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“Let your food be your medicine and let your medicine be your food.” –Hippocrates

The purpose of this blog is to address common health concerns/issues and make suggestions as to how they can be treated and managed effectively using food as the medicine. Over the course of the next few months, I will discuss the following: the common cold, athletic injuries, acne, asthma, cancer, insomnia, weight loss, herpes, PMS, UTI, pregnancy, and fatigue…and any other concern suggested by readers.

If you were born in the United States, you probably have watched Mary Poppins at one time or another, and who can forget the old adage she so lovingly drummed into our heads (damn catchy melody) that “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.” Well, hopefully, you know better now. In this blog, I will show you how and why medicine doesn’t need to taste bad, and you won’t need anything other than a fork (or a spoon, or chopsticks, or your hands) to help it go down.

The majority of world cultures have understood the medicinal properties of food for thousands of years. I find it quite sad that the United States, with all it’s seeming capacity for intelligent thought regarding what we put in our mouths, in addition to an ever present media influence, is grossly far behind cultures that we may consider “inferior” (when it comes to health, anyway) with respect to nutrition. According to IndustryIQ.biz, the weight loss industry in this country grossed $60 billion (that’s $60,000,000,000.00…holy sh*t!) in 2008. This staggering figure includes the sale of “weight-loss” products such as diet soda, meal replacement bars, and diet pills to extreme measures like bariatric surgery. Centers like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers report unbelievably high revenue as well (610 million for Jenny Craig in 2008 and 1.5 billion for Weight Watchers in 2007). Statistics tell us that 65% of Americans are overweight, and 30% qualify as obese. That is just disgusting.

Why, you ask, the “epidemic”? I blame it on lack of nutritional education, overabundance of quick fix meal solutions (McDonald’s anyone? How about a nice lean cuisine from the frozen section of the supermarket?) and the “finish everything on your plate” mentality that was drilled into so many of us as children. When we factor in that last tidbit and apply it to the fact that portion sizes at restaurants are ginormous (it’s a word, I swear), it’s no wonder people are fatties.

Before we (ok, I) go around judging people for being overweight, we need to look at the cause of their problem. In some cases, weight gain, especially in females, has a lot to do with thyroid health. In hypothyroid cases, a person’s metabolism slows way down, causing weight gain from a normal caloric intake. For these people, I would recommend consuming sea vegetables (like the nori used to make sushi rolls). However, I feel I need to explicitly state that if you do feel this may be your issue, go see a qualified physician (I’d suggest a naturopath, they’re more thorough and they will LISTEN to you). For people whose weight is a problem simply because of the food they are eating combined with a lack of exercise, the first step is to try and eliminate, as much as possible, processed foods. This includes anything that comes in a box—crackers, cookies, sugary cereals, frozen dinners, etc.—and foods with ingredients you can’t easily pronounce. Next, work on eliminating refined sugars—white table sugar, corn syrup and it’s derivatives like high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup solids—as these are basically like putting sugar in the gas tank of your car. Think about it…you wouldn’t put the wrong kind of fuel in your car, so why would you do that to your body, especially since you only get ONE, there are no trade-in options if you break down. Fiber is also quite vital when it comes to weight loss. Try eating an organic apple once per day. The fiber will help you feel full for longer periods of time, and the nutrients in this precious fruit are intrinsic to lasting health. And, just in case it wasn’t obvious…you need to exercise. Start with taking a walk OUTSIDE. Studies have shown that WAY more mood-boosting hormones are released when people get their physical activity in the outdoors as opposed to indoors at the gym.

I hope this helps some of you, and if you have any questions, please ASK ME!