by Debra Arko Novotny | Jan 5, 2015 | Nutrition
The first thing most new clients ask me is what can I do to lose weight and feel better fast. It’s really as simple as look at your water. It’s not just about intake.
How Much Water Should You Drink?
I will be sharing 12 steps with you over the next few months. These tips are to help you have better health and invest in your wellness for the future. When I suggest you ‘invest’ in your wellness, I’m not talking money but habits of a healthier lifestyle.
As a baby boomer myself, I know the time to start thinking about living a higher-quality life should begin when we hit about 35 or younger! I’m here to share that I started much later and so have many of my clients. It’s okay, just start.
I love it when I have a new client wanting to be part of the ripple effect of good health decisions and pass them on to family and friends – regardless of your age. My oldest client as I write this is 88 years old, and my youngest is a family of twenty-something’s with an 18-month-old. They want to ensure their child has a healthy upbringing and my senior clients wish to regain health or maintain it.
I am not going to recommend some expensive treatment system for your home.
What Is The Best Water For Me?
Everyone has heard that you should drink more water at some time in your life. But how much, what kind is best, and doesn’t my coffee or tea have water in it, many people wonder.
Everyone needs two liters or 8 – 8 oz. glasses daily. If you exercise, you need more. If you are nursing or sick, you need more, if you are in a dry climate you likely need more. So how much is more?
I live in a dry area and exercise. I try for 3 liters daily when I exercise and in summer months.
Water varies from tap, to spring , to filtered, and reserve osmosis or RO. My nephew works for a city municipality. He would be the first to tell you his “out of the faucet product” is excellent; they have the perfect mix of chemicals to keep bacteria from growing. You have to choose if you want the chemicals.
While visiting one of the most famous spring waters in the USA, I notice that spring was recycled to water the local wine vintage. The water also washed the pesticides sprayed on the plants back into the water system. They boasted that they removed the chemicals through ‘a treatment’ of adding iron and other minerals. The tour guide felt this made the water ‘spring’ water once again.
Filtering your H2O is necessary for some cities like Los Angeles and Houston I am told. A noteworthy system is Britta that you replace the filters on every month or so. There are whole house systems too.
My personal favorite is RO or reserves osmosis. This process is over 40 years old. It creates a mineral free drinking beverage. My feeling is you should add minerals you need to your eating. You don’t need a bottled water company deciding what minerals you should have or make the choice that their spring water is healthy for you.
If you use RO water, eat healthily and use only the supplements you personally need you reduce inflammation, sickness, and possible other problems. On the topics of losing weight, water is needed for weight loss. It helps you detox and shed pounds of unwanted fat stores. Remember RO is acidic however so adding an enzyme and some say calcium to your diet is important.
The best choice many feel is distilled water. This is pure without anything added and has a pH balance. It also only comes in plastic gallon jugs. You can purchase 5 gallon container from certain companies that deliver to your home for a luxury price.
Adding Minerals To Water
Let’s quickly talk about iron. When you see drinking water enhanced with minerals or spring with minerals, it often means iron.
Iron is essential for good health. The balance in our body is vital. Too much and you experience inflammation of the joints and digestive tract. If you continue, it can cause a disease called Hemochromatosis[1].
Too little iron promotes Anemia, which is also a disease. Both have inflammation, pain, and low energy as symptoms. Don’t leave your mineral levels up to bottle water.
Some places or types of RO are Aquafina. There are other brands, but you will need to read the labels. Many have in small print that they enhance with minerals, be a wise consumer.
If you live near Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, they offer RO water in bulk! We purchased a clean water system tank at Costco and then fill our 5-gal PBA free containers for pennies having free, clean water to drink and cook.
Do you need a full home system? We don’t have one but if you can afford it, do it. Do change out your showerheads to shower filter systems. You find these at hardware stores, online, or health food stores.
What about the water in our beverages, or foods, doesn’t this count? It doesn’t. Our body considers coffee, tea, and soda drinks to be food. Our digestion has two settings. It’s either food or water and only real water is all our body recognizes, not flavored.
