Effortless Eating - Page 142 of 189 - Elizabeth Yarnell – Solving Inflammation & MS

Breast Health: Mammograms vs. Thermograms

August 31, 2009

I think about breast health sometimes more than others (for heavens sake, please wear a supportive workout bra during aerobic activity like Jazzercise! Those flimsy regular bras just don’t hold you in enough to prevent that delicate tissue from tearing and eventually (gasp!) sagging), but lately it’s been front and center in my mind.

I turned 40 this year and dragged my feet into the imaging center to get my first mammogram last month.

What I really wanted was to find a thermogram and avoid the radiation from traditional mammography, but my ob/gyn/midwivery practice didn’t know of any thermogram centers, so I bit my tongue and went in for the radiation of a mammogram even though they are finding the radiation from medical screening procedures can contribute to cancer. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

What I really wanted was to not do this at all. I waited more than six months, until I was ever-so-gently prodded into going by my fabulous life coach, Rachelle Disbennett-Lee. She was right: it was time to go.

A clinical breast exam performed by highly trained fingers can identify 61% of tumors that turn out to be cancer. Adding a mammogram, increases the ability to find a cancer to 84%. Research done in Montreal in the mid-1990s demonstrated that adding a thermogram to breast exam and conventional mammogram increases the ability to find cancer early — and do something about it — to 95%. (Read more about breast exams.)

I figured I’d do the mammogram this time and keep trying to find a thermogram for next year. I guess I’m glad I did it, because they found something.

Some things, I should say. In my left breast.

They look like specks of dust on the original contact print, and more like jagged rice grains when magnified 90 times. But they’re definitely there, and there shouldn’t be anything there.

Crap.

Make Your Recipes Soy-free and Gluten-free

August 28, 2009

A Glorious One-Pot Meals reader asks: “I have two sensitivities – soy and gluten, so two questions.

1. Is it possible to substitute rice or quinoa pasta for wheat pasta? Rice pasta doesn’t seem to hold up as well normally, so I wasn’t sure it would turn to mush in the pot.

2. Is there a substitute for soy sauce in a recipe?

Additionally, I have had your book for only a month and I love it for ease of use, successful outcome of the recipe, and healthy ingredients. I am an advocate and I am telling everyone about your book!”

-Joyce C., Denver

Thanks for writing, Joyce! I’m thrilled to hear you’re enjoying this cooking method!

As for your question, let me start by saying that every single Glorious One-Pot Meal recipe contains 100% substitutable ingredients, so you could truly take any recipe in the book and adjust it to fit your dietary requirements.

In place of wheat pasta or wheat couscous in a recipe, you could always substitute rice, quinoa, or another gluten-free grain. I love amaranth these days! Just consult the common measurements chart in the book and swap out the ratios of dry goods-to-liquid from the recipe with the ones for your selected grain.

I’ve had great results with Tinkyada Brown Rice Fusillion the stove top, but I’m still working on the perfect ratio for al dente rice pasta in a GOPM.

We also like quinoa pasta. Sometimes I load the pot up with meat and veggies and make pasta separately on the stove top — yes, I know that makes 2 pots, but sometimes even I reach for another pot!

The best substitute for soy sauce is Bragg Liquid Aminos – All Purpose Seasoning. I recently bought a bottle at King Soopers, but you can for sure find it at Whole Foods or Vitamin Cottage. It’s good stuff and will still give you that salty flavor like soy sauce.

Nature’s Anti-inflammatory Spice: Turmeric

August 25, 2009November 18, 2022

When I feel there is something “off” in my body, that’s when I reach for the turmeric. As our friends in India have known for an eternity, turmeric does wonders to reduce all kinds of swelling, from swollen ankles or knees to swollen nerves or joints.

So many of our disorders are due to inflammation of various sorts. Anything that ends in “-itis,” just for starters: bursitis, tendonitis, dermatitis, arthritis, etc.

And of course, auto-immune diseases like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and MS that activate an inflammatory response. In MS, for example, the swelling that accompanies the damage to the myelin sheaths surrounding the nerves can cause as much damage as the resulting scar tissue. Often, a corticosteroid such as oral prednisone or I.V. solu-medrol is prescribed to keep the swelling down.

Can you guess how I feel about putting corticosteroids into my body, particularly the long-term, maintenance-level doses that are often prescribed? The last time I took corticosteroids for a problem was in 1999. The prednisone gave me heartburn and packed on 30 lbs. in 3 weeks. The solu-medrol blew out my veins and gave me track marks. But these are just a few of the possible side effects of corticosteroid use noted by the Mayo Clinic. I honestly couldn’t tell if they helped reduce or lessen the optic neuritis (ooohhh… another “-itis!”), or if it just ran its course regardless.

Although I haven’t had a major Multiple Sclerosis exacerbation since 2002, I try to be hyper-aware of my body so that I can address anything that feels “off” before it swells (pardon the pun) into a larger issue.

Hot weather can make these things worse. One evening recently I noticed some new blurring of my eyesight. While it might have been from simple fatigue, ever since my bout with optic neuritis, incidents like this are enough to send me running for the turmeric.

Now that I drink my turmeric in hot milk it’s a much more pleasant treatment. This last time I enjoyed one cup at bedtime and another the next day and that’s all it took to clear up whatever was going on with my eyes.

