Cranberry Craze!

Now that the pumpkin craze seems to be dying down from its Autumnal fevered pitch, cranberries are in the bullpen warming up. I am on Pinterest all the time occasionally, and I have seen the myriad of cranberry crafts (wreathes, flower arrangements, garland), cranberry foods (sauce, salads, desert) and cranberry drinks. My closest personal relationship with cranberries usually involves vodka. I have found that a Cape Cod provides an excellent excuse to enjoy a cocktail and take care of your  urinary tract health all in one delicious and refreshing sip, just mind that it is 100% juice and not “cocktail”. Cranberry cocktail has as much sugar, if not more than, a soda and very little health benefit, not to mention the additional calories.

We are aware that cranberry juice can help block urinary tract infections, especially women. Cranberries contain proanthocyanidins, which help to prevent E. coli bacteria from lingering on the walls of the uterus and bladder. One glass of juice a day is all you need to prevent and heal urinary tract infections. That’s pretty amazing, and a whole lot cheaper, than a trip to the doctor.

Don’t feel left out men, cranberries are great for you too! Cranberries contain citric acid and other nutrients that can prevent kidney stones and other kidney and bladder problems. I have been told that if a man ever wanted to know the pain of childbirth, they needed to experience the passing of a kidney stone. No thank you. I have two children and the thought of passing a stone sound awful…and without the reward of a sweet little bundle of joy! All the pain. No gain.

I also wasn’t aware that cranberries are high in antioxidants, which help to flush out your system. This in turn improves your metabolism and digestive system so that you can begin to lose weight quicker. Quicker?? Darn. This would have been helpful when I was stuffing my face on Thanksgiving. All I had to do was add a bit of cranberry sauce to every forkful. I wonder if the delightfully gelatinous sauce from a can counts? ( Don’t lie, you know the kind from a can is your favorite too…)

These same antioxidants in cranberries pull double duty to help flush out the harmful toxins within the body that can suppress the immune system. Once these are removed, your immune system will be better equipped to ward off sickness during the pesky cold and flu season.

For optimum health benefits its best to consume fresh cranberries and make your own juice at home with a juicer, or opt for unsweetened, 100 percent pure cranberry juice. At this point I am contemplating either buying a large amount of stock in Ocean Spray or learning how to cultivate my own cranberry bog. If those two dimwits in the commercial can do it, so can I… Let me just find my waders.

Pumpkin Power!

September 3^rd, 2013. Does this date ring any bells? If you are a diehard Starbucks fan or a super aficionado of autumnal caffeinated beverages, you would know that September 3^rd marks the first day of the year that the Pumpkin Spiced Latte became available on almost every major intersection in America! What is it with this drink? I had never had one until last year when a friend insisted that I MUST try this seasonal decadence. She hand delivered a tall Pumpkin Spiced Latte to my house. Now that is what I call dedication. It was good. Creamy and rich, caffeinated and tasting like the holidays. But, honestly I just don’t get it. What is the American obsession with pumpkin?

Pumpkin Spiced Lattes, pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread, pumpkin stuffed ravioli, pumpkin beer??

I guess the joke is on me. Did you know that not only can pumpkins make a delicious pie, they can help improve vision and heart health? Apparently our favorite ubiquitous fall squash is packed with more than 200% of the daily recommend intake of Vitamin A and is rich in carotenoids (giving the bright orange color in pumpkins, carrots and squash) and aid in the conversion of beta-carotene into Vitamin A.

Pumpkin is also loaded with fiber, keeping you feeling fuller longer, helping shed extra pounds from overeating, especially during the holiday season. I will have to check, but I don’t think this includes copious quantities of pumpkin pie, but again, I am no expert…

Nuts and seeds are also great for the body, including pumpkin seeds, to help lower LDL cholesterol (that’s the bad kind). After a couple meals of dark meat turkey and gravy and mashed potatoes, I bet we could all stand to snack on a couple handfuls of seeds.

Do you get those “holiday blues”? I do. I am just not a holiday person, although maybe a couple more autumn-inspired granola bars would do the trick! Apparently pumpkin seeds are rich in tryptophan and aid in the production of serotonin- the happy hormone, helping to keep my holidays very merry!

Please excuse me while I bake a pie, roast some seeds, drink a beer and run by Starbucks…well, maybe not in that order.

Happy Holidays!

Whining and Wincing

Hypothetically, let us assume my husband is a master complainer. No joke. If he were to hypothetically have a cold, you would think he was afflicted with swine flu. Hypothetically, if his allergies are in full swing, he may hypothetically think about bubble wrapping himself to get from the porch to the car. Lately he has been experiencing (some not so hypothetical) lower back pain, and I kid you not, you would think he was hit by a bus with the amount he moans and winces. At first, he went to our family practitioner who prescribed a muscle relaxer and some pain pills. There was temporary relief of the symptoms, but no help with the cause of the pain. After taking pain pills for several months, he decided he would just need to come to terms with the pain and throw in the towel. Defeat.

Enter Dr. Stephans. My husband began seeing him about 2 months ago. Diagnosis: Woah, buddy. You are tighter than a drum with no range of motion and completely out of alignment. His legs are different lengths, most likely due to tightness in his hips, aggravating his back, neck, knees, legs, feet…you get the idea. Apparently he was justified in his pain. Ok, ok, ok.

