Olive oil is known as one of the best ways to get healthy fats in your diet. Eventhough, we have spent decades directing the population away from saturated fats and towards unsaturated fats, our rates of heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes continue to increase. Why is this? Isn't olive oil supposed to be amazing for your heart?

Yes, olive oil is beneficial to health. However, there are certain qualities that matter in relation to oils in general that are often not added to the heart healthy conversation. It is not enough to just use olive oil, it needs to be the right type of olive oil.

Olive oil is a monounsaturated lipid. As with all oils it has the ability to become oxidized (which creates health damaging molecules in the body). Oils are sensitive to heat, light and air. The more exposure to these, the more oxidation. This oxidation of low density lipoproteins (a component of cholesterol in our body) is why heart disease is increasing.

When purchasing olive oil it needs to be in as dark of a container as possible. This will help keep damaging light exposure while it sits on the shelves of your grocery store. It is best to choose expeller pressed or cold pressed. These methods use less heat in the process of extracting oil from the olive. Also, purchase a size bottle equivalent to what you can use in a reasonable time period (1-2 months). If it is opened too often air exposure will begin oxidation.

When you get your olive oil home, it needs to be stored in a cool, dark place with a sealed lid. It's best to keep it in a pantry or cabinet away from heat (oven, microwave, etc) and light (sunlight or artificial). To protect it from excessive oxygen exposure, recap it when not in use and only keep a pour spout in a bottle that is smaller and used for short time period. For example, a small salad dressing container you put on the table at dinner.

As far as oils and health are concerned, olive oil, flaxseed oil, hemp oil and coconut oil are the best choices. It is best to stay away from polyunsaturated oils such as, corn oil, canola oil, safflower oil, cottenseed oil and sunflower oil. These oils tend to be from genetically modified crops (more on this to come, but for now - there isn't enough research on this method) and they oxidize more easily.

Olive oil is great, but which type you choose is also important. Don't worry, I stand in the oil isle holding bottles up to the light to see how opaque they are, too.

Happy oil hunting! Dr. A

As we enter into the beginning of a new year, many set goals or resolutions to make their lives better, to look better, feel better, enjoy more of life.  How many people decide, "this year I let go of ____________".  You fill in the blank. I let go of being withdrawn and choose to engage more in life. I let go of this dieting cycle and choose to eat the best, most nutritious foods that enhance my health. I let go creating drama in my life and choose to create love and support in my life. What if that is how we set up our resolutions or goals? What if we became more empowering for ourselves and responsible for the stories we create in our lives?

Maybe it's even bigger than that. Maybe you are holding on to a way of being because you are afraid of being different than you were raised because you don't know how your friends/family would treat you (accept you). Or you don't know who you would be if you let go of those beliefs and chose something that feels more true for you. Or maybe you just don't know how else to be - so you stay in your misery hoping someone will tell you how else to be.  Here is the thing, you are always supported and their is always love available for you. The first place to look is within yourself. 

You are incredibly powerful, your words, your thoughts, your feelings create your inner (body/health) and outer (world) environments.  You get to choose how to interact with this world. If something isn't going right for you in your life, look at yourself in the mirror and ask, "What do I need to change? What can I let go of now?"  Bullying yourself, bullying your way through life is exhausting.  Others will follow your lead in how you treat and view yourself; therefore the best thing you can do for your life right now is to be honest, vulnerable and in love with yourself. Then you give everyone else permission to be that way for themselves and to be that way with you.

When you actively chose to let go of something and open to other possibilities your life, your relationships and your health will change. How willing are you to be what feels good, right and true to you? What if it means letting go of some friends, a job, a relationship, etc?  Are you still willing?  I know that if you do that for yourself - whatever it takes I chose to be me - your life will change in ways you haven't even thought of yet. 

Maybe this year your resolution is to discover what being me is all about, how does being ME really feel and look? Here's to the BEST of YOU! You are amazing and powerful, live it up in FULL LOVE (for yourself first :) ).

Most people set new years resolutions to lose weight. Most fail after a few days, weeks or months. It isn't that they are necessarily weak, but it most likely due to the fact that they are addicted. When you hear the word "addiction" you most likely associate it with illegal drugs like cocaine and heroin or alcohol, but you rarely think of food.  People become addicted because certain chemicals attach to receptors in our brain that cause us to feel good, happy, free. When those chemicals are no longer present a withdrawal and craving begins. Scientists have discovered that many foods create the same receptors to light up in the brain leading to a brief euphoric feeling and when taken away (like on a diet) those cravings, withdrawal symptoms show up.  In order to feel better, you eat more and the cycle continues. 

If you have any digestive problems, skin rashes or strange bumps, acne, memory problems, fatigue, high blood sugar or high blood pressure, the way you look at food needs to change now. If you have been diagnosed with arthritis, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, migraine headaches, crohn's or irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes, or heart disease, your food lifestyle needs to change today. If you have family members with any of these diseases or disorders and you eat like they eat, your food needs to change.

