anything new about how unhealthy our food is, but it really opened my eyes to why our food has become so unhealthy. Unfortunately, as with most things in our country, it all comes back to big business. A company can't patent an organic apple that you can buy at any farmer's market, but they can patent and mass produce a crop that has been genetically modified to resist chemicals and pesticides that will otherwise kill everything else around. All while we get sicker and sicker as a nation.
An insert with the movie gave a list of 10 things you can do to change our food system. Here is a few of them...
1. Action: Stop drinking sodas and other sweetened beverages.
Fact: If you replace one 20 oz soda a day with a no calorie beverage (preferably water), you could lose 25 lbs in a year.
2. Action: Eat at home instead of eating out.
Fact: Children consume almost twice (1.8 times) as many calories when eating food made outside the home.
3. Action: Buy organic or sustainable food with little to no pesticide or antibiotic use.
Fact: Over a billion lbs of pesticides are used every year in the U.S. and an estimated 70% of all antibiotics used in the United States are given to farm animals.
If want to get a behind the scenes look at our food system and the food you and your family are eating every day, watch this movie. It may just make you question how your food is made. If nothing else, you will see how bad the chickens you are eating are being treated!
Merry Christmas! Give yourself and your family the gift of good health this year!
Live Well.
An insert with the movie gave a list of 10 things you can do to change our food system. Here is a few of them...
1. Action: Stop drinking sodas and other sweetened beverages.
Fact: If you replace one 20 oz soda a day with a no calorie beverage (preferably water), you could lose 25 lbs in a year.
2. Action: Eat at home instead of eating out.
Fact: Children consume almost twice (1.8 times) as many calories when eating food made outside the home.
3. Action: Buy organic or sustainable food with little to no pesticide or antibiotic use.
Fact: Over a billion lbs of pesticides are used every year in the U.S. and an estimated 70% of all antibiotics used in the United States are given to farm animals.
If want to get a behind the scenes look at our food system and the food you and your family are eating every day, watch this movie. It may just make you question how your food is made. If nothing else, you will see how bad the chickens you are eating are being treated!
Merry Christmas! Give yourself and your family the gift of good health this year!
Live Well.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
What can I eat?!!!
I get a lot of questions from people who are trying to avoid gluten as to what they can eat. So I am going to paste a response I gave to an earlier comment about gluten below and also give you a link to a list of foods available at Trader Joe's that are gluten-free. Many of these foods are available at other grocery stores so use it as a reference. However, just because something is gluten-free and is on this list, DOES NOT mean that it is good for you, but it does give you a good idea of the wide variety of foods that are gluten-free...
http://www.traderjoes.com/Attachments/NoGluten.pdf
Previous discussion...
Anonymous said...
I'm thinking about starting a gluten free diet. Can you suggest some foods or a sample menu as to what to eat?
September 16, 2008 8:29 PM
Dr. Nate McGowan said...
Yeah, gluten is a tough subject. Gluten is a protein found in grains like wheat, rye, and barley. Celiac disease is a digestive problem in which a person has an intolerance to gluten. However, more and more studies are coming out with problems related to gluten sensitivity. A gluten-free diet is hard for most people because you have to eliminate foods that are usually a big part of the diet (breads, pasta, bagels, pizza, beer). As for what you can eat...fruits and veggies, eggs, lean meats (chicken and fish), brown rice, brown rice pasta, wine, and stay away from anything else that has wheat listed as an ingredient even wheat flour. Since gluten is another hot topic these days, many food products will state if it is gluten-free. In fact, I think Trader Joes will give you a list of products at the store that are gluten-free. A good site for more info. on this topic is www.deflame.com. Good luck and I hope this helps!
September 18, 2008 7:37 PM
http://www.traderjoes.com/Attachments/NoGluten.pdf
Previous discussion...
Anonymous said...
I'm thinking about starting a gluten free diet. Can you suggest some foods or a sample menu as to what to eat?
September 16, 2008 8:29 PM
Dr. Nate McGowan said...