He has been visiting DISC once or twice a week; otherwise he tightens back up, and is slowly relaxing due to several procedures in the office. He hasn’t taken a pain pill again since he began to get relief starting at the first chiropractic appointment and he doesn’t plan on getting a refill. I haven’t had to listen to him whine and wince getting in and out of bed in the morning and he isn’t lying on a heating pad all night. I don’t hear complaining if he sits in the car too long, or if he doesn’t have enough pillows on the couch. In fact, I forgot he was even having back issues until he told me yesterday that Dr. Stephans was also working on the carpal tunnel in his right hand.

I would like to personally thank Dr. Stephans for the weekly treatments for my husband. I am a stay-at-home momma with two kiddos and I surely don’t need one more baby in the house.

Ps. Honey, I love you. J This was all hypothetical, of course.

My 1st DISC Experience

 

I have only been to the chiropractor once. I was pregnant with my second child, a very stubborn breech baby. I tried everything, I lay inverted on an ironing board, I did acupuncture, I took some herbal concoction, and this kid would simply not flip. When I told my Doula that I had gone to this particular chiropractor (I won’t name any names, but apparently I should have known better) she said, “NO! Don’t go to them. They don’t know anything.” Oh, ok. I just kind of figured that all chiropractors were the same, more or less. Apparently, just like any doctor, not all chiropractors are created equal.

My first experience at DISC Chiropractic with Dr. Stephans was totally different than my previous liaison at 38 weeks pregnant. I called DISC and made my appointment for 2pm, we live really close so it was an easy drive into the big town of Prosper. By big, I mean, I hope you don’t get lost in this quaint 3 stoplight town. DISC is located right on the main drag next to the City Hall. Who knew?

After filling out all the new patient paperwork and questionnaire, the receptionist led me to the exam room. She took my blood pressure on both arms. Apparently you can tell if there may be circulatory issues if there is a blood pressure discrepancy. I was fine. I am always slightly normal-low. Then she took me to the scales. Yes, I said scales, plural. This is my worst nightmare. This is the precise reason that I would chose the dentist over the doctor any day. I hate stepping on the scale. Now there are TWO scales. Deep breath, exhale, feel the fear and do it anyways. I stepped on just one scale to get my overall weight and then stepped on one scale with my left foot and the other with my right foot. There was a TWENTY pound difference between the two weights. That is crazy! I had no idea that I carried my weight so differently. Later I asked Dr. Stephans what the average discrepancy is and he said that we should aim for less than 10 pounds different. Oh. Here I thought that I had little information to gain from my chiropractic experience.  

Laying on the chiropractic table and Dr. Stephans manipulated, twisted and gently pushed ( I am sure the technical chiropractic term is “pushed”) my joints and along my spine. Nope, no pain, no tenderness, no tweeks. (again, I am sure tweeked must be the appropriate technical term) After the initial exam he ascertained that my left side was far too flexible and my right side was locked up like a prison. Hmmm…and here I thought that I could have been the poster child for chiropractic health! I do have knee problems when I run too much and tension headaches at night and he was able to help narrow down the cause. Apparently I am wound tighter than a drum in my neck. I am going in for x-rays next week to see what is really happening in there. But, don’t tell my husband, I have really been enjoying the nightly head massages to help with the tension headaches. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him right??

Until next time, happy stretching!

Your faithful DISC Blogger

Food Rules: Don't Eat What You Cannot Pronounce

Have you ever read Michael Pollan’s Food Rules? It’s a really quick and easy read outlining the 64 best rules to follow about choosing, eating and thinking about the food you consume. One of my favorites is Food Rule #2: “Don't eat anything your great-grandmother would not have recognized as food.”  I will venture to guess this includes anything with an “oh” sound; Cheetos, Doritos, Fritos, HoHos, Oreos…you mean Great-grandma wouldn’t have appreciated orange “cheese” stained fingers or scraping the white cream from the middle of an Oreo cookie?? Nah, probably not. My great-grandma would have much preferred a dry gin martini with 2 olives…but I suppose that is another story entirely.

Another of my favorite phrases attributed to Pollan cautions, "Don't eat anything that contains ingredients a third grader cannot pronounce." Check out your pantry, how many boxes and cans of processed convenience items do you have stocked? Now grab a box and check out the label, read the ingredients. Sodium tripolyphosphate, Yellow 5, Soy Lecithin, Partially hydrogenated oil, artificial flavoring. Can I find those ingredients at Kroger in the “scientific name” aisle?  I personally like a little extra Yellow 5 in my food, but that may just be preference.

How about your medicine cabinet? Have you ever read any of those ingredients? I never had. Pick up your usual daily multi-vitamin and read the main ingredients: zinc oxide, microcrystalline cellulose, gelatin, hydropropyl methylcellulose, tocopheryl acetate, pyridorine hydrochloride…um, what? I don’t think Dr. Oz ever recommended my daily allowance of crocarmellose sodium.

Now, let’s look at a bottle of Standard Process’ daily multi-vitamin Catalyn: defatted wheat germ, nutritional yeast, bovine adrenal, magnesium citrate, dried pea juice, dried alfalfa, mushroom, oat flour, honey…words that even my elementary school-aged child could read! Catalyn contains several vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients from approximately 15 different whole food sources. This complex set of real, whole food ingredients along with vitamins and minerals help broadly support both the physiological and the biological processes of the human body.

This is a HUGE step in the right direction for both my body and my peace of mind. And, as my main man Pollan says, “eat foods that you can picture in their raw state or growing in nature.” I don’t think that I will be planting my tocopgeryl acetate tree anytime soon, thankfully.