Articles by Donna DiMarco

By Donna DiMarco,C.N.,L.N.C.

Allergy symptoms used to be associated with spring and flowers, but it seems more and more people find themselves with symptoms year round. Runny nose, watery eyes, fits of sneezing are often attributed to allergies or, as it’s sometimes called, hay fever. There is no doubt that the pollen and blossoms provoke a response. Many transplants from other states find that the first few years that they are in Florida, their “allergies” are better. A year or two later, they often reappear. Consider this:

• More than 50 million Americans suffer from allergic diseases yearly.

• Allergies cost the health care system $18 billion annually and are the 6th leading cause of chronic disease in the United States.

• About 16.7 million visits to health care providers are due to allergic rhinitis. The number of sufferers has increased significantly over the last 15 years.

Could it be that it may not be an allergy at all? An allergy is a reaction to a substance that does not normally affect other people. The word was first used in 1906 from the Greek words ALLOS, meaning other, and ERGON, meaning action. According to the Journal of Allergy and Applied Immunology, it is estimated that more than half the population exhibits some form of allergy-like symptoms which may include headaches, digestive disorders, joint pain, hives, and the more common, sneezing, runny nose and itching eyes. This is usually the body’s response to exposure to an invasive substance (allergens), which could be pollen, pet dander, dust, dust mites, and even their droppings.

In a mistaken effort to protect you from these allergens, your immune system releases histamines and other chemicals designed to rid your body of the offending substance. The histamine, which is released from mast cells, inflames the lining of your nasal passages, sinuses and eyelids and stimulates the production of mucus. These symptoms can resemble those of a cold. A sure way to distinguish is that with a cold, mucus secretions will eventually turn yellow-green; with rhinitis it will stay clear.

Most people use the term ALLERGY when in fact they mean sensitivity. The difference is distinct. Most true allergies are permanent where as a sensitivity can disappear after abstaining from the source. An allergy to seafood or bee stings can be life threatening but a sensitivity to milk or wheat may cause discomfort ranging from mild to severe, and are rarely life threatening.

Since early childhood, I suffered from allergies. I had every medication, air filters, inhalers, and weekly doctor’s visits, then eventually daily, injections to desensitize me, all to no avail. I moved to Florida and got some relief for a while but they eventually returned. When I was pregnant with my second daughter, I developed hives for no known reason. The allopathic medical community suggested I abort my baby so I could treat the allergies then simply get pregnant again. Since I consider life a lot more than a complication, that was not an option. In shear desperation, I found a nutritionist who tested me for food sensitivities. By following an elimination diet and using supplements to build myself up again, my hives and allergy symptoms all cleared up. I was so impressed with this life-changing experience, I studied nutrition myself and left the medical field I was working in, and 5 years later became a licensed nutritionist, and by the way, my daughter is now 23 years old and she and her sister, are the joys of my life.

But how can the foods we eat affect how we react to things like pollen and dander? It has to do with the amount of stress put on our bodies on a daily basis from the foods we eat. One theory explaining food sensitivities suggests that the body is improperly digesting the fat, carbohydrate or protein and the undigested food particles enter the bloodstream through the intestinal wall provoking a reaction to the “foreign” particles. The body reacts like it would to an allergen by producing the same inflammatory response. In my own situation, I was eating wheat, dairy and sugar on a regular basis. My body was reacting so strongly to those foods that when I was exposed to pollens or airborne allergens, I reacted severely. By eliminating the offending foods and supporting my taxed immune system by body had a chance to rest so that when I was around allergens I could produce enough anti-inflammatory substances within to fight off their effects.

Typically, the foods that we consume on a regular basis, like milk, wheat, corn, soy, yeast and sugar, are often the culprits.

Here’s how you can act as your own nutritionist.

Step One: Keep a food diary of everything you eat in a week. Be sure to write it down; don’t rely on your memory. Then take colored markers and check off every time you ate wheat. Get a different color for dairy, and another for sugar. You’d be amazed at how often you eat these foods. Next, check to see which additional foods you ate every day. These are usually the offending foods. Eliminate the dairy, wheat, sugar and whatever food you eat EVERY DAY. Yes, that means coffee, orange juice, oatmeal, etc. No matter how good it is suppose to be for you, you must stay off these foods for at least three weeks. You should notice a significant improvement in your symptoms. Abstaining for 6 months will usually allow intermittent ingestion without reaction.

