Chris, at Mele Cotte, is sponsoring her second annual Cooking To Combat Cancer event. When I randomly stumbled across her blog and read her story, I knew immediately that I wanted to get involved. And I mean immediately – since tomorrow is the deadline to submit recipes and commit to the cause. I’m a nutrition therapist, how could I pass up on an excuse to push my “food to support healing” mantra on others? Plus, it’s for a very good cause. And who hasn’t been touched by cancer in one way or another? I imagine we all have.

Research suggests that eating lots of fruits and vegetables may provide protection against cancer. Not only that, but a diet of fresh, organic whole foods boosts immune function and helps the body combat cancer. Preventive, protective, and healing!

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food, as Hippocrates so aptly put it bazillions of years ago.

Mango trivia
The mango is a luscious, juicy, drippy tropical fruit native to Southern and Southeast Asia, but can also be found in Central and South America and Africa. Its wild ancestors originated in the Himalayan foothills (I love that). One of the top fruit crops on the planet, more mangoes are consumed worldwide than apples. Surprised? Here’s another bit of surprising trivia – the mango is a cousin to pistachios and cashews, but has the largest seed in the fruit kingdom. The wide, flat seed is almost as long and wide as the fruit.

Mango nutrition
According to Dr. Sue Percival, nutrition and immunity specialist at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agriculture Science, mangoes contain potent antioxidants that inhibit cancer formation by protecting cells from free-radical damage. Although Dr. Percival’s research was conducted using cells from mice, dietary analysis of gallbladder cancer patients and mango consumption showed similar findings. Low in calories and high in fiber, mangoes also contain beneficial pytochemicals and a number of enzymes that enhance digestion and protect against intestinal infections.

Mango allergies
Although rare, some people who are highly reactive to certain foods, may respond to mangoes as well. So, if you have food allergies, introduce them slowly and monitor for allergic responses.

Now that we know mangoes are healthy foods for everyone, cancer patients especially, I thought I’d feature a recipe combined with another amazing health-promoting food – cilantro. I’ll feature cilantro in a future post, you’ve probably had enough of my nutritional rants for one day! Enjoy!

Mango and cilantro salsa
what you need
1 ripe mango, peeled and diced
1/4 cup chopped scallion, green part only
1/4 cup chopped cucumber
1 tablespoon finely diced fresh jalapeno (you can omit this if you don’t like spicy)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 small garlic clove, finely diced
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
what you do
Mix gently and serve with salmon, crackers, or whatever your heart desires. Yum!

Enjoy in good health!
Melissa

Disclaimer: All material on this website is provided for informational and educational use only and should not be used for diagnostic purposes. Consult with your physician regarding any health or medical concerns you may have.

I love that phrase, but I can’t take credit for it. Darn!

Eat food, not too much, mostly plants is a brilliantly simple, health-enhancing proposal by Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. Although, as a nutrition therapist, I tend to over-analyze food to the point of neurotically detailing out everything from macronutrients (carbs, protein, fat) to dietary trace minerals (iron, zinc, selenium, copper), I first and foremost believe in the simplicity of eating fresh, whole foods. Preferably organic.

This back-to-basics approach also makes living gluten-free much easier. You won’t find a complicated and hard-to-decipher ingredient label stuck to an apple or tied around a bunch of carrots. By eating real food, you pretty much eat gluten-free by default. Plus, you end up consuming foods that are nutrient-rich and full of health-promoting properties. We all need more of that, especially those of us with celiac and other autoimmune diseases.

So, what is real food? That may seem obvious, but there’s stuff on grocery store shelves that I can’t identify and I’m a food person. Plus, there are those mysterious food-like-substances. Seriously, there are things in food called food-like-substances. Cheese-like-substances. Meat-like-substances.

Sounds a bit creepy to me. I suppose that’s where the term Franken-foods came from. Well, steer clear of fake food. Stick with the real thing.

Which brings up my next point – I recently joined a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm and am anxiously awaiting my first box of locally grown, organic fruits, veggies, and farm fresh eggs. Twenty-six weeks worth starting next month. Real food – picked one day, delivered the next. That’s about as fresh as you can get it without growing the food yourself. And get this, a few days after I completed my online sign-up and bought my share, I got a thank you note from the farmer! Hand written. How cool is that?!