I believe if tap is your only source use it. If you drink tap, know how your city’s water is doing. This report about over-treatment highlights some problems[2].
Also, if you drink tap, consider the pipes. How old are they and the materials. Lead is the leading problem with older homes and pipes.
So can you still have coffee and tea for instance? You bet! I drink tea daily, it’s just not part of my water consumption. If you do drink caffeine or alcohol, it is important to increase your H2O intake. This is because these are astringents[3].
This constricts body tissues and leads to dehydration. This adds to inflammation or heat in the body especially joints.
Here are a few quick facts about bottled water.
The first documented case of selling bottled water was in Boston in the 1760’s. Global consumption of bottled water goes up 10% each year. America drinks more H2O than milk or beer. Some government studies say 47% of bottled water is derived from tap water. These studies don’t mention that bottled H2O labeled for ‘drinking’ is from the tap but is ran through reverse osmosis systems to remove the chemicals found in tap. Aquafina [Pepsi] is one brand doing this.
The bottom line the first step in the 12 steps to better health is adding more water. You decided the best water for you.
Other resources for drinking water.
Lead Pipes and Safe Drinking Water: http://www.webmd.com/women/home-health-and-safety-9/safe-drinking-water
Reverse Osmosis Water http://www.allaboutwater.org/reverse-osmosis.html
[1] http://www.hemochromatosis.org/
[2] http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/01/flint_water_has_high_disinfect.html
Or http://www.watertechonline.com/articles/169307-flint-issues-notice-of-disinfection-byproducts-in-the-citys-water-system
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astringent
by Debra Arko Novotny | Dec 17, 2014 | Nutrition
I love food, do you? Many of the foods I like contain cholesterol. This is the last article in a series I wrote on the topic. It continues on with research around ending the war on fat. If you haven’t read the other articles may I suggest you start there or you may wonder what all the talk is about!
Foods that lower cholesterol, are green vegetables. You can eat as much as you want. In this final article in our series: Ending the War on Fat, we talk about health and lifestyle.
Stay With The Big Guys – LDL Cholesterol Comes In Two Sizes
Medical scientists now know there are also two types of LDL, small and large particles. The studies show the large particles are mostly harmless. Most saturated fat contains these large particles. You find these large fluffy particle fats in meats, eggs, and some dairy.
So how are you getting small, sticky, dense particles? The answer is one word, refined-carbohydrates. Foods like corn, rice, pasta, breads, grains, cereals, packaged food, and instant foods, or white potatoes to name a few.These food do not promote health, it is that simple.
Dr. Ronald Krauss, a cardiologist and researcher who is a pioneer in the area of LDL has this to say. “There’s a risk that people have been steered in the wrong direction by using LDL cholesterol rather than LDL particles as the real risk factor.”
It’s important we begin to talk about what changes you can make to end the war on fat , I caution you not to wolf-down a triple-decker cheeseburger or pile cubes of butter on bread. It is going to take time to change health nationwide. Fast food, and convenient foods like boxed or canned are hard to give up for many. Start slow to add the foods below to your kitchen and new lifestyle. It is not about eating fatty foods, it’s about eating organic or clean foods.
Adding small amounts of beef, butter, or eggs appear to have little effect on your weight or heart still other forms of fat are more beneficial changes to your diet. At the top of the list is Omega-3’s found in flaxseed or salmon. Both have interesting studies showing they protect you against heart disease. The New England Journal of Medicine 2013 study found a diet rich in polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats significantly decreased your risk of heart attacks.
Finding Omega 3 – Essential Fats For Health
Not a fan of Salmon [I am not], you can purchase flax seed capsules or add it to a smoothie.
Another study suggests, that the right type of dairy fat is okay. Whole milk, plain yogurt, and some butter may be a nice additive to your diet.
Coconut oil can help you lose weight. It’s a large LDL particle making it a great saturated fat. [Recently [2017 edit] some news outlets are reporting this isn’t true. The research is based solely on the fact that Coconut oil is saturated. As a consumer of food you have to research the reach. Food is confusing don’t be mislead.
