A Word on Supplements

I get asked daily at work what supplements are recommended. Honestly this is different for everyone depending on your nutritional status and current health conditions. There aren't any recommendations necessary for a healthy male with a varied, healthful diet. If you are a healthy female without any medical conditions I urge you to take a folic acid supplement, or you can take a complete multivitamin. Folic acid can help prevent neuro deficits and conditions such as spina bifida in fetal development; these conditions happen within 12 days after conception before a woman knows she is pregnant. Folic acid combined with B vitamins are also great for your heart and can help with growing healthy hair and nails. Personally I take a Vitamin D supplement (look for D3 ergocalciferol), I only take 1 per day because I get quite a bit of it in my diet. Daily recommendations for Vitamin D are rumored to be changing in the near future. I also take a fish oil supplement daily (look for burpless or coded / enteric on the label) for Omega 3 nutrients. Many of us do not get enough omegas in our diet and they are awesome for your heart as well as for your skin and hair. Depending on what I've eaten each day I might have a calcium chew, I always keep a box just in case. Do not take supplements all at one time. I try and take a multivitamin with a Vitamin C source (ie. orange juice), Vitamin D goes with my lunch, fish oil with my after work snack, and I might have a calcium chew before bed - if taken together they can compete for absorption. Sometimes you have to evaluate your diet to determine what you might need, my system is not going to work for everyone. Please do your research; don't take advice from sales associates that work in health food stores or supplements shops, many make commission from their sales and do not have any nutritional training. It isn't uncommon for me to have patients who have been given really bad supplement advice. Remember - Supplements are not food and they are in no way a replacement for a balanced, varied diet

Tag: Favorite Candy

In honour of Halloween! Or

Tag: 5 Things That Gross Me Out

#5 The words: Hemorrhage, Diarrhea, and Aneurysm. I don't mind the meaning of the words but I really don't like the spelling and I hate the way they sound when I say them. I work in a hospital so these are pretty common words in my day to day life.

  #4 Wet tissue paper. Ugh, the thought of this makes me gag. You know people who take a piece of facial or bath tissue and wipe the counter and the paper gets all wet. I can't touch it, I just can't.

  #3 Soggy Food. I had a roommate once that left food on the plate when she put it in the sink and it would get all soggy, especially the bread - yak, I have trouble thinking about it. Just put it in the garbage disposal already, don't let it get soggy and stick to everything.

  #2 Roaches. I think of roaches as being dirty. I hate the way they crawl all ever everything with their little antennas feeling all over all my stuff. Just nasty, and they're almost impossibly to get rid of. You spray them and it takes them forever to die! Actually that is a big reason I decided to keep Lilly, when she came to live with me, I never saw another roach...alive.

  #1 Slugs. This has to be the most useless creature in existance. They're wet and leave trails of slime! Have you ever accidently stepped on one while barefoot..no, just no. Honorable mention, jumping spiders - not necessarily gross but they freak me out big time!

The Beauty Diet: Top 10 Foods

Just wanted to share this article with everyone on the top foods to eat for "The Beauty Diet" by Lisa Drayer. This diet was written and is endorsed by a licensed, practicing dietitian (the only source you should trust, especially if you have a health condition). Dietitians spend years in school learning medical nutrition therapy and biometabolism of macro and micro nutrients. There is A LOT of untrue information about diet and health on the internet, some of it can be potentially harmful. Many fad diets lack essential nutrients and many foods are "forbidden" or given a negative reputation. I found the original article on the AOL home page, the goal is to incorporate these foods into your diet most days of the week for beautiful skin, brighter eyes, and healthy bones.

1. Wild Salmon
2. Blueberries
3. Low Fat Yogurt
4. Oysters
5. Kiwifruit
6. Sweet Potatoes
7. Spinach
8. Tomatoes
9. Walnuts
10. Dark Chocolate

 The Beauty Diet: Looking Great Has Never Been So Delicious by Lisa Drayer, MA, RD can be bought here. I will not endorse any "diet plans", I just don't believe in them. What I do endorse is information that has been gathered through medical and nutritional research and found to be truthful. I personally love a clean eating approach and all of the above foods fit into that category. If you must follow a diet plan or want information on how to keep yourself looking and feeling your best get your information from a trusted source (i.e, not a body builder, a personal trainer, or a model - I can go on and on about the inaccurate information on current diets on the market now from sources such as these).

Top 6 Halloween Movies

I like doing "Top 5" lists but sometimes you just can't fit everything in such a small list. These are not necessarily scary movies, I enjoy the occasional horror movie (provided I'm not expected to sleep alone afterwards) but most of them aren't movies I'd watch over and over again.

6. Interview with the Vampire
5. Nightmare on Elm Street (the original, this reminds me of childhood sleepovers)
4. Hocus Pocus
3. Corpse Bride
2. Legend of Sleepy Hollow
1. Edward Scissorhands

 *Honorable mention to the Saw series, they freak me out for sure but again I don't own any of them and I don't think I'd watch them multiple times.

Fall Reading List

These are some books I'm planning on picking up from half.com to read over the next couple of months. I need to finish some continuing education credits for work before the end of the year so I don't have a lot extra time for fun reading.

In the Kitchen: Super Easy Vegetable Beef Soup

The weather is getting cooler and my throat is starting to get scratchy. If my impending doom is a seasonal cold I want to be prepared by making a big pot of soup ahead of time so I don't have to worry about meals for a week (this can also be frozen and reheated as needed). It's quick and easy and is great alone or alongside a grilled cheese sandwich. It's loaded with veggies too so it's a great dinner choice.

1 large can tomato puree

1 small cans stewed tomatoes

1 large can VegAll brand mixed vegetables (you can use frozen vegetables if you prefer)

1 cup of barley 1 pound of lean ground beef (I only use about half a pound but my mom uses the whole pound)

salt and pepper to taste

water

*optional - 2 potatoes washed and cubed

Quick Stovetop Instructions

Brown the beef and drain remaining fat. Cook barley to package directions in a seperate pot. If using canned vegetable mix pour off the liquid and rinse, frozen veggies can go immediately into the pot. If using potatoes go ahead and start boiling them until slightly less than fork tender. Place cooked meat in a large pot along with the veggies (and potatoes if using them). Pour in tomato puree and stewed tomatoes, use water to thin the soup as much as you'd like. I like mine thin so I use almost the same amount of water as tomato puree. Cook on medium to low at least a half hour until warmed though, potatoes should finish cooking and if using frozen veggies they should be completely cooked through. Salt and pepper to taste.

I like to cook this over night on low in the crock pot as well. No precooking needed, just dump all ingredients in raw and make sure you keep checking the consistency to see if you need to add more water. I cook it on low for about 4 hours but it's ready whenever the meat is cooked ant the vegetables are fork tender. Cooking it on low seems to give a better flavor. This is easy, inexpensive and it yields several days worth of meals.