Step Two: Digestive enzymes help to insure that the food is properly broken down into nutrients that the body can identify, and then utilize. They also help balance the pH of the intestinal tract, kill off harmful bacteria and prevent the overgrowth of yeast in the intestines. Enzyme production begins in the mouth. Our saliva begins the breakdown of fat and carbohydrates. In the stomach, we produce hydrochloric acid (HCl). The pancreas and the small intestines contribute to the production of enzymes as well. Each must be produced in the correct balance to insure proper digestion. As we get older our inherent enzyme production diminishes. This could possibly explain why we suddenly develop reactions to things we never reacted to before. Sometimes we hinder the effects of enzymes my diluting them with large, cold drinks with our meals. Sometimes we exhaust our supply by eating junk foods, improper food combining and taking antacids. Often, we treat heartburn with antacids, which neutralizes the very acid we actually need more of. Not enough stomach acid can feel much like too much acid. If you’ve ever felt full and bloated after a meal, need to loosen your pants, or suffer from gas, flatulence and bad breathe, chances are you need digestive enzymes. Find a good digestive enzyme that works through all stages of digestion. Be careful not to take them on an empty stomach if they contain HCl (which they should). Begin with one tab or capsule with each meal (usually in the middle of the meal). After a few days, increase to two pills with each meal. Pay attention to your symptoms; they should be diminishing. Some people may need to increase further, but it would be best to do so under the supervision of your nutritionist.

Step Three: Supplement the body with adrenal supporters such as pantothenic acid and vitamin C, tyrosine (an amino acid that is also an anti-depressant), and adrenal glandular. The adrenals glands produce cortisone, which acts as an anti- inflammatory substance and helps us deal with the production of histamines, so supporting the adrenals helps them function more efficiently and effectively.

Step Four: Reduce Excess histamines. Bioflavonoids are currently being used with great success. In particular, Quercetin, a form of bioflavonoids, is believed to prevent histamine release, nature’s antihistamines from citrus fruits and berries can now be easily taken in pill form. Magnesium, vitamin B-6, and the herb Nettles can also help. Other antioxidants such as cysteine and selenium can help mediate the body’s response to the allergen by reducing the effects of free radical damage. A substance taken from pine needles called pycnogenol, helps prevent allergic reaction. It is also an effective antioxidant much like the proanthocyanidins found in grape extract, so it too prevents oxidative damage.

Step Five: Reduce the inflammatory response. Studies have shown that Omega-3 fatty acids may be effective in reducing inflammatory reactions by affecting prostaglandin E2 production (Bad Guy). Omega-3 fatty acids promote the production of Prostaglandin E3 (Good Guy). The inflammatory action of prostaglandin E2 is also responsible for arthritic pain, so it would mediate the pain response for other chronic conditions as well.

A diligent effort to eliminate offending foods, enhance digestion, support the adrenals and immune system, prevent oxidative damage and inflammatory response should keep you from the “allergy blues” But before you embark on a nutritional approach, check with your physician to make sure it is indeed an allergy. In addition to eliminating symptoms naturally, you will be restoring your health. This will leave you with plenty of energy to enjoy life rather than fight “allergens”. Give it try, and let me know how you do.

Donna

By Donna DiMarco, CN, LNC.

 Everyone has an “off day” when sexual desire just isn’t there. The problem has affected people throughout history. The Aztec emperor, Montezuma II, was thought to have consumed approximately 50 glasses of liquid chocolate a day to maintain his libido. In addition, he drank two more glasses right before having sex. In Shakespeare’s Othello, the main character wooed his bride with shellfish and oysters, representing the remedies most popular at that time. Ancient Greeks and Egyptians used ginger to prepare for a lovemaking session. Young Cajun men would sprinkle cayenne pepper on the dance floor in hopes of exciting their partners and diminishing their inhibitions. The Chinese consumed licorice as an aphrodisiac and also used ginseng as a libido booster. The list of aphrodisiacs is lengthy and varied; everything from deer antler to bee pollen. The people of old were willing to try anything to keep their motor running and many were effective! This problem remains today; sooner or later we will all experience a lack of interest in sex.

