Eggs Are the New Super Food: No Yolking!

No Longer Outcast

For decades, eggs have been given a bum rap as unhealthful contributors to elevated cholesterol. Like shellfish, liver and a host of other animal-based foods, eggs yolks contain a relatively high volume of naturally-occurring cholesterol. Throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, medical practitioners demonized eggs as unhealthful precursors to heart disease. However, recent research has shown that our bodies need cholesterol to perform numerous metabolic processes, and that animal fats containing cholesterol have never been proven to cause heart disease.

Absorbable Whites

Because of the negative publicity maligning egg yolks, many health-conscious people began shunning the yolk and just eating the tasteless egg white, called albumin. Egg whites are one of the easiest protein sources for your body to metabolize, and the albumin of one egg offers 3.6 grams of easily digested protein. Because of the trend away from whole eggs, many restaurants like Panera and Starbucks began offering sandwiches and omelets made from egg whites only.

Yummy Yolks

In contrast to the bland albumin, the yolk is what gives an egg its delicious flavor. While egg yolks have relatively high levels of cholesterol and saturated fat (also recently welcomed back to the healthful foods family), they are a rich source of essential nutrients. Egg yolks are high in sulfur which promotes healthy liver function and healthy skin, hair and nails. Yolks contain significant amounts of lutein, essential to good vision. Egg yolks are high in B-vitamins and in choline, which your body uses to make “happy hormones” like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. They are also a great source of fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.

Choose the Choicest

Before you rush out to grab your next dozen, be aware that not all eggs are created equal. As with all animal products, the best food comes from the healthiest and most humanely treated animals. Pastured free range hens feast on grass, weed seeds, insects and worms, and produce superior eggs to those laid by hens held captive in Confined Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs. CAFO hens are fed processed feed containing antibiotics, arsenic and other harmful chemicals and ingredients, resulting in a less nutritious and potentially harmful egg. Even at five dollars per dozen, the nutrition-packed free range egg is a bargain at just 42 cents per egg.

Self-Care in the Age of Sloth: Finding the Best Version of You

The Self-Care Spectrum

Self-care encompasses a broad spectrum of activities and behaviors that lead to improved health and quality of life. According to a piece published by the American Psychological Association, good nutrition, regular exercise, adequate sleep and job satisfaction are all markers for self-care that lead to reduced anxiety, depression and illness. Add recreation, meditation, daydreaming and personal grooming to the list and you have the recipe for creating your best self. Yet mindless busy-ness, laziness and lack of self-discipline seem to be the orders of the day. 

Who Has Time?

Your daily lifestyle is made up of a sequence of habitual behaviors that you repeat day after day. While some of those behaviors may vary depending on the day of the week, most lifestyle behaviors fall into a predictable pattern. As humans, we take comfort in the safety and monotony of routine. Adapting more favorable lifestyle habits takes time, effort and determination. Time in particular is a limited commodity for all of us. In order to make room for new behaviors, you may have to let go of old habits and routines that gobble up precious hours without enhancing your quality of life. 

The Beauty of Better

Making the time and putting forth the effort to care for yourself can lead to a heightened sense of self-worth and a greater sense of independence. Just as care for others imparts love and respect to its recipients, caring for yourself leads to self-love and a heightened awareness of your own value. This in turn leads to a trust in your own ability to face and conquer the obstacles that are an inevitable part of life. Caring for yourself builds strength and confidence, and liberates your loved ones from the burden of caring for you. 

"I am who I am today because of the choices I made yesterday." Eleanor Roosevelt

The Bounty of Best

Time and effort are ingredients for a better you. To reap a more bounteous harvest and become the best version of yourself, you must add discipline to the mix. Self discipline is the practice of choosing what you want most over what you want now. As Eleanor Roosevelt wisely observed, “I am who I am today because of the choices I made yesterday.” Making difficult choices all day, every day, is key to becoming your personal best. Turning off the television, logging off social media, disentangling yourself from meaningless commitments and toxic relationships, and allowing others to take responsibility for their own lives, are just some small choices you can make today to become your best self tomorrow. 

