I was recently interviewed in MORE: For Women of Style and Substancemagazine about MS and nutrition. While I tend to focus on removing inflammatory agents from the MS patient’s diet to reduce inflammation and MS symptoms, Thomas Stewart of the Rocky Mountain MS Center also offers good reminders about the roles of vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids in MS.
Tom and I have done a couple of tv spots together in the past in support of the Rocky Mountain MS Center. He knows a lot about using complementary alternative medicine (CAM) together with western medicine when it comes to MS.
MS UpClose, an organization dedicated to raising awareness of and continuing research into Multiple Sclerosis, asked me to record a video telling my MS story. So here it is: my MS story in a nutshell. What do you think?
The Environmental Working Group compiled a helpful list of sites you can use to check the health and safety of your foods. I’m passing them along to you for your reference.
EWG’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce. I always check it when trying to decide which fruits and vegetables to buy organic and which are OK to buy conventional. And keep your eyes open – we will be updating this popular guide with new data soon.
The Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food compass just released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This interactive map shows where to find USDA-supported projects in your area that support local food.
Organic vs. Natural. What’s the difference between natural and organic anyway? Our friends at The Organic Center have published this handy tip sheet to help us out on that one.
EWG’s Sugar in Children’s Cereal Report. In researching this report, published in December, EWG discovered that many popular cereals have more sugar than Twinkies or chocolate chip cookies. Check out alternative breakfast choices from the delicious recipes in EWG’s Five Healthy Breakfast Tips.
My sister took notice when Gwyneth Paltrow recently blogged about the Clarisonic Mia, a hand-held ultrasonic cleansing device. Lucky me: she got me one for a holiday gift!
The Clarisonic Mia removes six times more makeup then manual cleansing, gently exfoliates and allows your skincare to penetrate deeper and work more efficiently. Using the same ultrasonic technology as that electric toothbrush does to dislodge plaque from your teeth, the Mia gently dislodges dirt from your pores.
Not only do you get a deep clean, but your skin feels soft and supple and open to receiving hydration. I’ve noticed smaller pores and smoother, younger-looking skin.
Use the Mia with your favorite cleanser every day to keep your skin clear and supple.
“Gluten-free” has become quite trendy in the decade or so since Celiac disease was identified as a problem digesting gluten, but what do the different gluten terms actually mean?
Dr. Peter Osborne does a great job in clearing up the differences in these definitions in this informative video on gluten and digestion. According to Dr. Osborne:
Gluten allergy is an immune-mediated response that creates IgE antibodies.
Gluten intolerance is an inability to tolerate gluten (non-immune mediated).
Gluten sensitivity is a mesh of the above terms, that is, it is immune-mediated but does not necessarily create antibodies.
Gluten sensitivity causes Celiac Disease by chronically damaging the villi in the stomach and bowels. In fact, Celiac disease is one of the rarer manifestations of gluten sensitivity as it has been linked with over 200 other chronic medical conditions, many of which do not cause distress to the intestines.
It’s a great video to watch if you’ve ever considered gluten sensitivity to be the cause of your health problems.
The only thing I would add is that you can be sensitive to gluten or to any one of a multitude of foods and chemicals you ingest, inhale, or slather on your skin as you go about your daily life. With the Mediator Release Test (MRT), you can see exactly which substances are causing your specific symptoms because it observes the chemical mediators that mark inflammatory processes. If you remove gluten from your life and are still suffering, chances are your sensitivities lie elsewhere and it would be worth getting checked.
magazine about MS and nutrition. While I tend to focus on removing inflammatory agents from the MS patient’s diet to reduce inflammation and MS symptoms, Thomas Stewart of the Rocky Mountain MS Center also offers good reminders about the roles of vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids in MS.
EWG’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce
