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Vitamin D, Multiple Sclerosis, and Walk MS promo video

April 26, 2010September 6, 2019

MidChix, a wonderful new online community of women between 40 and 60, has just posted one of my articles on Vitamin D and its role in Multiple Sclerosis.

You might already know that vitamin D is essential for healthy bones and teeth, but did you realize that it plays a role in maintaining a healthy immune system, too?

A connection between Multiple Sclerosis and vitamin D deficiency has been studied for decades. Low blood levels of vitamin D are common among the MS population, and according to recent reports, as many as 80 percent of people with MS don’t get enough of it in their diets. In fact, current research findings suggest that vitamin D may positively influence the immune systems of patients with MS…

(read the rest of the article on Vitamin D and Multiple Sclerosis here.)

It’s perfect timing for this article as May is the month for many of the annual Walk MS events to raise funds and awareness for multiple sclerosis. This year, the Colorado Chapter of the National MS Society has invited me to host the “Land of Nutrition” at the MS Walks in Denver (May 1), Colorado Springs (May 8), and Boulder (May 15).

As a nutrition expert living with multiple sclerosis, I believe that what you eat plays a role in how you feel, and that your diet affects your health. Changing the course of your health and, at the very least, the severity of your symptoms may be as simple as changing your menu.

Hear me talk more about the National MS Society’s Colorado Walk MS events!

The forecast for the Denver Walk this Saturday (May 1st, 2010) may call for snow (!) so dress warmly and enjoy the coffee and hot chocolate offered around City Park for participants. Take refuge under the Wellness Tent with me, pick up or order an autographed cookbook, and join the discussion on healthy eating!

Hope to see you there!

Got Compost?

April 26, 2010

One of my friends recently started a backyard compost heap and raved to me about how much they’ve decreased their load at the curb on garbage day.

Welcome to the wonderful world of composting, I told her. Where you don’t have to feel guilty when a vegetable rots in your fridge before you have a chance to use it because you know it will get a second life creating rich new soil in your compost bin.

According to Denver’s 5280 magazine: Fifty-seven percent of Denverites’ garbage is organic material, which breaks down anaerobically (without air) inside plastic garbage bags at the landfill, creating methane, a greenhouse gas that can remain in the atmosphere for decades and exacerbate climate change.

rotating compost bin — Rotating compost bin

ceramic compost crock — Countertop compost crock

Composting is as easy as keeping a lidded bin next to your sink. Instead of scraping non-meat table scraps down the in-sink disposal (and adding to the layer of sludge in the public sewer systems), divert anything that is non-animal product into the bin. When the bin is full, dump it into your main compost bin.

All Seasons Indoor Composter — Indoor composter

You can get anything from an indoor composter to a suspended spinning barrel to something more like a corral. My husband built our first compost bin out of two-by-fours and metal fastenings from the hardware store that allowed the cross-boards to be louvered for air flow.

Geobin Composting System — Round composting bin

The one we have now in our tiny, postage-stamp sized back yard is round.

There is a formula for composting as you add dried leaves, etc. to complete the mix. Here’s more info on composting.

The best part comes when you mix your homemade compost with soil and watch your plants thrive, although the satisfaction of greeting trash day with a single bag of non-organic refuse for the week comes close. 🙂

Physical Activity a Key to Later Health

April 19, 2010

Those who are physically active in their 50s and 60s are more likely to avoid chronic diseases and premature death, according to a study out of the Harvard School of Public Health.

Analyzing data from 13,535 female participants in the Nurses’ Health Study, researchers correlated reports of physical activity at the average age of 60 years with successful survival into the 70s. Successful survival was defined as “no history of ten major chronic diseases, or coronary artery bypass graft surgery and no cognitive impairment physical impairment, or mental health limitations.”

The correlation was considered strong enough to provide “evidence that higher levels of midlife physical activity are associated with exceptional health status among women who survive to older ages and corroborate the potential role of physical activity in improving overall health.”

Incorporate mental activity to your workout, adds neurologist Tim Vollmer, Co-Director of the Rocky Mountain MS Center Clinic, and keep your brain healthy along with your body.

Although repetitive actions like running are great for your cardiovascular system, coordinated arm leg movements like you find in yoga, pilates, dance, tennis, or my favorite, Jazzercise, can help keep all synapses firing.

Of course, you don’t need to wait until you hit midlife to get the benefits from regular physical and mental activity. The research shows that the old motto “Use it, or lose it!” has been proven to be true.

Exfoliation Better Than Meds for Facial Skin Eruptions and Acne

April 16, 2010

One of my friends recently took her 8-year old daughter in to see a dermatologist about the small white bumps that had appeared on her cheeks. I was horrified when she emerged with a prescription for Acutane.