On February 10, 1999, JAMA published the results of a research project studying the sexual dysfunction of 1,749 women and 1,410 men from age 18 to 59. They found that the problem (sexual dysfunction) was more prevalent in women than men (43% of the women reported having sexual dysfunction as compared to 31 % of the men). Another on-line report concluded that 66% of all women have some sexual concerns, including lack of desire, lack of pleasure from sex, vaginal pain, inability to be aroused, inability to attain a completed climax, or the total lack of an orgasm. These problems can be caused by a myriad of factors including: medications (especially antidepressants), stress, emotional issues, hormonal imbalance, nutrients deficiencies (especially zinc, magnesium, and vitamin E), poor circulation to the genitals, lack of exercise, and physical (structural) problems. Some of these causes must be dealt with professionally but if you deal with the ones you have some control over, you may be pleasantly surprised in the bedroom. So where do we begin?

Total body health insures the proper function, including the production of hormones, which is one of the key factors in dealing with libido. Eating a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables, and good sources of protein will help the body’s endocrine system work at optimum levels to produce these hormones. Avoid processed and fast food to keep blood circulation flowing properly and to reduce toxins and free radical damage. Drink copious amounts of water to bathe each cell and to help stimulate the elimination of toxins. This is the key to good health and the remedy to many maladies, so I’ll keep repeating it.

Exercise is important to help dissipate stress, excrete toxins, enhance hormone production, relax the mind, and insure muscle tone and endurance for those all-nighters. The mind must be free to focus on the activity at hand. Stress is a mood killer. People in the South Pacific use herbs like kava kava before sex to help relax muscles, relieve anxiety and promote a feeling of euphoria. (Be careful with this herb if you have a history of liver problems.) Set the mood with relaxing music. Studies have shown that music can actually promote the body to heal and set the mood for your sexual encounter.

Aromatherapy can be very conducive to lovemaking. The Queen of Sheba seduced Solomon with fragrances and Cleopatra scented the sails of her barge so the fragrance would announce to Marc Antony that she was arriving. Scientists are looking into how pheromones (aromatic chemical compounds produced by one individual that affects the sexual physiology of another) communicate the urge to mate in humans, as well as in the animal kingdom. Women have a keener sense of smell than men do. This sense peaks at ovulation and drops during menstruation. It is believed that pheromones cause one woman’s cycle to line up with another’s after about 4 months of close proximity. Twenty-five percent of the people with smelling disorders lose interest in sex. The sense of smell also diminishes somewhat as a woman goes through menopause. You can compensate by using stronger scents when you are in the mood. Some companies are actually selling bottled pheromones to spice up your sex life and to make one more desirable.

As I mentioned before, hormones play a major part in sexual desire and there are lots of natural ways to give those hormones a boost. Dong Quai is believed to do for women what ginseng does for men. The Chinese believe that it helps nourish the female sex glands, rebuilds the blood, and is particularly good for women over 40.

Ginkgo biloba is known as the herb for memory and circulation, but it is especially helpful for those whose libido was affected by antidepressants. One study determined that by taking ginkgo, 91% of the women and 76% of the men experienced an improvement in sex drive after being on antidepressants. It took at least 4-6 weeks of supplementation, but the effects were in four areas of sexual response: desire, excitement, orgasm and resolution.

The Ayurvedic herb Shativari (Asparagus racemosa) is believed to balance estrogen levels. It is recommended for vaginal dryness, and to nourish the female organs. In fact, in Sanskrit, the word shativari means “one who can have a hundred husbands” (or wives).

Damiana is an herb believed to create a relaxed state of mind and to support the genitourinary and sex organs. It is believed that the alkaloids have a testosterone effect. Yes, I said testosterone. Men and women have both testosterone and estrogen, just in different amounts. If a woman has a low testosterone level her sex drive is affected much like a man’s is. For this reason, many of the herbal remedies recommended for men are also effective for women, ginseng is another one of those herbs. The Brazilian herb, Muira puama, can also work for either sex by increasing the blood supply to the sex organs. Avena sativa (wild oats) is believed to increase vaginal sensitivity and Nettle root (Urtica dioca) is recommended for vaginal dryness.

Amino acids like arginine and ornithine may increase nitric oxide levels in the body. This is especially important for men, but it is equally important for women since studies have shown that there is a direct relationship between nitric oxide levels and sexual dysfunction. Arginine and ornithine are helpful in stimulating the anterior pituitary to produce Human Growth Hormone (HGH), the anti-aging hormone, and who wants to age? So, stay young and enjoy a healthy sex life.

Although there are some over-the-counter hormones like DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone), Pregnenolone and Progesterone, before you supplement with any, I suggest you speak with a qualified practitioner since you may actually exacerbate the problem by causing more of an imbalance.

Please don’t take all of these at once; it doesn’t work like that. Start with the basics of good health and give it time to work. Check your hormone levels with a saliva test (www.salivatest.com) to determine just what you are lacking. Choose your herbs carefully, paying close attention to their direct effect on the female body, get one that helps your specific problem. Check into any interactions with medication, for example, ginkgo should not be used if you are on blood thinners like Coumadin. Be consistent at taking the herbs and allow enough time for it to work, at least 2 months. Keep in mind that sex begins in the head. Take steps to insure a relaxed atmosphere; remember to use the senses, especially smell.

Sexual response is a normal, function of a healthy body. Give your body what it needs to be healthy and it will serve you well for many years.

Enjoy!!!

Donna

By Donna DiMarco, CN, LNC

Any fat makes you fat, so it should be eliminated, right? Wrong!  While it is true that fat contains more calories than protein or carbohydrates, fats are really important to good health. If all the fat were eliminated, health would be compromised. Fat is important for the production of hormones, the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, the integrity of the nervous system and more. Jean Barilla, co-author and editor of The Nutrition Superbook, Volume II, The Good Fats and Oils, stated some of the reasons we need fats in our diets. “ We need fats to produce energy, to pad and protect our internal organs, to conserve body heat, to transport the oil soluble vitamins, A, D, E, & K, into our blood, to act as an intestinal lubricant to keep things moving smoothly, to join with phosphorus to produce the phospholipid walls of each cell, to insulate the nerves by helping to produce the myelin sheath around each nerve, and to help us feel satiated when we eat, as well as adding flavor to our foods.”

Fats are not only found in most meats, but hidden in things like salad dressings, mayonnaise, cake icings, baked goods, fried foods, chips, gravies, some cheeses, some dairy, margarine, butter, cooking oils, nuts, seeds, produce like avocados, coconut, etc. Some of these are really bad for us, but others are not.

I frequently hear people say that they stay away from nuts, avocados, seeds, etc. because they are high in fat. While it is true that fat contains 9 calories per gram while protein and carbohydrates contain only 4 each, some fat sources are so nutrient-rich that they are worth the added calories. The task then becomes distinguishing between the good and the bad fats. If you learn which fats to stay away from and which fats to consume, your body may be able to restore balance and provide you with a better quality of life. This is not an easy task since we have saturated, unsaturated, trans, cis, essential fatty acids, etc. Let’s try to make some sense of it.

There are saturated, unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.  Whether a fat is saturated or not depends on the number of hydrogen atoms in the molecular structure of the substance. Saturated fats are found in meat, coconut oil and palm kernel oil.  It has generally been believed that saturated fats are the culprit of heart disease. These fats are used in manufacturing candy, icing or chocolate because they are inexpensive and they don’t melt at room temperature.  Saturated fats stimulate the liver to make more LDL’s (low density lipoproteins) or bad cholesterol. 

Unsaturated fats usually stay liquid at room temperature and are broken down into polyunsaturated fats, found in many vegetable oils, and monounsaturated fats (MUFA’S), found in olive, peanut, canola and avocado oil.

Polyunsaturated oils have more than one carbon-to-carbon double bond in their molecular structure. They are oils like safflower, sunflower and soybean oils. For many years it was thought that polyunsaturated fats were the way to go because they reduced LDL’s.  It was later discovered that they also reduced HDL’s as well and also increased the susceptibility to gall stones. For this reason polyunsaturated oils should be limited in the diet.

Monounsaturated fats (MUFA’s) have only one carbon-to-carbon double bond in their molecular structure. Unlike Polyunsaturated oils, MUFA’s reduce only the LDL’s and protect them from oxidative damage.  It was also found that MUFA’ s can help non-insulin dependent diabetics, more so than low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets.  Research indicates that MUFA’s have an effect on hypertension also.  Studies are presently in progress to confirm the positive effects of MUFA’s on rheumatoid arthritis.