If you live in Colorado, check out Grant Family Farms in Wellington, just north of Denver. If not, consider joining a CSA in your area. Not only will you be purchasing food directly from the farm, you’ll be supporting the local economy, the farmers in your area, and your health.

Now on to my last point – Naomi at milkforthemorningcake tagged me for a 6 word meme. Six words that characterize who I am. Six words, that’s all. Hmmm? Easy for her to say, she’s never at a loss for engaging word choices. Go read her posts – they are wonderfully written accounts of life, love, food, and deranged bowels (hey, she’s a Brit, with a dry sense of humor).

Cheers, Naomi – here are the words that “communicate my essence.”

Willing
Natural
Playful
Steady
Inquisitive
Zesty

And/Or

Willful
Stubborn
Cranky
Testy
Crabcake
Distracted

Now I tag –
theaccidentalscientist
thegoodeatah
cindalouskitchenblues

If you girls are too busy (moving, getting married, finishing PhDs – stuff like that), you’re excused from doing this.

In good health,
Melissa

Well, does it? Be honest.

Actually, I just wanted to get your attention, but I will admit that my jeans feel a bit snug after a long winter of stews, soups, and casseroles. But that’s changing since I’m drifting into my spring eating habits. I like to wander culinarily from season to season. I’m into the fresh stuff right now, which is naturally lower in calories, so I never stress much about small weight fluctuations either way.

But I do fuss about it when my jeans start feeling too tight. Maybe I shouldn’t. Ladies, the next time you’re doing that thing in front of the mirror where you squirm around twisting and twirling, trying to see whether your jeans look too tight or your bum looks too big, just stop – don’t even bother. You’re way too smart for that. Seriously. Research shows a direct correlation between an ample booty and increased cognitive ability – in women and their offspring.

Huh?

And whose idea was it to do a study on curvy women and brain power, anyway?

I wonder.

But, I’m also not complaining. In fact, I’m thinking it’s about dang time. Yippee, hallelujah, and pass the gluten-free snickerdoodles!

The study I’m referring to has to do with omega-3 fatty acids (no pun intended), a woman’s waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and the relative proportion of upper-body fat to lower-body fat. We’re talking smaller waists and bigger rear-ends and hips, so this full-figured, hippo-mamma featured above wouldn’t qualify. She doesn’t exactly have a small waist, but I think we can safely say she’s bottom heavy.

Dr. William Lassek, a rather geeky* University of Pittsburgh epidemiologist, co-authored a recently released study entitled, Waist-hip ratio and cognitive ability: is gluteofemoral fat a privileged store of neurodevelopmental resources? Published in Evolution and Human Behavior, it suggests that men prefer women with smaller waists and wider hips for evolutionary reasons. Survival of the fittest – those women are smarter and have a heightened survival advantage. In addition, the study found that the children of vee-vee-la-voom moms also scored higher on cognitive tests.

The body fat around a woman’s hips is higher in omega-3s, which improves brain function and is important to fetal neuro-development. Omega-3s also boost fertility and overall health. According to Dr. Lassek and his colleagues, it stands to reason that for survival purposes, men would prefer women who are smarter, more fertile, healthier, and who produce brighter offspring. The curves just come with the territory.

Oooh – so, men can’t help it? I see. Gawking at curvy women is just a matter of male genetic expression. Slack-jawed drooling can’t possibly be part of the natural selection process, so don’t get carried away, but this is certainly interesting and entertaining research.

Little did we know that waist-to-hip ratio has been of interest to evolutionary psychologists for years now. Several studies, including an analysis of data collected by the US Department of Health and Human Services (our tax money at work), link female body shape with mental performance. Lower-body fat is higher in omega-3s while abdominal and upper-body fat is higher in omega-6s and saturated fats. It is hypothesized that omega-6s are less important to brain development and function and may even be detrimental. Omega-3s are thought to enhance communication between brain cells, making for zippy intelligence.

Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), researchers compared female waste-to-hip ratios to scores on cognitive function tests and found that a lower WHR correlated with higher scores. They also found that as the mom’s ratio goes down, the children’s intelligence scores go up. The data is fairly persuasive. The study sample included more than 16,000 women and the curvy girls with hourglass figures outsmarted the skinny ones on cognitive tests – same with their offspring.

