Soy is the new wonder food - sooo healthy! Drinking soymilk is a nice first step to get away with the ubiquitous milk and dairy. But there are problems with soy. But what with all the health claims?
Many people get allergies to soy. I observe it in my patients that, roughly after five years, the soy problems are starting – indigestion, joint and skin problems. But during those five years, people get out of the milk habit – and that is a good thing in my eyes. After soy, there is still rice milk and almond milk. And after those, there is always water.
Soy’s estrogenic effects are well-known. Less well-known is that all legumes (beans, lentils, garbanzos) contain estrogenic-like compounds: phyto-estrogens. Yes, soy is highest – but by now we could have learned that bigger is not always better. Especially not, when it is non-organic and gene-manipulated (the verdict on that is still out - until then, I prefer to be on the safe side). Avoid soy as a powder and filler. Especially, avoid it in so-called health bars which contain soy for a sole purpose: That you might think it is healthy and buy it.
New studies have shown that the marvelous properties of soy do not apply across the board; they only happen with fermented soy products – like miso or tempeh – but not with unfermented soy products. I think of soy as one of the beans. Not as a miracle food.
Soy has become the next super mono crop, with agricultural subsidizing, big time. And with all the ensuing problems: depletion of soils, over-fertilizing, and susceptibility to pests. Not to mention massive destruction of the Amazon rainforest to accommodate this new hyped-up crop. We need don’t more soy; we need a few healthy soy food items: Edamame (the young, tender soybeans still in the pod, often steamed with soy sauce. Miso: Use the fermented paste, not the dried stuff from a package. Tempeh, the Indonesian pressed and fermented soybeans. Delicious in all kinds of stir-fries - way better than tofu if you ask me. Tofu is a highly processed thing, coming in a perfect block. Once in a while, of course, you may indulge min tofu. But stop thinking about tofu as health food. Nothing in nature comes in a block. Read More
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The Dreaded Cellulite
May 19, 2010
Cellulite – in medical terminology: gynoid lipodystrophy – is what many women dread: those dimpled masses of fat around the thighs.
One study showed that people who were severely overweight, improved their cellulite when they lost weight. But people who were less overweight, experienced worse cellulite after weight loss. What is a woman to do??
The Natural Medicine take on cellulite is that it is poorly exercised, inflamed fat, and here is what you can do:
• Eliminate all dairy and milk products (cheese, butter, yogurt, milk solids) from your diet. Dairy seems to be the one single aggravating factor in the diet. The Mediterranean diet (lots of vegetables, herbs and olive oil plus small amounts of meats) seems healing. Dairy is a highly inflammatory food; olive oil is anti-inflammatory.
• Also leave out white starches and sugars. Replace with brown rice and legumes (beans, lentils garbanzos).
• Start with a very moderate program to exercise (because big programs don't work; they overwhelm you). For instance, Jump up and down one minute – and find out how awfully long a minute is… If you have that minute in your daily routine every single day, go for two minutes. Next step: Go for a short walk at lunch hour. Take the steps.
• Brush your skin with a dry brush – always in the direction of your heart. It is not as effective as exercise, and very boring, but it mobilizes those sluggish fat cells – at least a little bit.
• Always end your hot shower/bath with a short cold one (unless you have uncontrolled high blood pressure and/or arterial disease).
• Cold sitzbaths are recommended if you also have varicose veins. Fill at least an inch or two of cold water in the tub. Sit with legs outstretched for one to two minutes.
Cellulite is not a beauty problem. It is a quick measure of your metabolic health. While a little bit of dimpling might just come with age, those factors that now annoy you with cellulite will, in the long run, present you with heart disease, diabetes, stroke, dementia, arthritis, depression, cancer, and so on. Read More
The Super Foods … Bunkum
April 27, 2010
You have read and heard it so often: The Ten best foods, the Five Best Fruits, The Super Foods Without Which You Will Die...
Some of the lists contain meritable foodstuffs, often judged by their anti-oxidant contents. Apart from outright scams (brand-names) on those super-food lists, the usual suspects are blueberries (all the berries, really), broccoli, walnuts, spinach, beans, cinnamon (without the bun), almonds, avocados.
There is nothing wrong with these foods. But the concept of “super foods” is all wrong.
If you eat the same super food again and again, you have a higher chance to sensitize against it and end up with an allergy. Also, you might get an overfill of some phyto-nutrients, and become deficient in others. Not to mention that we have to worry about pollution - you don’t want to eat the same mercury-laden morsels day after day. We were made for roaming the savannah and nibble here and there, all day long. That gave us enough exercise, and rotated our groceries, depending on area and season.
Asked about healthy nutrition, I like to say (stolen from realtors who stress “location, location, location”): Vegetables, vegetables, vegetables. Today I want to add: Rotate, rotate, rotate! The point is to eat a wide variety of meats, fish and vegetables, preferably local and in season (less meat, more vegetables!).
Having emphasized variety, here are some under–used and relatively inexpensive vegetables: Onions, garlic and all cabbages (broccoli, kale, brocco rabe, broccolini, Brussels sprouts, white, red, Savoy) – eat them often. Summer and winter squash, too. Don’t forget root vegetables: Red beets, carrots, celeriac, daikon, jicama, rutabaga.
Assignment: Each time you venture to your local market/supermarket, find one new vegetable! Bring it home and serve it - any vegetable tastes good cooked (but not overcooked!) with olive oil and garlic. Read More
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