I recommend that my clients consume cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil daily. “Cold-pressed” means that when the olives are pressed to extract the oil, a good amount of heat is generated. This heat has a tendency to turn the oil rancid, so a cooling system is used to dissipate the heat, keeping the oil from oxidative damage. Virgin and extra-virgin refers to the purity. Since oil is so susceptible to peroxidation (rancidity) I suggest you always keep your oil in the refrigerator after it has been opened. This will reduce the oxidative damage for a while. Some people choose to put a little vitamin E in their oil for the same reason. It’s wise not to buy the large gallons of oil unless you use it quickly, because even when refrigerated, oil will eventually turn rancid. Get it fresh.

Another important factor in choosing fat wisely is whether a fat contains trans-fatty acids or not. Trans-fatty acids are unsaturated fats that have additional hydrogen molecules attached to it. The un-natural process is called hydrogenation and is always man-made. This is what is often used in restaurants but since it has been linked to cardiovascular disease it is being banned by New York City and other cities around the country.

By hydrogenating any oil, say corn oil, which is a liquid, and make it solid at room temperature. Voila, margarine! We use to think we were really smart by eliminating butter and replacing it with margarine, but studies indicated that trans fatty acids raise LDL’s (the bad cholesterol) and lower HDL’s (the good guys). Therefore, all those who switched from butter to margarine to lower their cholesterol may actually be raising it and changing the ratio of bad cholesterol to good cholesterol, and not for the better. Listen carefully, BUTTER IS BETTER THAN MARGARINE! Stay away from all hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. You can find them in most junk food, but sometimes, even in some health foods. Learn to read labels.

Let’s now talk a little about essential fatty acids, which are the basic building blocks of fats and oils. They are called “essential” because they are essential to life but cannot be produced in the body, but must come from either diet or supplementation. The three groups of essential fatty acids are Omega-3, Omega-6, and Omega-9.

Omega-3 fats are found in cold-water fish like tuna, mackerel, salmon, sardines, cod and herring. The few vegetarian sources of omega-3’s are flax seed and perilla oil. This essential fatty acid has been known to slow tumor growth, boost the immune system, reduce pain and inflammation, reduce the symptoms of allergies, promote healthy skin, prevent strokes, reduce cholesterol and increase mental acuity. Fish oils have demonstrated to be particularly important for those with heart and circulatory disease. It has been said that eating 2-3 fish meals (of these particular fish) a week may reduce your chances of heart disease by as much as 50%. Why aren’t we doing this? That’s better odds than what’s offered by some drugs, and without the side effects!

Omega-6 fats can be saturated (like meats and dairy), unsaturated (like in nuts and seeds), or trans-fatty acids (like in fried foods, junk food and margarine). Omega-6 fats can convert to a substance (prostaglandin E-2) that impairs the immune system, increases pain and inflammation, stimulates metastasis, promotes allergic responses and skin disorders. We can’t eliminate all omega-6’s, nor should we. Some is beneficial, but we get far too much in our diet. We must make an effort to reduce these types of fats and increase the more beneficial omega-3’s.

Omega-9 fatty acids are not precursors to prostaglandins and are considered neutral. They may even have some beneficial cancer prevention effects. Omega-9 is found predominantly in olive oil.

So let’s re-cap: Some fats are good for us. Do not eliminate all the fat in your diet, eliminate the sugar instead; that will be more effective in lowering cholesterol and triglycerides. Stay away from hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils and all the foods that contain them. Replace your cooking oils with cold-pressed virgin or extra virgin olive oil and keep it refrigerated after opening it (place the bottle under hot running water to soften it for easy pouring). Eat at least two fish-containing meals a week using cod, salmon, tuna, mackerel or sardines to increase omega-3’s. Limit the amount of omega-6 fatty acids and the foods that contain them. Don’t be afraid to eat natural foods like avocados and nuts because of their fat content; focus on eliminating processed foods that contain the more dangerous fats. If you do this, you may soon notice your skin glowing, your hormones balanced, your energy boosted, your immune system stimulated, your arthritis and allergies diminishing, and your cardiovascular system strengthened. Give it a try, you’re worth it!

Donna

By Donna DiMarco, CN, LNC.

Most of us have been brought up thinking that milk is the perfect food and that without it our diets would suffer. Every mother insists that her child drink his milk to have strong bones. And many of us remember when we were encouraged to drink a little milk or cream to sooth an ulcer. How much of that is really true?