Are you wondering how you figure out this magical ratio and how your IQ is somehow connected to your rear-end? You divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement and hope for the best. According to these guys (remember these are guys doing the research), this study suggests an “ideal” WHR of somewhere around 0.6 to 0.7. Think J-Lo – small waist, ample booty.

Bottom line? Next time you shop for new jeans and have to give up after 10 minutes of shimmying and wrestling with a size that just won’t cooperate with you, let it go. You’re too smart for those jeans anyway!

In good health,
Melissa

If you want more info on fats and oils, check out my “do you need an oil change” post.

* I actually find “geeky” rather appealing, but back in caveman days, the nerdy guys most likely didn’t last long. Plus, curvy women – if they were that smart – probably chose the guys who could protect them from the sabertoothed tigers. But here we are a bazillion years later and it’s the nerdy guys doing research on the curvy girls. Hmmm, a bit ironic, wouldn’t you agree?

March? How the heck did March get here so fast?

Spring in Colorado is so unpredictable. It’s supposed to reach 75 degrees today followed by snow tonight. Meteorologically speaking, it’s never boring around here.

Renewal. That’s what spring is all about and I’ve decided March is a perfect time for a blog renewal.

Those of you who have your own blogs know how much time it takes to create, edit, publish, and manage posts. Each of us has our own blah, blah, blog “voice” and that usually takes a little time to reveal itself. My goal is to increase awareness of celiac disease and help people lead healthier lives. When I started this blog endeavor, I jumped on the gluten-free recipe bandwagon because that’s the key to dealing with celiac disease and gluten intolerance. Changing your food choices.

Celiac disease is a genetically predisposed, immune-mediated disorder triggered by the ingestion of gluten, the main storage protein in wheat, barley, and rye. It’s an autoimmune disease. I have it, my daughter has it, and I believe undiagnosed celiac may have contributed to my dad’s death a few years ago. My two boys have the genetic markers, but at this point, show no signs of elevated antibodies specific to celiac. The probability for celiac is determined by specific variations of either the DQ2 or DQ8 HLA molecule. Both of these genes are believed to express susceptibility for celiac by presenting incompletely digested gluten peptides as antigens to the immune cells of the small intestine. One and/or both genes must be present for the immune system to respond and the disease to develop. Gluten protein molecules induce a chronic inflammatory response in the lining of the small intestine, resulting in all kinds of problems, including an increase in the possibility of secondary autoimmune disorders, various nutrient deficiencies, and associated food sensitivities. There’s more to the genetic piece than scientists currently understand and there’s more to gluten intolerance than just these two genes. The absence of DQ2 or DQ8 rules out celiac, but you can still be gluten intolerant with all kinds of associated problems. It’s all a bit confusing, but the bottom line is, many people don’t tolerate gluten and are better off eliminating it from their diets. Hence my name choice for this blog, gluten-free for good. Forever and for my own good.

Celiac is the only autoimmune disease in which the main trigger piece has been identified – and it’s food. In the murky gene pool of autoimmune diseases, celiac is the one to choose. Not that you’d choose this and not that it’s easy to deal with, but comparatively, it’s not that bad. If I had never eaten gluten in my life, I’d never have celiac. I no longer consider myself as having a disease. I just don’t eat gluten-containing grains. No big deal. I know I’m lucky – for some people, it’s far more complicated.

Okay, sorry about all the science talk, although fellow science blogettes Cindy and Michelle are probably eating this stuff up. The rest of you have either skipped out or your eyes are starting to glaze over.

But, my point is, and I do have one (as my third favorite yoga instructor Scott always says), my focus is on providing people with information on how to lead healthier lives. (There’s a story behind that third favorite comment, but I’ll save that for my yoga post, which is currently on hold and collecting cyber-dust. Oh, but I do love Scott and his unorthodox yoga classes.)

This is my mission and I’m passionate about it for a number of reasons. Now, what does that have to do with spring renewal? I’m rethinking the direction of this blog. I fumbled around quite a bit at the beginning, thinking I had to keep up with all these wonderful gluten-free recipe bloggers. Not to mention having no clue how to use blogging software, which I’m still arguing with on occasion.

