Handy Portion Control Advice

SIZE UP YOUR PROTEIN
Protein fuels our energy and helps build strong muscles. Use the area and thickness of your palm to eyeball how much chicken, fish or tofu you should be eating in a single sitting.

SIZE UP YOUR VEGGIES
What should accompany your protein? Scoop up two fist-sized portions of fresh veggies for a ton of nutrients and antioxidants.

SIZE UP YOUR SALAD
Use both your hands like serving spoons to lift up a big portion of leafy greens. To give yourself about a tablespoon of dressing, use the length of your thumb as a guideline.

SIZE UP YOUR FRUIT
When you're figuring out how many berries to pile on top of your morning yogurt, fill your hand for just the right portion of fresh fruit.

SIZE UP YOUR FATS
These are the guys we really have to watch out for (they taste so good it's easy to overdo it!). For butter and oil, use your thumbnail as a measure.

What is Integrative Medicine?

The Defining Principles of Integrative Medicine

Andrew Weil, M.D. - What is Integrative Medicine? from Andrew Weil, M.D. on Vimeo.

1.Patient and practitioner are partners in the healing process.

2.All factors that influence health, wellness, and disease are taken into consideration, including mind, spirit, and community, as well as the body.

3.Appropriate use of both conventional and alternative methods facilitates the body's innate healing response.

4.Effective interventions that are natural and less invasive should be used whenever possible.

5.Integrative medicine neither rejects conventional medicine nor accepts alternative therapies uncritically.

6.Good medicine is based in good science. It is inquiry-driven and open to new paradigms.

7.Alongside the concept of treatment, the broader concepts of health promotion and the prevention of illness are paramount.

8.Practitioners of integrative medicine should exemplify its principles and commit themselves to self-exploration and self-development.

Links:
Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine
Find an Integrative Medicine Provider

Acupuncture May Ease PCOS

Research from Sweden suggests that acupuncture can help normalize menstruation and lower levels of testosterone in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).

This common disorder affects 13 percent of all women of reproductive age. It may cause a large number of small cysts to form on the ovaries, disturb hormone production and lead to an increase in testosterone secretion. As a result, affected women don’t ovulate normally and are at risk of infertility, obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Although the cause is unknown, the Swedish researchers said that some women with the syndrome often have high activity in a part of the nervous system that we cannot consciously control -the sympathetic nervous system - and that this may be an important underlying factor.

In this study, a group of women with PCOS was treated for four months with electro-acupuncture in which needles are stimulated with a weak, low-frequency electric current; another group of women was given heart rate monitors and told to exercise three times a week and a third, control group, was told about the importance of exercise and a healthy diet but received no other instruction. The investigators found that sympathetic nervous system activity decreased in women who received acupuncture or exercised and that menstruation became more normal among the women underwent acupuncture treatments.

Reference: Stener-Victorin E, et al. Low-frequency electro-acupuncture and physical exercise decrease high muscle sympathetic nerve activity in polycystic ovary syndrome. American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, August, 2009.

Vitamin D

Highlights of Dr. Paykel's Presentation

• Who is at risk for Vitamin D deficiency? Exclusively breast-fed infants, dark skin, aging, northern climate dwellers, city-dwellers, those who cover their heads when outside, sunscreen users, lactose intolerance, s/p gastric bypass, cystic fibrosis patients, gallbladder disease, IBS, obesity, women.


• Diseases associated with vitamin D deficiency: osteoporosis, breast, colon and ovarian cancer; autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes; Seasonal Affective Disorder (depression during winter months), cardiovascular disease and hypertension, Alzheimer’s Disease.


