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I will be attending the American Holistic Nursing Association's annual conference this week in Madison, Wisc.
Look for the new beautiful billboards throughout San Francisco advertising the Osher Center!
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Greetings!
The annual Nutrition Conference held in Chicago this year was an excellent opportunity to hear cutting edge nutrition research, eat nummy nutritious food and to reconnect with integrative medicine colleagues. The conference began with a public forum which featured Andrew Weil, MD, Chef Rick Bayless, and David Katz, MD (Yale and O Magazine). I have included links for each speaker so that you can check them out. As you know, I studied at the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, Dr. Weil's program. He has oodles of information on his site from integrative approaches to health problems to recipes. I was able to eat at Rick Bayless's restaurant Topolobampo while I was in Chicago and we purchased his cookbook Everyday Mexican. We love the lentil rice salad with chipotle dressing and it was easy to make. If you are interested in kids' nutrition check out Dr. Katz's Nutrition Detectives program. He is someone who tries to make nutrition information "digestible" for the public. (Excuse my pun.) To show you the beauty of Chicago in the spring I have included pictures of blooming tulips outside our hotel and the cityscape reflected in "The Bean".
In this newsletter I will summarize some of the things that I learned from the conference. Good nutrition is one of the most important building blocks to sustaining good health. A lot of people don't realize that many health conditions can be simply treated with tailored nutrition recommmendations avoiding the need for pharmaceutical drugs with their many side effects. I have lots of great information to share with you! Give me a call if you would like to learn more.
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Ask Dr. P
The Latest Nutrition News |
Anti-inflammatory Food Pyramid Many of the serious diseases that we face such as heart disease, arthritis, asthma, and cancer are caused by chronic inflammation. Dr. Weil has developed this food pyramid with a new twist. It helps people easily recognize healthy anti-inflammatory food choices and which foods to avoid. Unlike the pyramid promoted by the federal government, this one is easy to understand and is not influenced by the meat and dairy lobby. I have included a link to the pyramid if you would like to have a look at it.
Osteoporosis Prevention (V. Maizes, MD). The diet should be rich in soy foods, omega 3 fatty acids (eg. fish, walnuts), green leafy vegetables, sufficient protein, and green tea. These foods promote strong healthy bones. The diet should be low in sodium, coffee, alcohol and not too much meat or iron because they deplete calcium. Supplements that are most helpful are vitamin D and possibly calcium (it is best to get it from food). Many people do not realize that you get more elemental calcium from calcium carbonate than expensive calcium citrate. Avoid vitamin A/retinol (beta carotene is the natural form of vitamin A and does not affect bone health) because it increases the risk of fractures. Exercise such as walking is bone stimulating and balancing exercises are important to avoid falls. There is insufficient data to support the use of medications such as bisphosphonates for the prevention of fractures. A close look at the data shows that the "number needed to treat" (a statistical term) to show a positive benefit from the drugs is very large. In other words, there is little evidence that these medications really reduce fractures.
Detox Diets (M. Ring, MD). First, I should say that the speaker was unable to find any research studies on detoxification diets in the literature. This is very concerning since many people do "detoxes" and "cleanses". Unfortunately we do not know the risks or benefits of these diets. When thinking about doing a detox diet it is important to consider the purpose. Is it to rid the body of toxins? Promote health? Searching for spiritual fulfillment? For those interested in ridding their bodies of toxins it is difficult to determine which toxins to test for and what the normal ranges are. Basic guidelines given included: stop exposure to pesticides, hormones, caffeine, alcohol, and allergens. Ensure good digestion and elimination. Eat a balanced diet with adequate protein, moderate exercise, and individualize any plan for a detox.
Healthy GI System (D. Rakel, MD). The method of birth matters. The mother's vagina inoculates the baby's GI tract with healthy flora and these kids have less allergies. The method of feeding also matters. Breast milk offers more healthy bacteria and prebiotics and as a result kids have less allergies. Proton pump inhibitors (PPI's) given for gastric reflux (GERD) decrease calcium (think increase in hip fractures), iron, and B12 absorption. What to do: breast feed, eat a low fat diet, eat soluble fiber, eat foods rich in prebiotics, avoid prolonged acid suppression, lose weight, use probiotics as needed. Know that genes and stress play a role in gut health (decrease flora, produce neuropeptides, increase permeability, etc.).
Nutrogenomics (D. Heber, MD, PhD). Dr. Heber showered us with lots of information quickly and with pizzazz. I will give a basic summary from his notes. Diet and genomes interact. He says "nutrition has the most important life-long environmental impact on human health". That's pretty big stuff! Here are some interesting concepts: nutrigenetics addresses how an individual's genetic make-up predisposes for dietary susceptibility. For instance, we know that some people may have a genetic susceptibility to diabetes or insulin resistance so they need to be especially careful about weight gain and sugar, right? Nutrigenomics asks how nutrition influences the expression of the genome. In other words, it looks at how what you eat changes your genes. The take home message is "what you eat now affects generations to come"! This is where the science of nutrition is going and in the near future we are going to learn a lot about the interactions between our genes, the food we eat, and our health. I'll keep you posted.
D-lightful Vitamin (Holick, MD, PhD). Vitamin D deficiency is a HUGE problem. It is tied to bone health, many chronic pain syndromes, cancers, etc. Those of us who live in Northern California do not get enough sun exposure. Take home message: Find out what your Vitamin D level (25 hydroxyvitamin D) is and supplement your diet with at least 1000IU. Recommended sun exposure is 5-15 minutes 2-3 times a week. For these few minutes you can forget the sunscreen!
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Women's Health & Healing believes that women
want to explore and understand all of the health care options available to them; conventional, alternative and complementary. Sincerely,
Priscilla Abercrombie, RN, NP, PhD
Women's Health & Healing
415-457-1451
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