From now on, I’ll focus my attention on gluten-free health and nutrition and what we need to heal, become stronger, and express more vitality in our lives. This applies to everyone, gluten intolerant or not. I will occasionally post my favorite recipes, but that won’t be the intent of this blog. Food, yes. Recipes, not so much. I’ll leave that to people like Karina, Shauna, and the rest of you tasty GF bloggers. This is such a wonderful little subculture, full of people helping people, everyone finding their own special niche. Kelly and Kim providing groovy general information, Michelle for her heart health links, Lizzie the good eatah, Catherine the social guide, Cindy our in-depth reporter, Sea our exotic gluten-free food guru, Sally our inspiration, Steve my local boy, Suzanne the culinary lifestyle queen (check out her new Gluten-Free Answer Book), and my favorite gluten-eating, but talented and creative food writer, David from Leite’s Culinary. There are way too many of you to mention, but each and every one has a special gift they’re willing to share with the rest of us. It’s a nice community and I’m grateful to be part of it. Thank you and united we stand!

So – my part will be nutrition, exercise, yoga, healing, health-boosting foods, and gluten-free life in the backcountry. Those of you who have been with me from the beginning have probably noticed the directional shift taking place and I hope you’ll continue to come along for the ride (however bumpy it may be).

Stay tuned for seasonal foods for March, which I’ll post next week. I’m also working on a sugar post, an anti-inflammatory diet post, yoga for digestion, yoga for osteoporosis, gluten-free backpacking foods (Annie, where are you?), artful aging, boosting your metabolism, and the occasional GF recipe – well, you get the idea.

Merry March and happy spring renewal!

Onward . . .

In good health,
Melissa

Life is confusing enough without factoring in the debate over what constitutes healthy eating. Think back to the “olden” days when food consisted of catching the next rabbit or stumbling upon a new berry patch, and that’s if you were lucky. It wasn’t a matter of what we should or shouldn’t eat, but what we could find to eat. And that meant plants or animals in their natural state. No discussion about good fats or bad fats, the ratio of omega-3s to omega-6s, the link between transfats and sperm motility (hey guys, are you paying attention), or whether you might fail a drug test because you added hemp seed oil to your muffin mix and it contained traces of THC. Sifting through all the information, opinions, fads, and trends is rather daunting. And if you throw in clueless consumers (which we all are at one time or another), junk food, government regulations, food industry lobbyists, and free-will libertarians – you’ve got a recipe for disaster.

Education, awareness, and common sense, that’s what we need. But then we’re back to the starting point – where life is confusing enough as it is. How much time are we willing to spend to figure all this stuff out? Most of us have more pressing matters on our minds than how transfats were industrially created by adding hydrogen atoms to unsaturated fats – and what that means to our health. But for our own good, we need to at least have a glimpse of how this can impact the disease process.

So, I’m here to provide you with a little information to add to the mix. We’ll just do a “fats and oils 101″ version because I know you have more important things to worry about than the chemical makeup of fats. Like how to blow off work, get outside, and play in this glorious Colorado sunshine (quick before it snows again).

Fats
Fats are lipids in foods or the body, composed mostly of trglycerides. Healthy fats provide fuel, supply essential fatty acids (omega-3 and omega-6), aid in the absorption of fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K), and are an important part of healthy nutrition. Hydrogenated fats and transfats are unhealthy fats. They contribute to heart disease by elevating LDL cholesterol (the bad one) and lowering HDL cholesterol (the good one).

Unhealthy dietary fats are one of the triggers for abnormal inflammation and the diseases and disorders associated with it. This can mean heart disease, asthma, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cancer, or digestive diseases, which includes celiac, an autoimmune disease marked by inflammation of the small intestine caused by gluten exposure. Inflammation consists of the responses orchestrated by the immune system when tissues are injured – that’s a good thing if kept under control. It’s the body’s defense against injury and infection and is crucial to healing, but if it becomes chronic and out of control, a variety of diseases can result.

There are foods that promote the inflammatory response and foods that mitigate it. Unhealthy fats promote inflammation and healthy fats can shift the body back into a more balanced state. This is important for overall health, regardless of whether you have one of these conditions or not. This applies to all of us and is important in healthy aging, no matter where you are in the chronological process.