My version of Turmeric Milk:

1 cup coconut, almond or other safe milk, warmed
1 Tbsp. ground turmeric
3-4 whole black peppercorns
Honey, pure maple syrup, or other safe natural (not artificial) sweetener to taste

Heat the milk and add the turmeric and peppercorns. Let steep for at least 5 minutes before drinking. You may strain out the powder and peppercorns if you wish, or just leave them in the bottom of the mug.

* The circumin in the peppercorns intensifies the power of the turmeric. I saw this posted from a reader of Arun Shunbhag’s blog and tried it. Now I’m a believer.

Manage stress naturally with visualizations

August 13, 2009

On Oprah a few days ago, Dr. Oz asserted that Americans would be significantly healthier if they could just find effective ways to manage stress without drugs.

I’ve been thinking about this statement recently as I find myself pulling out an old visualization stress-relief technique to calm those feelings of being overwhelmed with life. It helps me to remind myself that there are times when I can’t be everything to everyone, and sometimes I just have to let some things go for the moment until I get back to a space where I can manage them again. (You may have noticed an ebb in my posting schedule lately? Too much on my plate right now.)

Visualization is a form of self-hypnosis where you will yourself to change your mental and/or physical state. When I practiced Hypnobirthing as my birth method, I leaned heavily on visualization and guided imagery to keep me in a zen-like state during labor. In regular life, I use a different visualization to calm myself when it feels like my life is slipping into chaos.

Here is my calming visualization. It works best when paired with belly breathing (as in yoga), but can be pulled out anytime its needed by just remembering to be the leaf:

I picture a perfect green leaf, like one off a maple tree, floating on top of water in a gently moving stream. I am the leaf, I tell myself.

The leaf floats effortlessly by on the current without struggling against it. It swirls briefly in the eddies along the edges, but continues on its way downstream. Rocks poke out of the water signaling rapids ahead… does the leaf struggle? No, the leaf continues trusting that the water knows the path of least resistance through the deepest channels. The leaf veers near the rocks, right alongside them in fact, maybe even bumps them, until the leaf relaxes and allows the water to choose the safest course. I am the leaf.

The sunlight dapples through the trees overhead, the water laughs and gurgles, and the leaf clears the rapids and floats easily into calm and safe water. The path ahead is clear and obstacle-free.

I am the leaf. I am the leaf. I am the leaf.

How I Try to Get My Boys to Eat Their Veggies

August 6, 2009

Renee Martinez posted a great article recently on the helpful blog, MothersRaisingBoys, about getting her kids to eat vegetables. I’m excited to have her permission to share it here with you and hope that it can help you with your own quest to raise healthy eaters!

How I Try to Get My Boys to Eat Their Veggies
by Renee Martinez

My 3 year old is not a fan of veggies. Basically if the food has color, he won’t touch it. Unless of course we’re talking about a cookie with colored frosting on it – well now that’s fine for him.

The other day when he refused to eat the one carrot I placed before him, I paused for a moment to reflect on what I had done with the two older boys at this time. They eat their veggies. Or have they always? No. They too initially rejected them…so what did I do?

Then it dawned on me. I told them what any mother would tell her child. If you want you want to become a super hero, you need to go through super hero training. All super heroes are required to eat veggies as part of their training. Green vegetables give you extra points to earn you extra super powers. Of course, how did I forget that!

It really worked with the older two; at least they made me think it worked. Or maybe they ate their veggies just to shut me up. Who knows? Now they even order salads when we go out to eat. They make me proud!

#3 on the other hand is an entirely different breed. He doesn’t seem very willing to give in. I really can’t seem to convince him at all. He just pushes his one sad looking carrot toward me and says, “I no like mommy, I don’t want to eat it.” He’s so cute, what can I possibly say to that cute face?

I bought some yummy carrot soup that I’ve added to things so he doesn’t know he’s eating his vegetables. This works, but it kind of bothers me. Sure he’s eating carrots, but I’m disguising them so he still rejects the real vegetable. It doesn’t seem to help.

When I make dinner, I don’t make special meals for him. What I make is what I expect him to eat. if he chooses not to eat, then he doesn’t eat. I will not make special meals. I know several people who constantly make separate meals for their children. They make wonderful healthy meals for the parents and processed garbage for their children.

When questioned about this, they simply offer that they know their kids won’t like what they make and they don’t to deal with the drama so they make a special meal for the child.

What a pain in the butt!

Since I’m the one making dinner, I’m not interested in spending more time than necessary cooking. So making one meal is practical in terms of time. In terms of the stress-level, sure there are times when one of the boys doesn’t like what I prepared. Sorry. I know they’ll find something on their plate to eat. Once you make one special meal for a child whining about not wanting to eat what you’ve prepared, you’ve set yourself up for having to continue the trend. If on the other hand you resist, you’re children will know that you mean business. They might even taste what you made – and gosh who knows, they might like it!

Kids are smart. They know how to work the system when they see a loophole.

As a side note, #3 ate a bunch of cucumbers tonight with his dinner. He would touch his carrot at lunch, but we’re making small strides toward eating veggies. He may even get approved for super hero status after all.

Breast Health: Mammograms vs. Thermograms

Make Your Recipes Soy-free and Gluten-free

Nature’s Anti-inflammatory Spice: Turmeric

Manage stress naturally with visualizations

How I Try to Get My Boys to Eat Their Veggies

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