If we’d really listen to our bodies we’d realize that milk causes a variety of problems. Lactose intolerance is the deficiency of lactase, the enzyme needed to digest milk sugar, which causes diarrhea and flatulence. Mucus production increases and then the mucus lines the digestive and respiratory tracts setting up a perfect environment for bacterial and yeast growth. This excess mucus may hinder important nutrient absorption in the digestive tract.

Studies have indicated a strong tie between milk consumption and juvenile diabetes. Experiments have clearly demonstrated more hostile and aggressive behaviors in those who consume milk. Due to the size of the milk protein molecule, it often triggers allergic reactions.

The high protein content in dairy actually leads to the body losing calcium in the urine, rather than placing it in the bones. One of the two sugars that compose lactose has been linked to ovarian cancer and even infertility. Autistic patients show remarkable improvement when taken off dairy and gluten. Many children who are plagued by constant ear infections, asthma, and eczema, clear up when milk and dairy products are removed from their diet. Children who are raised dairy-free rarely need tubes in their ears. Postnasal drip and stuffy nose is often gone forever when dairy is totally eliminated. Many psoriasis and arthritis sufferers show remarkable improvement after eliminating dairy.

With all this information, why would anyone want to consume milk and milk products? Advertising. We have all seen the moustache commercials and I’m sure you remember “Milk: it does the body good!” The dairy farmers have their own agenda since more and more people are eliminating milk.

Humans were made to consume human milk with just the right combination of calcium, magnesium, and other nutrients to nourish a human body. Cow’s milk, however, has a large protein molecule necessary to produce the massive muscles of a cow or a bull. Cows walk quickly after birth, so their milk has a calcium content necessary to quickly strengthen the spindly legs of a calf to hold the rapidly enlarging body. Humans don’t even crawl for a few months, so we really don’t need that much calcium concentration early in life. Baby calves, on the other hand, don’t even drink cow’s milk after a few months but they continue to grow and develop strong, large bones, and I have yet to see a cow with osteoporosis (check out the soup bones at your butcher’s). But how do they keep their bones strong? They eat green grass. Now, I’m not telling you all to hit the St Augustine and do away with your lawn mower, but we can eat greens in a more palatable form: vegetables. Vegetables, especially organic ones, have the perfect calcium to magnesium ratio for humans, and the calcium is in a useable form.

Many of us drink calcium rich foods but neglect the magnesium that is necessary to use the calcium properly. The Standard American Diet (S.A.D., how appropriate!) falls short of the recommended five daily servings of fruits and vegetables. Without magnesium, the calcium may do us harm. Have you ever craved chocolate? Do you get muscle cramps or charley horses? Do you fall asleep but wake up in the middle of the night wide-awake? Are you constipated? Do you suffer from menstrual cramps? Do you have high blood pressure? These can all indicate a lack of magnesium and/or too much calcium. I frequently see people with too much calcium in their bodies yet suffer from osteoporosis, mostly due to a magnesium deficiency.

Let me encourage you to eat more fresh fruits vegetable and make them organic whenever possible (one study showed that organic tomatoes had 40% more magnesium than conventional tomatoes). Do not use canned vegetables since the processing, the salt, and the aluminum from the cans make them poor choices. Fresh is best, but frozen is a good compromise. Eat a variety of colors for the nutrient value. French fries and creamed corn are not considered vegetables so don’t even try to count them.

Get off the dairy. There are now many products in the health food stores to your dairy products with, like soy, for example. There is much research indicating that some soy in our diet might protect us from heart disease, help prevent breast cancer, and reduce menopausal symptoms, but don’t go overboard. Do everything in moderation. In addition to soy, milk substitutes are presently made from rice, a combination of rice and soy, almond, hazelnut, hemp, oat, potato and pea, and tofu, which is made from soy. They come in a variety of flavors including plain, vanilla, chocolate, and carob, and some are fortified with calcium (for those who feel they need an extra amount in their diet just in case). Other products available include cheese-like mozzarella, cheddar, Swiss, jalapeno, Parmesan, cream cheese, and a variety of yogurts and ice cream. With so much to choose from, we can continue to eat the foods we enjoy without the threat to our health.