Lipids
A family of compounds that includes triglycerides (fats and oils), phospholipids (lecithin is the best known), and sterols (cholesterol).

Saturated fats
Chemically, these are fats carrying the maximum possible number of hydrogen atoms and are more stable. Animal fats and the tropical oils are mostly saturated, but only the animal products contain cholesterol. Coconut oil, palm oil, lard, beef tallow, and butter are saturated. They remain solid at room temperature and are more resistant to oxidation. All fats become rancid when exposed to oxygen.

Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats
These fats are unsaturated (they lack the necessary hydrogen atoms that would make them saturated). They are not solid at room temperature. Monounsaturated oils include olive oil, canola oil, and peanut oil. Polyunsaturated oils include safflower oil, sunflower oil, corn oil, soybean oil, and cottonseed oil and are high in omega 6s and low in omega 3s (not so good).

Cholesterol
Foods derived from both plants and animals can contain lipids (fats), but only those from animals contain cholesterol (meat, eggs, fish, poultry, shellfish, and dairy products). The fat in plants does not contain cholesterol. The distinction between “good” and “bad” cholesterol is confusing and controversial. “Good” cholesterol is not something found in foods – it is actually the way the body transports cholesterol around in the blood. HDL is the good stuff (remember H is for Healthy). It transports cholesterol to the liver to be broken down and excreted.

Essential fatty acids
EFAs are fatty acids needed by the body, but not made by it in amounts sufficient to meet physiological needs.

Omega-3 & Omega-6
These are polyunsaturated fatty acids that are essential to health, must be obtained through food sources, and are required in specifically balanced ratios. Unfortunately, the Standard American Diet (SAD), provides us with far more omega-6s than 3s, and that’s not healthy.

Omega-3s (good, good, good)
Omega-3s provide the building blocks for an anti-inflammatory diet, which is what we want. These are found in fresh foods, cold-water fish, and grass-fed beef. Here’s a list of foods to choose from to increase your consumption of omega-3s and to help reduce systemic inflammation.
walnuts
flax
hemp
leafy greens (low concentrations, but still important sources)
sea vegetables
salmon
sardines
herring
mackerel
grass-fed beef or bison

Omega-6s (not so good)
Omega-6s, in general, increase inflammation. They are abundant in processed foods, fast foods, and refined vegetable oils. Eating the meat of animals fattened on grains increases the amount of omega 6s in the diet.

The bottom line
1. Avoid any product that lists partially hydrogenated oil or transfats as an ingredient. Hydrogenation is the chemical process in which hydrogen atoms are added to unsaturated fats to make them more stable (longer shelf life). So, if your cupcake package has an expiration date of 08/2020, it’s packed with hydrogenated fats. Hydrogenation produces transfats. Don’t go near the stuff.
2. Don’t use margarine, butter is healthier, but use it in moderation.
3. Minimize or eliminate the use of polyunsaturated oils (safflower, sunflower, corn, soybean, cottonseed).
4. Use expeller- or cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). “Light” olive oil has been chemically refined, which isn’t the best choice. Most vegetable oils are extracted using heat and solvents that create weird chemicals and are pro-inflammatory (not good).
5. Avoid fried foods at fast-food restaurants. The oils in the fryers often contain hydrogenated fats. Plus, as the current McDonald’s lawsuit shows, can also contain gluten.
6. Don’t eat rancid foods (nuts, seeds, or grains). That sounds like a given, but you can’t always tell. You can determine rancidity by the smell, which is a bit like paint, but you have to have sharp olfactory skills (that would be you, Megan).
7. Don’t heat oils to the smoking point, don’t breathe in the smoke, and don’t reuse oils that have been heated to high temperatures. Do I sound bossy? Hey, I’m a mom – it’s for your own good.
8. So – my current general oil choice is EVOO. If you don’t use it often, buy a smaller bottle so it doesn’t go rancid. Protect your oil from heat, light, and air. Dark bottles are better.

Does that help?

In good health,
Melissa

Disclaimer: All material on this website is provided for informational and educational use only and should not be used for diagnostic purposes. Consult with your physician regarding any health or medical concerns you may have.