Yeah, gluten is a tough subject. Gluten is a protein found in grains like wheat, rye, and barley. Celiac disease is a digestive problem in which a person has an intolerance to gluten. However, more and more studies are coming out with problems related to gluten sensitivity. A gluten-free diet is hard for most people because you have to eliminate foods that are usually a big part of the diet (breads, pasta, bagels, pizza, beer). As for what you can eat...fruits and veggies, eggs, lean meats (chicken and fish), brown rice, brown rice pasta, wine, and stay away from anything else that has wheat listed as an ingredient even wheat flour. Since gluten is another hot topic these days, many food products will state if it is gluten-free. In fact, I think Trader Joes will give you a list of products at the store that are gluten-free. A good site for more info. on this topic is www.deflame.com. Good luck and I hope this helps!
September 18, 2008 7:37 PM
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Saturday's Top Ten!
With the popularity of organic foods these days, there is definitely mass marketing of organic products everywhere we go. In fact, I think I heard that Walmart is now the leading seller of organic goods in the US...which is a whole other story for another day! With all the new organic products and with the economy, a few people have made comments (make sure to read the comments for other info.) asking about the best things to buy organic. Obviously, the more you try to avoid chemicals, pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics in your food and cleaning and personal care products, the less you are exposing yourself to things that can be potentially harmful to your health. But it can get expensive! If you go to the grocery store, you will notice all kinds of things that are "organic." I'm surprised they haven't come out with organic twinkies yet! An organic chocolate chip cookie is still a chocolate chip cookie, so still isn't healthy for you. Don't be fooled, organic doesn't necessarily equal good for you. That being said, here are some things that I think are most important to buy if possible...
1. Milk (Hormone and antibiotic free)
2. Eggs (Hormone and antibiotic free)
3. Cheese (Hormone and antibiotic free)
4. Chicken (Hormone and antibiotic free)
5. Fish (Wild, not Farmed)
6. Vegetables (Organic, Local, and/or pesticide and chemical free)
7. Fruits (Organic, Local, and/or pesticide and chemical free)
8. Sea Salt instead of regular table salt
9. Olive Oil instead of vegetable or canola oil
10. Stevia instead of sugar or artificial sweetners
I realize this is still a long list, so just choose a few things off of it that you use the most. I hope this helps.
For those of you who have never been to a chiropractor, in my next blog, I will talk a little bit about chiropractic and how it can help.
As always, feel free to post a comment and I will do my best to reply. You can also e-mail me at drmcgowan@acucarechiropractic.com or visit our website at http://www.acucarechiropractic.com/.
Have a great weekend!
1. Milk (Hormone and antibiotic free)
2. Eggs (Hormone and antibiotic free)
3. Cheese (Hormone and antibiotic free)
4. Chicken (Hormone and antibiotic free)
5. Fish (Wild, not Farmed)
6. Vegetables (Organic, Local, and/or pesticide and chemical free)
7. Fruits (Organic, Local, and/or pesticide and chemical free)
8. Sea Salt instead of regular table salt
9. Olive Oil instead of vegetable or canola oil
10. Stevia instead of sugar or artificial sweetners
I realize this is still a long list, so just choose a few things off of it that you use the most. I hope this helps.
For those of you who have never been to a chiropractor, in my next blog, I will talk a little bit about chiropractic and how it can help.
As always, feel free to post a comment and I will do my best to reply. You can also e-mail me at drmcgowan@acucarechiropractic.com or visit our website at http://www.acucarechiropractic.com/.
Have a great weekend!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Food for Thought
Today, I went over to our vegetable garden at a plot that we rented from the village to pick some of our tomatoes and beans. Many towns offer plots for rent for the year that you can use for anything that you would like to grow or you can just pick a spot in your yard to grow some vegetables and herbs. This is the first year that Dawn and I did this and it was a great experience. We really knew nothing about planting vegetables before this year, so we kind of just winged it. There are 80 plots for rent and we randomly chose one that just so happened to have a gigantic oak tree on the side of it. I guess that's why it was still available. So, it definitely wasn't the best location as far as sun goes.