So let’s get to the meat or rather the heart, of eating changes you may want to consider. Add some red meat to your weekly plan; buffalo contains tons of iron so adjust your vitamins if you are of East European descent. You may absorb more iron than other cultures. I didn’t know this until it happened to me.
Add in eggs for breakfast replacing grains. Cage-free eggs with added Omega 3 are good. Best are pasture-raised eggs. The chickens live outside and eat their natural diet of bugs and seeds. Chicken that is pasture-raised is important. You can find out more here.
If you want to lower LDL, limit your intake of small particle LDL foods. These are breads, flours, grains, rice, pasta, corn, white potatoes, peas, and carrots.
If you eat one of these at every meal, start by treating yourself to one meal daily where you don’t have these foods. Replace it with protein from eggs, chicken, beef, fish, yogurt, or tofu. As of this edit [2018] new research shows that protein from beans and legumes is harmful due to the high lectins. Ah – a topic for another article.
Add to your meal things like spinach, onions, lettuce ‘no iceberg lettuce’, and avocado, or 1-2 oz. of goat cheese.
Speaking of cheese, if it comes in a single plastic wrap, it’s not real. Buy block cheese made with organic non-GMO milk. Goat and sheep cheese is best. Try to stay away from all cows’ milk cheese.
Do these new meal plans, for a month then consider making changes to another mealtime.
Where Do I Begin To Change My Eating Lifestyle?
For many doing lifestyle screening with a Functional Medicine practitioner can help. You enhance the best habits in your life and build new ones to replace foods or fitness that are not serving your wellness and longevity. Mindset is a must too. I see people fail because they don’t have their mind-body connection. It is so important that it is part of every program in my office.
One of the best meals to start with is your breakfast; it is the most important meal of your day.
Lunch can be tricky if you use bread or eat salads with commercial dressings, or pick up lunch out. If this is you, plan your dinners to be ‘Small LDL particle’ free.
Many business professionals meet for lunch, making this a tough meal adjustment. Pick restaurants that support local, organic, or natural foods. You’ll less likely get packaged foods this way.
In either case, you can eat chicken or turkey salad [tofu or fish if you’re vegetarian]. Pack it with celery, onions, spices, red/yellow pepper slivers, along with a few ounces of shredded sharp cheese. If you’re making your meal, you can pick up non-sweetened gluten free mustard or mayo at a health food store or online.
It’s best to limit or end your love affair with sugar. Most research is pointing to it as being an important factor in the increase of Alzheimer’s or other brain diseases. Carbohydrates turn into sugar in your body, so consider limiting these for brain health too.
Some research is saying one piece of fructose or fruit daily, is enough and to eat more vegetables. Other studies indicate unfiltered honey or pure organic maple may be too close to corn sugars when it comes to the sensitive brain tissues.
Time Management Isn’t Just For Your Business It’s For Your Life Too
Planning is essential for busy business professionals. We plan our business and time to be successful in our career. It’s time to put your talents to work for your health too. Get things ready the night before if pressed for time.
Stay with these 2 meals being gluten-free, sugar-free, and free of small-particle LDL foods. Learn to read labels. Ask your grocer questions if they don’t know, shop somewhere else. If you live in a small town, read and be your own grocery expert. Stay out of the middle aisles of the stores, even in natural or health grocers.
Many nutrition experts say, smaller meals 5-6 times daily are better than 3 big meals. To accomplish this, start with your breakfast meal. Create a great egg or tofu dish full of green, healthy vegetables.
Have plain yogurt with a piece of fruit mid-morning. If it’s not sweet enough, begin with a teaspoon of apple juice added. For some, they will need to make it honey for a few days. The goal is not to mix fructose [fruit sugar] and glucose [other sugars] together. Your body can’t break it down very well. The sticky stuff builds up in your brain and arteries.
Next, is lunch you can chose to eat 1/2 of your meal at the lunch hour, and then the other 1/2 a few hours later. This tells your brain-body food is plentiful, and you will increase your metabolism.