References and Credits

American Psychological Association: Self-Care for Women: Now, Not Later

https://www.apa.org/careers/early-career/self-care.pdf

*Images courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net.

Five Reasons Your Red Wine is Keeping You Fat

Red wine has been lauded as the heart-healing and waistline-friendly beverage of choice for the health-conscious. In addition to the artery-dilating effects of alcohol, resveratrol, a polyphenol derived from the skins of red grapes, is a powerful antioxidant that protects the endothelial lining of your arterial walls. Resveratrol is known to increase HDL, the "good" cholesterol, prevent blood clots, and lower blood pressure. Another element found in red wine, piceatannol, has been found to block the maturation and growth of fat cells. But despite its good rap, drinking red wine could still be playing a role in keeping you from losing weight. Here's how:

• You are exceeding the serving size.  One serving of red wine is 6 oz, or 3/4 cup. One bottle of wine contains about 4.25 servings. At 123 calories per serving, one bottle packs a whopping 738 calories. 
• You are consuming too many daily calories. One pound of fat equals about 3500 calories. If you drink one bottle of wine in addition to your daily caloric requirement, you will gain a pound every five days. To lose weight, make sure your caloric consumption from food and wine is less than your daily caloric expenditure.
• Your quality of sleep is suffering. Drinking alcohol before bed can interfere with your quality of sleep, leaving you sleep deprived, which in turn stimulates stress hormones that make you fat. 
• You have fatty liver. Fatty liver is a buildup of fat cells in the liver which is a precursor to cirrhosis. Because fat is metabolized in the liver, a diseased and impaired liver may be unable to break down fat efficiently when you are trying to lose weight. Exercise and healthy nutrition can reverse fatty liver before it becomes a more serious condition.
• You are not exercising enough, or not doing the right kind of exercise. Walking or moderate intensity cardio is not enough to lose unwanted body fat. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 250 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous intensity aerobic exercise per week, plus two to three weekly weight training sessions that exercise all the major muscle groups of your body. If you can't spare that much time, try high-intensity interval training to burn more calories and reduce body fat in a shorter total workout time.

On a happier note, one serving of red wine contains about the same number of calories as a cup of warm milk. You could just stop drinking wine, but what's the fun in that?

H.I.T. it! Lose Weight and Feel Amazing

H.I.T. (High-Intensity Interval Training)

High-Intensity Interval Training is a great way to burn excess body fat and take your personal fitness to a new level. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, H.I.T. describes any workout that alternates between intense bursts of activity and fixed periods of less-intense activity or even complete rest. H.I.T. can be performed in a gym using cardiovascular and resistance equipment, or outdoors, as a walk/run or jog/sprint sequence. 

One great thing about H.I.T. is that it can knock hours per week off your workout time by burning more calories and challenging your body's systems at a higher intensity over a shorter duration of time. A typical H.I.T. workout can take as little as 15 minutes per session. When performed three to five times per week, H.I.T. can significantly improve cardiovascular health, promote lean muscle development and decrease your body fat percentage.

A simple H.I.T. workout that can be performed outdoors or on a treadmill is walking at a moderate pace for two minutes, then sprinting all-out for one minute. A similar pattern can be performed on a stationary bike or elliptical trainer. Perform this three-minute sequence five times per session, for a total of 15 minutes. Be sure to include a three to five minute warm-up and a gradual cool-down. 

Another example of H.I.T. is to perform resistance training sets of eight to 12 repetitions interspersed with jumping rope for one minute. The idea is to alternate moderate and high-intensity exercise to optimize benefits to your cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems, in order to achieve optimal results. 

If you've been using the excuse that you don't have time to exercise, H.I.T. can be the perfect solution to get you up and moving toward your fitness goals. 

What Are GMOs (and Why Should You Care)?

