Monthly Archives: December 2010
January2011: Rediscovering Breakfast
To read this newsletter in its .pdf form, click here to download the file:January 2011 Newsletter. Thank you. We all know to eat a good breakfast: Breakfast gives a good start to the day and honors the bodys natural bio-rhythms and bio-chemistry (see November and December 2010 newsletters). But, somehow life takes over and breakfast…
Strategies to Lower Stress
Sleep: Sleep is the best defense against stress. Sleep is also the best strategy against weight gain since sleep lowers cortisol and insulin (the fat storage hormone) and helps prevent insulin resistance. In addition, sleep boosts growth hormone (builds muscle mass) and leptin (curbs hunger and cravings for carbohydrates). Sleep is also important for immunity,…
Dietary and Lifestyle Ways to Manage Inflammation
Dietary Ways to Manage Inflammation Cut out inflammatory foods. These include processedrefined sugars, grains, and flours; high fructose corn syrup (HFCS); products from grain-fed animals; trans fats; and refined white vegetable oilsespecially those derived from corn, soybean, and cottonseed. These and other cheap, stripped oils are often found in commercial salad dressings and processed foods…
Sugar and the Holidays
As December approaches, we look forward to family traditions and baking familiar favorites passed down through the generations. As a child, Christmas was the one time each year when my mother pulled out yellowed cards from her recipe box and transformed butter, flour, and sugar into dozens of irresistible treats. Best were snowballs, better known…
Stress, Cortisol, and Belly Fat
Stress elevates cortisol, and staying up late throws off the bodys natural cortisol rhythm. Because cortisol is the fat storage hormone, chronic stress keeps cortisol elevated and encourages weight gain, particularly in the form of belly fat. The connection between stress and cortisol is one of the reasons that whatever aerobic exercise you choose should…