Nutrition

Smoothies are Popular Right Now – But are They Healthy and Should You be Drinking Them?

on Sep 23, 2015 in Healthy Skin, Nutrition, Recipes, Weight Loss

Fruit/vegetable smoothies can be a big boost to your health if you use the right ingredients. Below is an overview of the scientific literature that sheds light on this tasty topic and also provides tips on how to make smoothies that maximize the benefits. Drinking fruit/vegetable smoothies helps you increase your fruit and vegetable intake each day. People who drink fruit/vegetable smoothies average 2 to 3 more servings a day than those who don’t drink smoothies. Smoothies provide more vitamins and phyto-nutrients than if you consumed the same foods eaten whole.  While not true for every vitamin or mineral, in general blending fruits and vegetables (particularly vegetables) increases significantly the bio-availability of vitamins (especially the B vitamins) and phyto-nutrients (colorful pigments in foods that boost immune function and health). You absorb more nutrients from fruits/vegetables when they are blended in a smoothie. Not only does blending make more nutrients available to you , but it also increases your ability to absorb those precious nutrients. In fact absorption of nutrients in blended fruits and vegetables can be 2-4 times greater than the amount absorbed from eating the foods whole for certain vitamins and nutrients. Fruits/vegetables smoothies help create healthy gut bacteria that greatly enhances your immune system. Research tells us that the vital nutrients from fruits and vegtables, even when blended, are not destroyed by stomach acids and do make it to the large intestine where they play a major role in creating healthy gut bacteria. Which is where 85% of your immune cells are located.  By adding parts of fruits/vegetables to a blended smoothie that are not usually eaten (like the seeds and peel of citrus), it makes available to you nutrients that have significant cancer fighting properties. The lignin and other phyto-nutrients found in the peels and seeds of various fruits and vegetables contain powerful cancer fighting properties. Using berries in a smoothie does not raise blood sugar levels and provides great phyto-nutrient availability. Berries are naturally low in sugar, high in taste, and high in phyto-nutrients that have healing abilities. Since berries do not cause blood sugars to rise, those with blood sugar problems can get all the health benefits without jeopardizing blood sugar levels. Over time some fruit/vegetable smoothies can...

Creating a Toxin-Free Home – It is worth your time!

on Sep 17, 2015 in Inspiration, Nutrition, Wellness Blog

You are probably unaware that there are many chemicals in your home that overtime can make you or your family sick. The greatest risks in your home come from the chemicals found in common household cleaning and cosmetic products. The following tips will help you to create a healthier home, naturally. As much as possible, buy and eat organic produce and free-range, organic meats to reduce your exposure to added hormones, pesticides, and fertilizers. Also avoid milk and other dairy products that contain the genetically engineered recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST). Rather than eating conventional or farm-raised fish, which are often heavily contaminated with PCBs and mercury, supplement with a high-quality purified krill oil, eat smaller fish, or fish that is wild-caught and lab tested for purity. Wild caught Alaskan salmon is about the only fish I eat for these reasons. Buy products that come in glass bottles or jars rather than plastic or canned, since chemicals can leach out of plastics and into the contents. Store your food and beverages in glass rather than plastic, and avoid using plastic wrap. Use glass baby bottles and avoid plastic sippy cups for your little ones. Eat mostly raw, fresh foods. Processed, prepackaged foods (of all kinds) are a common source of chemicals such as BPA and phthalates. Replace your non-stick pots and pans with ceramic or glass cookware. Filter your tap water — both for drinking and bathing. If you can only afford to do one, filtering your bathing water may be more important, as your skin absorbs contaminants. To remove the endocrine-disrupting herbicide Atrazine, make sure the filter is certified to remove it. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), perchlorate can be filtered out using a reverse osmosis filter. Look for products that are made by companies that are earth-friendly, animal-friendly, green, non-toxic, and/or 100% organic. This applies to everything from food and personal care products to building materials, carpeting, paint, baby items, upholstery, and more. Use a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter to remove house dust, which is often contaminated with traces of chemicals. When buying new products such as furniture, mattresses, or carpet padding, ask what type of fire retardant it contains. Be...

Sitting Less – The Missing Ingredient to Your Work Out Routine

on Sep 8, 2015 in Fitness, Nutrition, Weight Loss

How much you sit each days is a more important determinant of your health than working out a few times per week.  Even if you exercise regularly, you may still endanger your health simply by sitting too much. One of the missing ingredients of a good work out routine is the failure to take stock of how much non-movement you do throughout each day. We exercise because we’re trying to replicate what our ancestors did. Our ancestors didn’t have to exercise because they moved all day long, and research shows THIS is absolutely key for health. In fact, studies show that engaging in consistent exercise does not counteract the adverse cardiovascular and metabolic effects of prolonged sitting. So non-exercise movement is now recognized as being the foundation for optimal health — even more so than exercising for an hour a few times a week. Ideally, you’d do them both, but if you’re currently not in a regular exercise routine, the place to start is by sitting less. This is where the fitness tracker can come in handy. Using a tracker like Fitbit we recommend aiming to get at least 7,000 to 10,000 steps each day, and limit sitting to three hours or less. Remember that while a healthy diet accounts for about 80 percent of the benefits you reap from a healthy lifestyle, exercise is the leverage that allows all of those benefits to be maximized. You simply cannot be healthy without regular physical movement — and this includes both non-exercise movement throughout the day, and a more vigorous exercise regimen....