Make your evening meal, the smallest if possible. We only eat 2 entries at our home. One is a protein and the other is vegetables, often a super salad with only vinegar infused with natural flavors like garlic, lemon, or even mango! Evvo or oil gourmet stores sell tasty infused olive oils and vinegar.
Decrease the size of your portions too. In the beginning, you will feel hungry and it’s your addiction to food most often, not that you really are hungry. I recommend cutting your portions down to 100 -170 grams of cooked protein, with many green vegetables. This depends on your size.
When it comes to eggs, 1 to 3 depending on your size and activity level is a good idea. Be sure you are exercising 3-4 times a week. This can be a 30-60 minute brisk walk each time.
Rules of thumb use the palm of your hand to measure portions. If you must have a small particle LDL food like pasta, make it 1/2 a cup cooked, not dry.
But I Don’t Want to Be Paleo!
Many people wonder what the difference is when we compare Paleo Diet vs. Atkins, and there are minor differences. We eat moderated Paleo, and purchase for our home what I call straight Paleo foods. There are levels of everything. There are vegan and vegetarian. In my book, there’s Moderated Paleo, Paleo, and Straight Paleo.
What’s the difference? Moderated means you will eat a non-Paleo meal 1-2 times weekly, usually with guests or out to dinner. Straight means you don’t do gluten, sugar, dairy, or other flours. For an understanding of straight Paleo read books, Brain Grain Wheat Belly, or The Wahls Protocol: How I Beat Progressive MS Using Paleo Principles and Functional Medicine.
Cool! It’s About Eating Better – Not Eating Junk
Consider going organic or natural, free-range and cage-free.
What is the other option? To keep doing what you’re currently doing, or to adjust two meals daily to a healthier eating plan. The later will give you less inflammation, more energy, better sleep, and lower anxiety. Think about how much better ending the war on fat can be in your life, if you investigate a more Paleo Diet menu plan or Tofu Paleo program where all protein comes from fish or Tofu.
How Can I Learn More about Ending The War On Fat In My Diet?
There are many resources on this topic. Working with a Functional Health Coach can help you. This is an exciting clip from 60 minutes on Fructose and Fat. Time Magazine the article is full of resources for research. Bryan Walsh, the Time Senior Editor, has an informative video on the web page. Once you start looking you’ll find many books written by various medical professionals, The choice is yours if you chose to end the war on fat in your life.
All images are courtesy of: Fotolia, Dreamtime, or Google Images [free to use, share, or modify, even commercially].
Some Resources that can be meaningful:
Suggests medical professions expand the scope of treating Cardiovascular disease to include prevention. http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1817256
Dr. Rajiv Chowdhury, MD is but one medical professional on the March 2013 report on the Meta study: http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1846638&resultClick=3
Time Magazine Article – war on fat – article.
![Ending The War On Fat – Paleo Diet [part 3]](https://accentonhealthwellness.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/butter.jpg)
by Debra Arko Novotny | Dec 15, 2014 | Nutrition
How You Can End The War On Fat?
In the 1977, America began a battle on the way we ate. It started because of one report, “Dietary Goals for the United States,” put forth by the Senate committee led by George McGovern. Today nearly 40 years later, Americans are ending the war on fat, reclaiming their health and eating habits. The Paleo Diet suits many people including myself.
I remember when the report came out; you might too. Many people swore it would stop heart attacks. My mother was not to quick to jump on the bandwagon. She did not believe in canned foods; something that gained popularity in the 1950’s. Now she said anything in a box, a wrapper, or not fresh couldn’t be good for you. Those were her words, “good for you.”
We ignored the new food pyramid and continued to raise and prepare our meats. Our food sources included a garden, and my sister had a farm. Food tasted amazing at my house. Most of our diet tended to be a Paleo diet – by accident. 
The Cholesterol Balance
In part 3 of this series, war on fat, we talk about what you can do to regain your health, and balance out your LDL cholesterol. It’s simple eat real food, but it’s more complicated that for many people. Many readers including acupuncture patients have reached out wondering, if it’s too late to benefit from changing their diet or lifestyle. The answer to this question is a resounding no. If you change how and what you eat, you’ll most likely feel better and have more energy.