We planted lettuce, tomatoes, beans, carrots, broccoli, and cucumbers. We went to a farmer's market in Madison, WI at the beginning of the year and got 4 types of small starter organic lettuce plants and 4 types of small starter organic tomato plants and a starter organic broccoli plant. We used organic seeds for the other vegetables. We didn't use any pesticides and we probably didn't get over to the plot as much as we should, but the garden still did pretty well. I think the plots around us probably thought we were just growing weeds because they sure do grow fast, but it was nice not using chemicals. Our lettuce, tomatoes, and beans all grew great and we were able to eat a lot of them. The broccoli and cucumbers didn't grow and our carrots are still growing. So, although we had a shady plot, hardly weeded, didn't water as much as we should have, and didn't use pesticides or chemicals, we were still able to eat a lot of great veggies. The point of the story is that a vegetable garden is a great way to have your own fresh, inexpensive vegetables and you can put in as little or as much time and effort as you would like. If you don't have the space or availability to grow a vegetable garden, you can grow herbs in a pot or visit your local farmer's market!
We planted lettuce, tomatoes, beans, carrots, broccoli, and cucumbers. We went to a farmer's market in Madison, WI at the beginning of the year and got 4 types of small starter organic lettuce plants and 4 types of small starter organic tomato plants and a starter organic broccoli plant. We used organic seeds for the other vegetables. We didn't use any pesticides and we probably didn't get over to the plot as much as we should, but the garden still did pretty well. I think the plots around us probably thought we were just growing weeds because they sure do grow fast, but it was nice not using chemicals. Our lettuce, tomatoes, and beans all grew great and we were able to eat a lot of them. The broccoli and cucumbers didn't grow and our carrots are still growing. So, although we had a shady plot, hardly weeded, didn't water as much as we should have, and didn't use pesticides or chemicals, we were still able to eat a lot of great veggies. The point of the story is that a vegetable garden is a great way to have your own fresh, inexpensive vegetables and you can put in as little or as much time and effort as you would like. If you don't have the space or availability to grow a vegetable garden, you can grow herbs in a pot or visit your local farmer's market!
Monday, September 8, 2008
Simple Grocery Changes
Dawn and I really like going grocery shopping together because we like to find new things to create for meals...and try the free samples at Trader Joe's of course. We love Trader Joe's! It has unique items and a great selection of organic and healthy foods. I realize that with our economy right now and the prices of food, buying organic foods might sound unrealistic. However, if you could make just a few changes to your grocery list, it could make a big difference in your overall health and not hurt your pocket book too much.
The two easiest things that you can do is to start buying hormone-free and antibiotic-free milk and eggs. There are non-organic options that are hormone and antibiotic free, which are also good. Just read the label and it will specifically state this. The problem with the hormones that are used in the production of regular eggs and milk is that it mimics our own hormones especially estrogen in women. This creates a false increase in estrogen in the body. Some problems that have been shown to develop from an increase in estrogen in women are irregular periods, endometriosis, infertility, ovarian cysts, and others. I am not saying that just by eating eggs and milk that are not hormone-free, you will develop these problems. However, eggs and milk are probably 2 of the most common things that most of us eat, so just changing these is a great start!
Some other things that can be found at Trader Joe's:
Organic fruits and vegetables
Organic frozen strawberries and strawberries (used in our smoothies)
Hormone and antibiotic free chicken
Organic flax seed oil (great source of omega 3 fatty acids)
Organic aloe vera juice (helps aid with digestion)
Organic apple cider vinegar (good for digestion)
The two easiest things that you can do is to start buying hormone-free and antibiotic-free milk and eggs. There are non-organic options that are hormone and antibiotic free, which are also good. Just read the label and it will specifically state this. The problem with the hormones that are used in the production of regular eggs and milk is that it mimics our own hormones especially estrogen in women. This creates a false increase in estrogen in the body. Some problems that have been shown to develop from an increase in estrogen in women are irregular periods, endometriosis, infertility, ovarian cysts, and others. I am not saying that just by eating eggs and milk that are not hormone-free, you will develop these problems. However, eggs and milk are probably 2 of the most common things that most of us eat, so just changing these is a great start!
Some other things that can be found at Trader Joe's:
Organic fruits and vegetables
Organic frozen strawberries and strawberries (used in our smoothies)
Hormone and antibiotic free chicken
Organic flax seed oil (great source of omega 3 fatty acids)
Organic aloe vera juice (helps aid with digestion)
Organic apple cider vinegar (good for digestion)
Doc Nate
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