There are many different beliefs around dairy and whether or not it is good for you. It has been cited as being good for your bones, but it has also been found to contribute to menstrual pains, asthma, brain fog, mucus and a wide range of allergies. One of our guest speakers, Sally Fallon believes that dairy is an important part of a healthy diet. She argues that we’ve relied on milk to meet our needs for protein and fat. She states the problem isn’t in dairy itself, but rather the way it is processed today and believes that we should consume raw dairy products.

Yes, humans have been consuming milk for thousands of years, but if you think about it humans are the only ones who continue to consume it into adulthood. Mammals nourish their babies with their own milk, but stop after a brief period of growth. After this, mammals don’t have any interest in it, nor do they have access to it. The truth is we don’t need to live on an all dairy diet in order to get adequate protein, calcium and fat. You can get valuable nutrients from non-dairy foods as well.

If you know you consume a lot of dairy products like cheese and ice cream, experiment with some non-dairy types. You might find that your health improves after decreasing the amount of dairy in your diet.

If you want to experiment with cutting out dairy, but want to make sure you’re getting enough calcium you can try these foods:

• Sesame seeds
• Sardines
  
• Kale
  
• Chickpeas
  
• Mustard greens
  
• Almonds

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It seems odd to even broach this topic when 34% of the population is obese and millions of people suffer from preventable diseases every year. Millions of Americans can afford to adapt a healthier lifestyle by improving the foods they eat and adding more movement to their daily routine, but many people have an all-or-nothing mentality. When some people decide to improve their health they change their eating and lifestyle patterns too quickly and obsess over eating only veggies and exercising if not one, but multiple times a day. This is when the behavior becomes unhealthy and one may develop orthorexia nervosa.

This doesn’t seem like it would be a problem, but drastic changes often backfire and result in bad outcomes. One nutrition professor says that making sudden changes may cause an imbalance of neurotransmitters, leading to a decrease in joy and an excess of fear.

Improving your health can be a simple and enjoyable experience. Think of how you want to improve your health. Do you want to eat better or start exercising more, or do you want to do both?

If you eat mostly processed foods, don’t cut them out right away. Instead, pick one vegetable that you’ve been dying to try and add it to your diet. Maybe it’s edamame or even kale. Pick a recipe that is easy and sounds interesting to you. Prepare it once or twice this week. Notice how you feel after eating it. If this dish isn’t delicious, don’t give up. There are many other vegetables to try and creative ways to prepare them.

If you’re one that finds the gym boring, summer is the perfect time to explore new and fun ways to get moving. Simply call up a friend and go for a walk. Grab your bike and go for a ride in the park. Schedule two or three days this week that you’ll get outside to move around a little.

As you slowly incorporate more veggies into your diet and more movement you will realize that healthy living doesn’t require drastic measures and can actually be fun. What are you going to try this week?

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Fat really isn’t as scary as we once thought it was. For decades people have subscribed to the low/non-fat diet in an effort to be skinny and healthy. What’s interesting is people are not skinnier or healthier.

In this month’s Ode an article “Fat is Where it’s At” highlights this very issue and recent studies on how a low-fat diet can actually cause more health problems. If you look at other societies that consume a higher fat diet, the rates of heart disease and obesity are lower than America’s. How could this be?

If you think about the role that low-fat foods play in our lives this increase in health problems makes perfect sense. Lower fat foods like skim milk or non-fat yogurt don’t fill us up like whole milk or whole yogurt. Many people like this because they feel like they can eat more and not gain weight. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Zero fat does not mean 0 calories. When you consume lower fat foods you are more likely to consume twice as much as you might if you were eating a creamy yogurt.

It’s not only the low-fat that may lead to health problems. Think about the foods that are lower in fat. These foods have all been stripped of their natural properties and are more processed, chemicalized and most likely have more sugar in them. When you consume processed foods you’re not getting the whole nutrients that you would in a less processed version.

Look at your own diet. Have you recently added fattier foods to your diet? How do you feel? Do you feel fuller with less food than you did when you ate a lower fat diet?

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If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you probably know that true health is more than just eating fruits, veggies whole grains and exercising. Being healthy also involves nurturing your relationships, having a career that you love and having a spiritual practice. You might have loving relationships, a good career, a spiritual practice, exercise that you love and a healthy diet, but there is one thing that you are most likely missing. There is one key ingredient that no other health expert will tell you about: being bad.

In our loving relationships, fulfilling jobs or diet, many of us try too hard to please others. Can you relate? When we do this we end up sacrificing what we really want.

Being bad doesn’t mean robbing a bank or hurting someone, but rather something smaller that frees you from your everyday responsibilities. Think about what this might be for you. For some people being bad might be deleting unread emails or speaking up for themselves. Does that sound freeing to you? You might even go as far as playing hooky from work.

This exercise can be really challenging for people, so start slowly. Take a moment now and write down three things you want to do this week to practice being bad. Just start writing. What activities make you smile and feel a sense of relief?

The purpose of this exercise is to put you back in charge of your life and to remain true to your core beliefs. There’s nothing more health promoting than that.

Share your ideas with others.

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There are many different theories behind snacking. Will it help with weight loss or will it make you gain weight? Just like other dietary questions: should you go vegetarian, vegan or eat a high protein diet—it’s about finding what works for you. Do you need many small meals and snacks throughout the day to keep going? Do you only eat three big meals and that’s enough for you?

The problem that most people fall into is they don’t know what to snack on or they eat very little during the day and come around 4 pm they’re starving and hit up the vending machine for unhealthy foods. Can you relate?