Putting an 8-year old on Acutane, a serious acne medication whose side effects include photosensitivity (easily sunburned), depression, eating disorders, joint pain, seizures, cracked skin, and causes such severe birth defects that you must sign a waiver if you are of childbearing age (not that this 8-year old is likely to become pregnant, but this is one strong drug) is simply irresponsible, in my opinion.

Drugs.com says: Accutane is used to treat severe nodular acne. It is usually given after other acne medicines or antibiotics have been tried without successful treatment of symptoms. Acutane has been linked to Inflammatory Bowel Disease and may have other long term effects.

Truly, these little whitehead pimples don’t really even qualify as “acne”.

When I was 7 or 8, I noticed the same little white bumps splayed across my cheeks. My mother took me into the dermatologist, too. The difference was that my dermatologist recognized the benefits of exfoliation over medication for these little clogged pores.

He sent me home with my first Buf Puf and a recommendation to switch to Dove soap because it was less drying than the Ivory we had always used. I was to wash my face every night before bed and use the soapy Buf Puf to gently exfoliate my cheeks.

Lo and behold: no more white bumps!

Ok, this was in the 70s and soap technology has come a long way from Ivory and Dove, but the need to exfoliate remains. That visit to the doctor started me off early on caring for the skin on my face through daily exfoliation. As I got older I followed with a toner and moisturizer.

It’s still the same today, albeit with different products.

Aside from scattered, random clogged pores here and there, my face has always been smooth and blemish-free. That I’ve yet to find a wrinkle in my 40s I attribute to a combination of good genes and a lifetime of constant, dedicated skincare, including regular exfoliation.

Lately, we’ve noticed the same white bumps on my 7-year old son’s cheeks. I picked up a Buf Puf for him and taught him how to use it with a gentle, petroleum-free, fragrance-free soap. While he’s not a daily Buf Puffer yet, the once or twice a week that he uses it is enough to keep his cheeks smooth and bump-free. He may need to exfoliate more frequently as he enters his teens, but he already knows what to do and is accustomed to doing it.

All predictions point toward clear-skinned teen years and beyond if he keeps up this easy skincare routine.

Be sure to rinse your Buf Puf well, squeeze well, and allow to dry fully between uses to avoid mildew or bacterial growth. Replace frequently as needed.

Goat Cheese Good for Lactose Intolerance

April 14, 2010

I wasn’t surprised when I noticed that I had become lactose-intolerant when I was 21. After all, my sister had been lactose-intolerant since birth and my mother had been off of milk since she made the connection in her years ago that milk products made her quite uncomfortable.

Bloating, gassiness, explosive diarreah, constipation, headache… these can all be symptoms of lactose intolerance, particularly if they show up within 1- 12 hours of ingesting a dairy product.

Lactose intolerance is not fun, to say the least. It’s particularly common among Mediterranean, Asian, African and other dark-skinned people, but can affect almost anyone.

It’s worth noting that mammals didn’t evolve to digest dairy products after weaning, and the human mammal is the only one to continue to drink milk as an adult. Really, lactose intolerance should be no surprise to any of us.

Still, life without cheese makes me feel deprived. Evolution didn’t account for the development of cheese.

Haystack Mountain Dairy cheeses — Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy

Most lactose intolerant people simply avoid dairy products whenever possible. We can also take the lactase enzyme to help digest milk products on a food-by-food basis, but for me, even though lactase will ease the discomfort of digestion, I don’t believe it does everything it needs to because I notice a direct correlation between when I consume cow’s milk products and weight gain in my own body.

Not so with goat milk products. Go figure.

Although goat’s milk has only slightly less lactose then cow’s milk (4.1% to 4.7%), something is different enough that many lactose-intolerant people don’t have a problem digesting it. Hooray! This discovery has opened up a whole new world for me and my family because we can have cheese again!

mt. sterling goat creatmery — Some cheeses from Mt. Sterling Co-Op Creamery

The coolest part is finding how many products are now made with goat milk. Besides the typical soft Chevre log, we’ve found excellent Cheddar, Country Jack, and Mozzarella. Even our local Costco carries slices of unnamed goat cheese. Look for yogurt made from goat’s milk, too.

Colorado alone has more than 50 goat farms, dairies, and creameries. One of my favorites is the Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy — their cheeses are so delicious and special. Here’s a fun article about a program that puts prisoners to work on goat farms and then the goat milk goes to Haystack.

Mt. Sterling Creamery out of Wisconsin has wonderful harder goat cheeses, too.

(Do you get my newsletter? I send out a new Glorious One-Pot Meal recipe every other week exclusively to subscribers, and today’s recipe includes goat cheese!)

Vitamin D, Multiple Sclerosis, and Walk MS promo video

Got Compost?

Physical Activity a Key to Later Health

Exfoliation Better Than Meds for Facial Skin Eruptions and Acne

Goat Cheese Good for Lactose Intolerance

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