Make some smart choices. Listen to what your body is telling you. Try eliminating all dairy for three full weeks. Notice how you feel. After the three weeks, go back to eating dairy and notice the difference in your symptoms. Your body won’t lie to you, just give it what it naturally needs, eliminate the things that make it work harder, and it will serve you well for many years to come.

Donna

By Donna DiMarco, CN, LNC

I previously suggested you keep a food diary and eliminated the foods you found yourself consuming on a daily basis.  If you kept track of your symptom improvement and are ready for the next step.

This month we will talk about drinking with our meals. No, I’m not talking about alcohol in particular, but that can fall into this category; I’m talking about that large glass of soda, the iced tea or that cold brew with your slice of pizza.

Let’s start with the fact that we all have digestive juices that are produced to help break down the food into a useable form. One of those juices, hydrochloric acid (HCl), is just as strong as the muriatic acid that your pool service uses and is powerful enough to eat through concrete. Its job is to help ready protein (denaturing) for other enzymes to break it down. HCl doesn’t hurt us because we have a thick mucous lining to protect the stomach. We get into trouble when that lining gets thin or the acid levels get too high and the acid eats a small sore into the stomach. We call that an ulcer. Women who are bulimic actually damage not only their esophagus, which lacks the thick protective coating, but their teeth as well, due to the stomach acid frequently coming up into the mouth. Think about it, if it can eat concrete, it can eat through your teeth!

And although Madison Avenue tells us that many of us suffer from too much acid, most people have too little. We’ll talk about that at a later time. If this acid and other digestive juices are needed to make food useable, and many people have too little digestive juices in the first place, why do we dilute them with liquids? Every time you drink with your meals you are diluting the natural juices needed to break down your food. Consider this, did you ever see an animal eat some food, take a little water between mouthfuls, then eat some more food? Why don’t they need to “wash it down”? Drinking with our meals is a learned habit.

Here’s an example of what drinking with meals does. Imagine that you have this awful grease stain on the floor and you are asked to get it up as quickly and completely as possible. You’d run to the cabinet and pull out your most powerful cleaning liquid. For a heavy grease stain you use it FULL STRENGTH to get the job done best. It is the same with our digestive juices, we need them to work efficiently, so why water it down with all that liquid? In fact, one of our digestive enzymes produced further past the stomach (lipase) acts just like soap, which breaks the bonds in grease (fat).

Here’s something else to think about. Did you ever see chicken soup that has been stored in the refrigerator? It gets a thick layer of solidified fat on the surface. Many of us skim it off before we reheat the soup. That layer is a liquid fat that has been turned into a solid by lowering the temperature. If we consume an iced drink with a meal, we lower the temperature in our stomach and turn liquid saturated fats into solids. Our body temperature is normally 98.6 degrees. It takes a considerable amount of time to raise the temperature of the chyme (chewed up food) to restore it back into a liquid form so that the fat-digesting enzymes will to work.

Well, if that’s not reason enough to not drink with your meals, how about this. Consider the fact that carbonated sodas are loaded with phosphorus, and phosphorus needs calcium to stabilize it, so the body pulls calcium from the bones to meet the need. If soda consumption is high and frequent, it can dangerously weaken the bones. In fact, there are known cases of people who have become bedridden with severe osteoporosis (softening of the bones) due to high soda consumption. Also, sodas change the pH (power of Hydrogen) of the body so drastically that it takes 5 glasses of water to restore the pH after 1 glass of soda. The body needs a proper pH balance to function as it should. If the pH is out of balance, digestion will be hindered and nutrients not absorbed.

If you must drink anything, consider room temperature distilled or spring water, broth or consomme and herbal teas. Avoid things that are cold. Drink a couple of glasses of water about a half hour before your meals. This will help hydrate your body, cleanse your liver, fill you up so that you don’t eat as much (WEIGHT LOSS!), dilute the toxins for removal, aid your kidneys, prevent joint diseases (some practitioners believe that disk degeneration and arthritic problems are the result of the cartilage not being supple due to dehydration.), and help your skin. My clients must drink one half gallon of pure water a day, but not with their meals. It can be done.

I’m sure there are some of you thinking that you retain water and are bloated so you should not drink any more water. The opposite is true. When the body is water deficient it produces more anti-diuretic hormone (ADH) to hold on to whatever water it has. Drinking more water tells the body that it can release what it has because it is confident that more is coming in a steady supply.

Try it for a while. Restoring health is more than taking a pill. My goal is to teach you lifestyle changes that will help your body function at its optimum level. Once we get the basics down, I will discuss particular problems and specific supplements. Try to implement what you’ve learned; any effort will help. It takes time to break old habits so be patient.

Until next time, stay with it. You are worth it!

Donna

  By Donna DiMarco, CN, LNC

Do you love yourself? Do you love yourself enough to take care of your health, to change a bad habit, to prevent disease? Do you love yourself enough to physically be healthy to stay around another few years with a good quality of life? If you said “no” to any of these, you may want to search deeply for the reason you feel you are not worth the effort.

I’m going to talk about how we might give ourselves the ultimate gift of love: health. What is it? What if I lost it already? Is it gone forever? How can I keep from losing it in the first place? What can I do naturally that might help? I hope to help you to make that first step, simply and safely. Do YOU love yourself enough to do some of it? I’m going to take you through some simple steps to better health. Keep copies of these articles to provide a sequential direction toward wellness. These are the same things I do for my clients and if you accept the challenge, you will be empowered to be your own nutritionist—without the fee!

What is health? The answer is simple; it is the absence of disease, degeneration and symptoms. In other words, total functionality of your body. Many people accept the nagging backache, the frequent headaches, the lack of energy, lack of libido, stuffy nose, gas, constipation, stiff joints, etc, etc. I frequently hear people tell me that they never realized how many “little things” they tolerated unconsciously until they discover they are gone. I bet if you tallied every little symptom, you’d be amazed at the length of the list.

Some people already have a disease, like multiple sclerosis or cancer. Does that mean they are lost? No way, it means there are different degrees of health. The diabetic may still take insulin, the MS patient may still be in a wheelchair, or the cancer patient may still need to have a cancerous growth removed. But there are things we can do to speed up healing, reduce or minimize the symptoms, or delay the advancement of the disease.

Many people aren’t aware of how important their dietary habits are. So many clients may have a stuffy nose, or watery eyes find quick relief by eliminating the one or two foods they eat the most on a daily basis. This list often includes: sugar, dairy, wheat, coffee, and yes, soy. “But I thought soy is so good for us?” Even the good things can have a negative effect if we consume too much of them; soy is hidden in many foods in the form of soy oil and lecithin.  I suggest you rotate your foods every other day. That means if you eat whole-wheat toast one morning, you won’t have a hamburger on a bun for lunch, or pasta for dinner, or some brown gravy thickened with flour the following day.

How much dairy do you consume? “Well I never drink milk”, you reply. But how about the cream in your coffee, the cheese you snack on, the pancakes made with added milk, and that luscious milk chocolate that we so often crave? Are your bagels spread with cream cheese? Is there milk in your mashed potatoes?

Keep a food diary of everything you eat for a week. Scrutinize it for patterns of a single food. Use a colored highlighter to signify wheat and a different color for each food you are checking. See if one or two colors appear each day. That would be the food to eliminate. Cut it totally from your diet for three weeks. Note your symptoms before you begin, then check your symptom list after three weeks of offending food elimination. Is there any change? Look at yourself carefully. Are you still bloated after a meal? Can you wake up a little more enthusiastically and energetically? Are your bowels better? Are you taking as much allergy medicine? The results will reveal what your first step should be.

Are you worth the effort it will take to keep that food out of your diet for a while? If you just proved to yourself that you feel better by just eliminating that food for three weeks, why would you want to go back to eating it again regularly? Are you not worth being symptom free? Yes, you can occasionally eat the offending food, but that should only be once or twice a month, and never on consecutive days, and only after abstaining from it for a month.

This is not a food allergy, but a sensitivity. It’s the body’s way of saying, “Notice, I can’t handle any more wheat, dairy, or whatever” By eliminating a particular food you are giving the body a rest from working so hard to detoxify it. You literally give your body a vacation. When you add supplements that aid digestion, detoxification and/or elimination, you are helping it rest and recover even faster by doing some of the work for it. Very often certain supplements are only necessary for a season until the body is recuperated enough to go back to work with full steam.

How about it? Do you love yourself enough to begin this journey to wellness? Will you do these few simple tasks, will you eliminate at least one food that you eat every day? Are you worth it? I think you are, join me!

Donna