The American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) has debunked the theory that following an alkaline diet can improve your health and reduce your risk for cancer, stating, “What you eat can have a profound affect on your cancer risk, but the acidity or alkalinity of foods is not important. Instead, focus on making dietary choices that can truly affect your risk.” The AICR has launched a campaign to hep bust common myths and present science-based facts about cancer prevention. (link) As the recipient of numerous publicists’ pitches on the benefits of an alkaline diet, risks of high acid in your
Read more →Many women experience digestive issues during different times of their lives. Taking birth control pills or antibiotics, dealing with chronic stress, alcohol consumption, lack of sleep and an imbalanced diet are just a few reasons. You may have read or heard about the benefits of taking probiotics and enzymes for your digestive health. But do you know the difference? Here is a short explanation. Probiotics are living bacteria that the human body needs but does not produce. Probiotics help support your digestive system to help it function properly. Since the human body does not produce probiotics, you need to consume
Read more →The main reason diets don’t work is people don’t stick to them. It’s a commitment. Your relationship to food is more than about what you eat. It’s emotional. Many of us eat and drink to nurture our spirit as much as to nourish our bodies. Maybe it’s time to change your behavior and not just your diet. That’s one of the many messages from Dr. Deena Solomon, who tackles weight loss from a cognitive behavioral perspective- aka “retrain the brain.” www.drdeenasolomon.com Dr. Solomon says, “While others view food as an addiction, and overeating as a disease that must be cured, I see eating
Read more →When I was a young girl, my parents would take me to the local ice cream parlor. My Dad loved hot fudge sundaes and every time he ordered one he would say, “They get you by the nuts.” What he meant was that there was always a surcharge for adding nuts to his sundae. I think of my Dad every time I eat an energy bar. I think they get you by the nuts. Remember the movie “Mean Girls?” The Lindsay Lohan character, Cady, suggests to Mean Girl Regina that she eat energy bars to lose weight. Regina takes Cady’s
Read more →The invitation was sudden, subtle and enticing. Boarding the bus to New York this past week, we ran into someone we’d recently met at a dinner party. He quietly came over to us after we were seated and said, “Would you like to come to my house for a mystery meal?” “Why not!” We answered, intrigued with the idea. Let’s face it: David and I have been in a dining rut at home eating various versions of greens, beans, mushrooms and fish every night. We could use a little mystery to spice things up. He asked us about our food
Read more →I’m all for cutting corners in the right places to save waste, time and money. But not when it comes to your health. This includes purchasing the best health insurance you can afford, finding doctors and a health facility you trust, making sure your home and environment are toxin free, and following an optimum eating, hydrating and exercise regimen. You can be proactive about all of these or learn the hard way. The good news is you don’t have to spend a lot of time and money to make healthy changes. Diet and exercise are two of the simplest and most cost-effective. While there are many
Read more →Authors of “The Vegan Cheat Sheet,“ Amy Cramer and Lisa McComsey have been vegan eaters for many years. Amy teaches vegan cooking classes and is founder of Vegan Eats which produces grab- and- go vegan meals sold in Whole Foods stores and online. Lisa is an avid marathoner, cyclist and widely published freelance writer. They live the vegan lifestyle. Or at least they did. In their new book, “Seagan Eating” (Tarcher Perigree) Amy and Lisa explain their choice to go “seagan,” as in adding fish to their vegan diet. Here is a big reason these
Read more →Remember when your Mom used to bug you about eating your vegetables when you were a child? Well, in my case the shoe is now on the other foot. My 80ish young at heart mother does not like to eat vegetables. Nor does she like to cook. Her meals consist of supermarket takeout or restaurant leftovers or, sigh!, slices of cake and pie. She has a wicked sweet tooth. I worry she is too thin and malnourished; she brushes it off as earning the right at her age to eat whatever she wants if it tastes good. According to the nonprofit
Read more →I’ve never been much of a fried food fan but I love the crispy edges of burnt toast and pizza crust, seared salmon skin and grilled veggies. When I was a meat eater we’d always asked for the flavorful “burnt ends” of the barbecued brisket or pork butt. Grilling and barbecues are cooking rites of summer. But high heat and open flame cooking can cause a chemical reaction in some foods that is potentially carcinogenic. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) website: Heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are chemicals formed when muscle meat, including beef, pork, fish,
Read more →One of the toughest challenges for me when I was diagnosed with breast cancer was enjoying food. Here I was a well connected professional food and wine consultant with a welcome seat at all the great restaurants in New York City, and food no longer appealed to me. It wasn’t that I stopped liking food. It’s just that while I was undergoing chemotherapy treatment the smells, sight and taste of many foods were off putting. I simply either had no appetite or was fearful of become nauseous from eating anything. Constipation from medication was a constant, and that only added to
Read more →I’m always game for a fresh slice of layer cake or fresh fruit pie. And I want to support my friends who are pastry chefs by tasting their dishes. I try and leave a little room for dessert when I dine out. But like many of us, I’m trying to reduce my sugar intake. And for good reason. Sugar is linked to a number of health issues. These include: Obesity. This in itself can lead to a litany of health issues from cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and stroke to Type 2 diabetes. Increased triglyceride levels, which may increase your risk
Read more →The word “wellness” may end up as the Word of the Year in 2016. The self- improvement industry is a $10 billion juggernaut, from books to products to services to make you look, feel and act better. Chefs have jumped on the bandwagon; so have many film and TV celebrities who are now “lifestyle and wellness experts.” I am the recipient of numerous pitches on how to improve your life, and I write about health and wellness regularly. It’s a topic that has been of primary importance to me all my life but even more so now as both a cancer
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