Want to know how many calories you burn each day?

on Jul 7, 2015 in Nutrition, Weight Loss

Metabolic Rate and Body Fat Testing Managing your weight is challenging, but this test can make it easier. Metabolic rate testing tells you the calories you need each day and how many calories you need to burn to meet your weight management goals. Body fat testing will give you a clear idea of a healthy body weight range specific to your body frame. Accurate bdy fat measurements are completed using state of the art bio-electrical impedance and CO2 uptake measurements. You will leave knowing how many calories you burn on any average day and also how many calories you burn when active and at rest. You will also receive nutrition counseling on how to use this information to achieve your desired body weight. Body fat and metabolic measurements, re-usable respiratory mask, and consultation: $125 Metabolic Rate Re-test: $95 Body Fat Testing alone: $25 Call the Positive Choice Integrative Wellness Center to schedule an appointment:...

on Jun 29, 2015 in Inspiration, Nutrition, Patient Testimonials

By Pablo J. Sáinz A typical breakfast for Guillermo Ybarra was basically coffee and donuts or cookies. And for lunch, a big burrito or a burger from a fast food place would do it. It’s no wonder that last year Ybarra reached 369 pounds. “I was eating very unhealthy,” said the 36 year-old Chula Vista resident. “I got to a point when I asked myself, ‘How did I let myself get to that?’” The turning point for Ybarra came last July, when driving home, his vision blurred for two consecutive days. A few days later, he was told he was diabetic, just like his mother and his father. “For several months I didn’t want to believe it,” he said. “But at one point I said, ‘Enough is enough.’ I don’t want insulin, I don’t want medication.” Last September, Ybarra enrolled in Kaiser Permanente’s Positive Choice Integrated Wellness Center, where after five months of dedicating and committing himself to group support, classes, and a special diet, he lost 125 pounds, lowered his cholesterol and blood pressure, and completely changed his appearance and attitude. “Before, I would be always tired, half way of the day I always felt like taking a nap,” said Ybarra, who now weighs 248 pounds. “I feel a lot better, I sleep better, I walk better. I feel full of energy.” Ybarra, who works in the finance department of Kaiser Permanente, is so motivated, that he now organizes events for the American Diabetes Association, and has found an interest for cycling and running. “My goal is to be 200 pounds or a little bit under 200 pounds,” he said. Dr. Michael Moreno, medical director of the Positive Choice Integrated Wellness Center in San Diego, said Ybarra’s story could inspire other Latino men to take charge of their health, especially when June is National Men’s Health Month. “It was as if Guillermo was reborn,” Moreno said. “If we can get everyone to make the changes he made, we could change the face of the world in a matter of years. I hope Guillermo’s story can empower Latino men.” Moreno, whose father was from the Mexican state of Veracruz, said Latino men should “put machismo aside and make them...

Maca – What is it and why would you want to eat it?

on May 26, 2015 in Nutrition, Weight Loss, Wellness Blog

What is Maca and why should I put it in my Smoothie? Check out this great article by Ryan Carmod written for healthysmoothie.com  Maca has been highly regarded for centuries as a miracle food so it’s no surprise it has become a recent addition to the “must have” nutrient list for smoothies. Although it’s part of the broccoli, radish, and watercress family and even looks like a very robust radish, it has an earthy taste with a nutty flavor, making it a perfect complement to smoothies. Like the rest of the roots in the cruciferous family, it’s low in calories – one teaspoon of maca powder has only 10 calories. Native to the Andes Mountains, maca is the superfood of one of the oldest, and once most advanced civilizations on earth – the Incas and Peruvians. Over the centuries maca has been called “magic, the food of the gods, a natural Viagra, and a miracle drug” for a reason. It works. For centuries people have been using it for everything from enhancing their fertility to boosting their immune system or libido, but most people simply love the non-caffeinated burst of energy they get from putting maca in their smoothies. Most people report a subtle, but noticeable, non-jittery type energy boost within minutes to hours from adding just one teaspoon into their smoothie. It’s not because it’s magical, but because of the root’s very real and very scientific makeup and how it affects everything from circulation to the endocrine system. To date there are no known toxic side effects from using maca. As a matter of fact, scientists say that repeated use of maca is like repeatedly exercising – the body not only adapts, but also gets stronger over time each time you use it. While maca does have side effects they aren’t toxic. High doses are considered to have a relaxing effect on the heart, rather than a tension creating effect like caffeine. High doses can also increase fertility in men and women and may disrupt some forms of birth control, although researchers aren’t sure about this. Maca can also cause more frequent menstruation in some women, although women report it’s also helped with the hot flashes and problems women...