About the Buzz

You have probably heard some buzz about GMOs, which stands for Genetically Modified Organisms. Recently, Whole Foods mandated its suppliers must label all products containing GMOs by 2018, and the Girl Scouts are petitioning the makers of their cookies to ban GMO ingredients from their products. Chipotle restaurants banned GMO foods from their ingredients in 2015. So what exactly are GMOs, and why should you care?

Here, There and Everywhere

Genetically modified organisms have been manipulated by genetic engineering to change their fundamental DNA structure. Foods are often modified to enhance taste, improve resistance to pests and disease, withstand the rigors of shipping, and increase shelf life. GMOs  are widely prevalent in our food supply, and have invaded every genre of crop, dairy product and animal. Almost all processed foods, unless otherwise labeled, have ingredients that are genetically modified. Ranchers and dairy farmers feed their livestock GMOs, which are passed on to you when you eat them. Fresh produce, fish and poultry are not immune from GMOs.

They Must Be Safe, Right?

Given their prevalence in our food supply, most consumers assume that GMOs are safe to eat. So why should we avoid GMO foods? In 2009, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) stated that, "Several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with genetically modified food..." Risks to human health include infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, faulty insulin regulation, and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system. To learn more about GMOs’ health risks to humans, you can download a free brochure from the Institute for Responsible Technology.

Only in the USA

In Europe genetically modified foods must be labeled, and are easy to avoid. But in the United States and Canada, labeling of GMOs is not required. Recently, the US Congress voted on a bill which critics labeled The DARK Act, standing for Deny Americans the Right to Know. The bill would have allowed food manufacturers to hide GMO ingredients. The Bill passed in the House but was defeated in the Senate.

How to Dodge GMOs

Here are some pointers on avoiding GMO foods:

• Educate yourself on which products are most likely to be genetically modified. Soybeans, corn, wheat, sugar, canola, papayas, zucchini and baked goods typically contain GMOs.
• Buy only foods that are labeled 100 percent organic.
• Buy local, from local farmers who do not mass-produce huge crops.
• Grow your own, using organic seeds and organic soil. 
• Eat only organic free range grass-fed beef and poultry.
• Eat only wild-caught fish. 
• Filter your drinking water with a quality filter.

If you want more information about avoiding GMO foods, you can download a free copy of the “Non-GMO Shopping Guide” from the Institute for Responsible Technology.

A Little Lipstick Goes a Long Way

To feel better about yourself almost immediately, a little lipstick goes a long way. It will make you feel beautiful, empowered and sexy. You don't have to be going out, or expecting company. Do it for yourself, to boost your self esteem each time you look in the mirror!

What's Up with Gluten-Free?

OK, so even if you don't keep up with the latest "health food" trends, you have probably seen an increasing number of products labeled "gluten-free" on your supermarket shelves. So what's the deal?
Well, it turns out that excessive consumption of gluten found in products made from wheat, barley and rye can lead to "wheat belly", a distant cousin to beer belly, but without the suds (or the fun!). In some cases, gluten can cause celiac disease, leaky gut syndrome and inflammation.

God love American ingenuity! Rather than simply forsaking foods made from wheat, rye and barley, food manufacturers have cashed in on the insanity by offering an array of products that masquerade as the original (bread, pasta, muffins, cake..you name it), and Americans are literally gobbling it up!

But, as the above video implies, ain't nothin' like the real thing, baby!

So if you want to cut back on gluten (and if you're overweight, have high blood pressure or are type II diabetic it's a good idea), here are some helpful tips:

• Increase your consumption of fresh whole natural organic vegetables and fruits.
• Eat lean grass-fed organic meats, fish, poultry and eggs. 
• Limit your intake of grain-based products to one or two servings per week.
• Shop the perimeter of the grocery store (but bypass the ice cream and pizza cases!), and leave the processed food alone (if it comes in a box, can or bag, it's processed). 
• Stop drinking soft drinks and juices of any kind. 
• Drink plain filtered water and a daily glass of red wine (mine is a really large glass!)
• Exercise outdoors daily (a daily walk will do).
• And whatever you do, avoid products that try to imitate the real thing! Oat milk? Really?