Find ways to make holiday meals healthier without making them less exciting.  Focus on lots of different vegetable dishes, and try to avoid wheat, dairy and sugars.  Try serving a cup of hot water and a half lime fifteen minutes before a meal; it will reduce appetite and minimize overeating.  It can be hard to break old traditions, but it can be just as exciting to create some new ones!

To minimize overeating, try to shift emphasis from meals to other gathering activities.  When people have finished eating, direct everyone to another room for conversation, instead of lingering over seconds and thirds.  Make a new tradition for the holidays that gets everyone together away from the table, like sports, games, or movies.  A 30 minute daily walk during the holidays isn’t just pleasant bonding time; it can also help keep your metabolism up.

With an open mind and a few changes, you could have the whole family thanking you for a guilt-free January!

The implications are clear; the untreated results of allergies may be putting you at risk for even more dangerous problems down the road.  Be sure to speak to a trusted health care provider if you experience allergic reactions.

I advocate yoga because I have seen many of my clients benefit from it, and I can certainly say my experience reflects this study’s findings.  Specifically, researchers noted that yoga increased gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels in the brain.  GABA is a chemical that is reduced in mood and anxiety disorders.  The study even compared the yoga against similar forms of exercise, and found the yoga significantly more effective in increasing GABA levels, reducing anxiety and improving mood.

Nutrition is only one aspect of maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  Exercise is vital too, and I concur with these researchers.  Yoga is one of the most beneficial exercises available, for both body and mind.

While the study focused on severe trauma, it is an important reminder that our bodies’ needs change during times of healing, and so do our supplementation needs.  If you are injured, sick, or undergo surgery, it is highly recommended that you speak to a trusted health care advisor about supplements that will support your recovery.

And yet the same things could be said of many of the sports drinks that have been successfully marketed as consistent with a healthy lifestyle, despite having minimal natural content and being high in sugar and calories.  One study, researched at the University of Texas Health Science Center, estimated that drinking one sugary sports drink a day by an average teen could lead to a ten pound weight gain in the course of a year.  Those sports drinks could, in effect, be cancelling out the benefits of the exercise associated with them.

Instead of sugary drinks, stick to water whenever possible.  If electrolyte replenishment is the issue, use sugar-free electrolyte tablets, and consume potassium-rich foods like bananas, spinach and yogurt.

Rats who were weaned on a high fiber diet were significantly more prepared for dietary changes, and showed lower changes in body weight and fat mass under the high-energy diet.  Rats weaned on protein, on the whole, consumed more, gained more weight, and increased body fat to unhealthy levels.

Raylene Reimer, head of the research team, concluded, “Overall, it appears that a long-term diet high in protein, when mismatched with a high energy challenge, has negative effects on body mass and hormones and genes involved in glucose and lipid metabolism. However, a fiber-enriched diet may provide some protection”.

Studies such as this one, along with the emerging information about epigenetics and inherited nutrition, just make it more clear how important nutrition is, even in the earliest years.  Children do not “bounce back,” as is so often claimed.  Nutrition choices made early will affect them their whole lives.

The current debate centers on AquaBounty Technologies, Inc, which has taken a gene from a different fish and put it in the DNA of salmon, nearly doubling the growth rate of the fish.  While this is obviously beneficial for the salmon farmer, the effects of such genetic modification on human health and environmental safety are entirely unclear.  For that reason, consumer advocacy groups are insisting that genetically modified salmon, if approved by the FDA, be clearly labeled.  The salmon industry, unsurprisingly, is against such labeling.

My advice as this situation moves forward is to pay attention to whether or not labeling is enforced.  Not only is it important in this specific case, but we all benefit when companies are made to tell us what we’re eating.  Either way, however, it is simply another reason to stick to wild salmon, the benefits of which are already considerable.  I recently discussed the benefits on my e-mail list.  The article is available on the web here.  If you would like to get future email alerts, join my e-mail list here.

Researchers at the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center released a study that links a doctor’s healthy lifestyle habits to their ability to encourage their patients to adopt similar habits.  Dr. Michael Howe, lead author of the study, said, “Living a healthy lifestyle themselves translates into a more believable message to their patients.”

While confidence in one’s ability to change a patient’s behavior was relatively low among all doctors, those who adopted healthy diets and exercise regularly reported a significantly higher level of confidence.  Higher levels of confidence translated into better results.

While this information is useful, it is hardly surprising.  If a doctor isn’t interested in his own health, why should his patients believe he’s interested in theirs?  Knowing that your health care practitioner is on the same journey of health as you can do wonders for your motivation!

Selenium has already been shown to be a powerful antioxidant and cancer-fighting agent, protective against several types of cancer, including lung.  This is the first study showing a link to bladder cancer, one of the most common forms of cancer.

This news should be of particular interest to vegetarians and vegans, because the majority of food sources of selenium are fish- and poultry-based.   The only vegetarian sources of high levels of selenium are brazil nuts and whole-grain wheat flour, and I certainly don’t recommend the latter.  Selenium can be easily supplemented, however, and if you are concerned about your selenium consumption, you should speak to a trusted health care provider regarding proper supplementation.

The researchers also investigated the effect of variety in vegetable consumption. Variety of vegetables consumed was also linked to lower lung cancer risk, regardless of quantity. Squamous cell carcinoma risk dropped dramatically for those who consumed a wide range of fruits and vegetables.

This is just one more reason to get a variety of vegetables in your diet. Different vegetables provide very different health benefits, and by eating a wide variety of vegetables, you ensure a broad range of beneficial nutrients. Don’t fall into a vegetable rut! Try something new every week as a way to increase variety and broaden your culinary horizons!