• Osteoporosis progression slows at 32 ng/mL ; goal of therapy should be 50 – 80 ng/mL to decrease cancer risks


• Sources of Vitamin D: sun, food, supplements


• Sun block SPF 8 or greater reduces conversion of Vitamin D in the skin by 95%
  If using sunscreen, apply after sun exposure for twenty minutes


• Adequate sun exposure: Bikini-wearing, 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., 2-3 x per week
  Everybody living North of 37 degrees latitude (basically, North of line extending across the U.S. from Atlanta, GA to Los Angeles, CA) should take supplements (2000 IU daily) from October through March


• Dietary sources of vitamin D include: wild-caught, fatty fish, dairy products, fortified cereals, fortified orange juice, egg yolks and cod liver oil


• Take Vitamin D supplements during meals with fatty foods


• Vitamin D3 is better than Vitamin D2 for supplementation (except prescription strength only comes in D2)


• Children should receive 400 IU Vitamin D3 daily


• Lab to order: 25-hydroxy-Vitamin D [AKA: 25(OH)D]


• Definitions: “deficiency” <> 32 ng/mL


• Too much vitamin D in the system: > 200 ng/mL


• Treating vitamin D deficiency when measuring 25(OH)D :
  <>: Vitamin D2 50,000 IU weekly x 1 year
  21-31 ng/mL: Vitamin D2 50,000 IU weekly x 12 weeks then Vitamin D3 2000 IU daily; recheck in 1 year
  32 ng/mL: Vitamin D3 2000 IU daily


• Who should not take Vitamin D without supervision? Individuals with impaired kidney function


• Food sources Vitamin D (IU)
  Pink salmon, wild caught, 3 oz 530
  Sardines, 3 oz 231
  Tuna, canned, 3 oz 200
  Cow’s milk, 8 oz 100
  Fortified O.J., 8 oz 100
  Fortified cereal, 1 cup 40-50
  Eggs (Yolk), 1 oz 30
  Cod Liver Oil, 1 oz 1, 360
  

How to Deal with Difficult (Even Impossible) People

By Deepak Chopra
Published on Oprah.com
June 11, 2010

We have all met people who are so prickly and difficult that no one wants to handle them. In most situations, walking away is an option, and you escape with no more than ruffled feathers. But some situations are inescapable. You can wait until the thorny personality is gone and moan "She's just impossible" to a friend. Far better, though, to begin to develop skills in practical psychology.

First, take responsibility for your part of the interaction. Animosity is created in your own heart. Even the most impossible person had a mother. He was loved by somebody. If you can deal with your own reaction and take responsibility for it, no step is more productive. Detachment is always the best response...

Read the rest of this great article.

Jon Kabat-Zinn Leads a Session of Meditation at Google

Decrease Your Breast Cancer Risk

One-in-eight women will struggle with breast cancer during their lives. We now know that cancer, like many other diseases, is related to systemic inflammation. Breast cancer may also be associated with elevated systemic estrogen levels. Here are lifestyle changes you can make to decrease inflammation and modify your estrogen levels to reduce your risk of breast cancer (or, recurrence).

Nutritional Advice:
Do eat an abundance of fruits and vegetables, at least 5 servings per day, organic is best
Do eat at least one cruciferous vegetable per day (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, brussel sprouts, kohlrabi)
Do eat phytoestrogens in moderation: soy-based products, red grapes, peanuts, legumes, brussel sprouts, spinach, ground flaxseed, whole-wheat flour, fruit and tea.
Do drink green tea
Do consume garlic
Do consume good fats: Omega 3 fatty acids, Olive oil
Do eat hormone-free beef and dairy, if you consume them at all
Do follow the principles of an Anti-inflammatory Diet

Avoid charred meat (either grilled or broiled)
Avoid a high-fat diet – high fat diet increases circulating estrogens
Avoid alcoholic beverages
Avoid these fats: Eliminate trans fats, consume a small amount of saturated fats

Lifestyle
Vitamin D supplements: 2000 IU daily unless indicated more
Calcium: 1200 mg per day between diet and supplement
Herbs and Supplements: Turmeric, Ginseng, Melatonin
Exercise – Aerobic 30 minutes 6/7 days per wk
Adequate nightly sleep in a dark room – melatonin production decreases breast cancer
Mindfulness meditation - if practiced regularly can decrease stress and improve coping skills during difficult times

Screening
If at high risk due to family history, begin screening at 35 years of age or 10 years prior to the age of detection in family member, whichever comes first.