One way to avoid the 4 pm vending machine visit is to always have snacks on hand. Think about what you like to snack on that you know will give you energy. This could be anything from nuts, fruit to raw veggies with hummus or nut butter. It is these snacks that will give you the little boost you need and not the highly processed Snickers or sugar-laden doughnuts.

It is good to recognize what your snacking temptations are. What is your favorite unhealthy snack? What is so good about it? How do you feel after eating it? Now, what is your favorite healthy snack? What do you love about it and how does it make you feel?

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 Many parents feel that it’s impossible to get their kids to eat healthier foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains because they’re used to the burgers and fries offered on kids’ menus. New research suggests that that more kids are turning to healthier restaurant options.

According to this research, in the last year soda went down 10%, chicken nuggets, French dries and hot dogs went down 6-8%. While this is a step in the right direction, it’s important to note that these junk foods are still higher than the healthier fare, so improvements can still be made.

The area where many adults feel stuck is they believe kids won’t eat fruits, vegetables and whole grains. These statistics show that this isn’t the case though. If you offer kids healthier options they will eat them.

What are ways you incorporate veggies into your kid’s diet? Have you found it to be a difficult transition? Share with us!

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Many of us have heard that President Obama is health conscious. He not only eats his vegetables and exercises every day, but he advocates for others to do the same. How great is it that there’s a health counselor in the White House?

In this article it states that any healthcare reform that Obama signs will most certainly call for nutrition counseling, obesity screenings and corporate wellness programs. He doesn’t just want these health screenings for the work place, but also schools and underserved communities.

Obama is really pushing for clean living, prevention and education. This is where you, the health counselors of America come in. Where will you leave your mark? Will you work in your community, school, in a corporate wellness program, or will you take your knowledge straight to the White House?

What inspires you about the work that you do and who do you prefer to work with? The beauty of being a health counselor is that you get to find your niche. There are millions of people who need us and you have the luxury to choose which group fits with your health counseling style.

Many people change niches as they develop their skills. You may start out working with kids and decide that people in the corporate world will suit your style better. The good news is with Obama advocating for more nutrition counseling and corporate wellness programs you will have plenty of opportunities to spread your wings. The time for change is now.

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According to a recent study, millions of middle-age Americans find it difficult to follow the recommendations to eat more fruits and vegetables and exercise more. In fact over the last 20 years, middle-age Americans who eat the daily recommended fruits and vegetables has dropped from 42% to 25%! You won’t be surprised to hear that the obesity rate has gone up from 28% to 36%.

Eating well should be a lifelong practice, but many people find it challenging to keep up with all of the “rules” of how many fruits and vegetables to eat. It really isn’t that complicated. Telling someone who eats only processed foods might find it difficult to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables. Instead, they can start slowly. If eating an apple or broccoli is unappetizing, there are hundreds of recipes that incorporate more whole foods and might sound more appealing to the non-fruit or vegetable eater.

The important thing is that people realize that a diet high in chemicalized artificial junk foods increases one’s risk of developing heart disease or other chronic ailments. Why wait until you get sick to fix the problem? It seems that many people live by the quick fix mentality. They take a pill and eat whatever they want. Sure the pill may reduce the symptoms, but it’s not doing the other 100 things that proper eating and exercise can do for you.

Have you recently revamped your diet to incorporate more fruits and vegetables? Have you worked with someone who was completely resistant to this change, but eventually saw the light?

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Many of you may have noticed that alternative medicine has become more mainstream. Instead of quick-fixes people are looking for more preventative measures they can take like practicing yoga, meditating or acupuncture. This Washington Post article talks about how mainstream physicians are incorporating more alternative procedures into their practices.

As people improve the quality of their lives through relaxation techniques they might find that a lot of their symptoms start to disappear and they may not need costly medications. While these improvements are great, we still have a long way to go in improving healthcare and we shouldn’t stop with yoga and meditation.

What about the foods we eat? There has to be a lifestyle and healthy eating balance. Practicing yoga and eating processed foods will not ward off diseases.

If you have a hard time striking a balance look at the people in your life. Do you have a friend who practices or teaches yoga? Reach out to that person and see if they can take some time to teach you a few poses. Or maybe you do practice yoga, but you want to incorporate healthier foods into your diet. Who is that person in your life who loves to cook using whole grains, vegetables and fruit? Work together to support each other.

Do you have any relationships like that right now? Do you have a friend who needs support with cooking healthier meals and in exchange she teaches you yoga? Share with us!

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Have you noticed how more people are adopting the gluten-free diet lately?

For a long time there wasn’t a clear test to diagnose this food allergy, but now doctors can do blood work to see if people have an autoimmune disorder to this protein found in wheat flour. The symptoms show up as skin rashes, runny noses or even anaphylactic shock.

As more people are being diagnosed with this food allergy restaurants and diet books are following this trend. It may seem impossible to find foods without this protein, but they are out there. While you still should check food labels for any possibility of cross-contamination: buckwheat, rice and  chickpeas are a great alternative. Oats are also good, but some are made in the same factory as other products with gluten, so be sure to check the labels.

You may not have a gluten intolerance, but many people feel better by eliminating or decreasing the amount of bread or pasta they eat. Try it for a few days and see if you feel clearer or experience better digestion.

Here’s a great gluten-free recipe:

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Yields: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1/2 cup arame
1 cup raw buckwheat
1 2/3 cups water
1 large carrot, shredded

Directions:

1)   Soak arame and rinse.

2)   Dry-toast buckwheat until its nutty and golden brown.

3)   Bring water to boil.

4)   Slowly add buckwheat and bring back to a boil.

5)   Reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 15 minutes.

6)   Remove pot from heat and let sit for 5 minutes.

7)   Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.

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