I didn't say overweight or obese, because there are people, especially children and teenagers, that are fat on the inside and thin on the outside. They appear thin. like they can eat anything, however, the amount of visceral fat (fat in and around the organs) is in abundance. I will discuss this concept and the dangers of visceral fat in another blog.  Just remember, that a person may be able to eat a lot of food and not gain weight, but they may be undernourished, fat inside and sick.

The two tweaks for 2015 are eliminate grains and add in fermented foods. Normally, I would suggest just adding the good stuff in and eventually the "bad" stuff finds it's way out of the diet.  This time I'm going to recommend removing grains WHILE adding in healthy fats and fermented foods. Our country is sick, our world is sick and our food is our best chance at turning it around. I know some people may think grains do not affect them, so why eliminate them from the diet?  We are discovering that gluten and gliadin bind to receptors on  brain cells and can lead to the immune system attacking the body (auto-immune disorders). While you may not experience bloating, diarrhea, or constipation; you may be have symptoms of stiff, achy joints, irritability, headaches, allergies, asthma, skin rashes, acne, mood swings or fatigue. Some people are extra sensitive to gluten and would be best off eliminating all grains; others may only need to drastically decrease portions size, frequency of eating grains and eliminate gluten rich foods such as wheat, barley, rye, spelt, triticale and kamut.

Removing wheat from your diet will take some work at first because it is in everything. It most likely will require you to do more eating at home and preparing meals. It will also, cut back 350 - 400 calories per day and you will feel more energized and craving foods less. Once you discontinue eating wheat the cycle of addiction can cease and you will operate more smoothly each day. When we consume large quantities of grains and sugar our pancreas must release insulin to move the sugar out of the blood stream and into a storage space (adipose tissue).   Wheat increases your blood sugar more than a candy bar, therefore large amounts of insulin must be released into the diet.  The body is storing this as well as it can into visceral fat, which will cause a release of inflammatory cytokines (chemicals that stimulate immune response), and will increase the production of estrogen and prolactin.  This latter hormones help females with breast development and milk production, which is why men may experience "man boobs" from eating too many grains.  Wheat also has a morphine - like effect on the brain and acts as an appetite stimulant - yes, it makes you want food! 

So, maybe you only are concerned about the 20 extra pounds sitting around your midsection. These 20 extra pounds may have been here for years, fluctuating with each diet or killer exercise stent. Try to remove all grains from your diet (replace with raw nuts, seeds, olives, avocados, and vegetables) for four weeks.  Notice how you feel at the end of four weeks and how effortlessly the weight is dropping off. 

Next, add in fermented foods! Probiotics have gotten a lot of great press in the past few years, but we should really look to our food for help.  It's nice that the allopathic community is beginning to understand the importance of these good bacteria, however, pharmaceutical companies are trying to turn it into a drug as well - you have x disease you take x bacteria.  Unfortunately, our body is designed to work more globally than take this for that, it's take this and ALL THIS (good and not - so - good) happens. Our body has more microbiota growing in and on it than it does human cells; we are designed to work with these friendly bacteria. The fermentation process allows for bacteria (sometimes yeast) to breakdown foods enough to release beneficial enzymes and nutrients for our bodies.  Microbiota in our intestines actually produce some vitamins for us and make it easier for us to absorb other vitamins and minerals. It is beneficial to eat some pickles or fermented antipasta before your meal because the bacteria coat your digestive tract (helps fight off any pathogens in the food or utensils), and stimulates the release of digestive enzymes along with bringing healthy enzymes to the party. 

It is great to ferment your own vegetables, but if that is not for you here is some advice on what to buy already prepared. Read the label.  It should only contain the vegetable, water, salt and maybe some other seasonings (like dill, garlic, red pepper flakes). It should not contain perservatives, food coloring or things you cannot pronounce.  There are many types of fermented foods; kombucha, sauerkraut, pickled beets, kimchi, pickled eggs and beef, kefir, yogurts (full fat, no sugar (fruit, honey, sucrose, aspartame, etc added, live cultures) and much more. If you like fizzy drinks, but are removing those toxins from your food, try kombucha - it is fizzy, flavorful and adds good bacteria to your body. You do not have to drink an entire bottle, like you would a soda. 

If you are ready for some big changes to your health in 2015, here are some great ways to begin; remove the grains and add in fermented foods. You have nothing to lose (except weight, medical bills and pill alarm) and everything to gain (health, energy, vitality, youthful skin, and more) by making this tweak in your food lifestyle. Most of us set resolutions, so why not set one to try this for 4 - 6 weeks and notice the changes.  I recommend that you make a list of all the health complaints you made in 2014 - backaches, headaches, rash, anemia, low energy, low libido, depression, high blood pressure - then write down what you would like your health to be in 2015 - vibrant, full of energy, 30 pounds lighter, no allergies, glowing skin, thick hair (did I mention wheat has been linked to hair loss), etc.  After you experiment with this food change for 4-6 weeks notice how many of these symptoms disappeared and how many of your health wishes are coming true. Then, choose to stay with this lifestyle change or not. If you find yourself eating a wheat or grain product, pay attention to how you are feeling the next few days.  It may be as small as a stuffy sinuses to as big as full-body aches and depression. 

Healing from the Inside Out,
Dr. A