I remember how much energy I had back in the late 1970’s. It was more than being a young adult it was eating a fresh diet. We did not have a fast food restaurant near our home, so it was a treat even then to eat high carbohydrate foods. Once I moved for college, I discovered frozen meals, fast food, and packaged quick meals. After all what else does a college kid eat. My health went downhill. At thirty, this kind of eating pattern was ingrained in my lifestyle.
Make A Healthy Choice
My choice was to make a change or be on a handful of pills, so I changed how I was eating. It was not popular. I was strange or ‘picky’ others would say. I got well. I did not care what they said about me.
Is this article about obesity or war on fat people? No, the article series is about the building evidence that eating low-fat or non-fat isn’t necessary and it may not be healthy.
Many clients come to me for health coaching because they wonder if their low-fat, high-carb diet is good for them. They want to know if a Paleo Diet or Vegetarian plan would be better. The simple answer is lifestyle is not a one size fits all. How you eat, and what you eat is personal to your needs.
LDL Cholesterol and Meta-Studies
A 2010 meta-analysis or a study of other studies, proved that saturated fat doesn’t increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. Other such reports published in, Annals of Internal Medicine, March of this year, pulled in data from 80 other studies. More than half a million people were studied in this research. One team led by Dr. Rajiv Chowdhury, found there is no evidence to support eating the common low fat-diet.
While more research is being done let’s look at our diets since 1970. We get fewer calories from foods like whole milk, cane sugar, eggs, butter, vegetables, and beef. One question I field daily at my acupuncture practice, is butter healthy? The answer is in moderation it’s far more better than margarine. Try Olive oil or avocado oil they’re best.
We are getting a large increase of calories from foods like pop that contains high-fructose corn syrup, corn products, skim milk, chicken, turkey, and added fats and oils. Cardiovascular disease is the same.
Both chicken and beef have saturated fat. Would it surprise you to discover that they both increase LDL? LDL is commonly called, ‘bad cholesterol.
It gets even more complicated. If we lower LDL, we lower HDL. When we rise both HDL and LDL it’s a cardio-wash in the nutrition world. This means you can’t lower one without lowering the other.
LDL Cholesterol Has It’s Good Side
Our final chapter of the War on Fat we get into foods that lower cholesterol, and how to move to a healthier lifestyle without sacrificing living.
All images are courtesy of: Fotolia, Dreamtime, or Google Images [free to use, share, or modify, even commercially].
Some Resources that can be meaningful:
Suggests medical professions expand the scope of treating Cardiovascular disease to include prevention. http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1817256
Dr Rajiv Chowdhury, MD is but one medical professional on the March 2013 report on the Meta study: http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1846638&resultClick=3
Time Magazine Article – Video – http://time.com/2863227/ending-the-war-on-fat/ war on fat – article.
![Ending The War On Fat [part 2]](https://accentonhealthwellness.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/heart_beat_cardiogram_400_clr_5646-300x243.png)
by Debra Arko Novotny | Dec 13, 2014 | Nutrition
Changing The Game And The War On Fat
In part 1, Ending The War On Fat, we focused more on the story most Americans and their doctors bought into about diet. Talking about fat isn’t a fun topic. If I said, the word, ‘food’ more people would jump to read these articles. However, more than a 1/3 of America is obese, not just overweight.
These articles are for everyone who eats that includes you! They help you take a fresh look at your ability to live longer and healthier if you chose. You’ll be able to stop eating low fat diets and enjoy food the way your grandparents did.
In part two, we’re going to talk more about what happened when people started going low fat and eating low cholesterol foods. Why are we one of the sickest and fattest people living on planet earth?
Part 3 is what you can do to feel better, live longer, and be healthier. Before we dive in, is modern medicine talking about this issue? What are the results of this big experiment on human beings?
Low Fat Diet Doesn’t Stop Obesity
The director of New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center, housed at Boston Children’s Hospital, Dr. David Ludwig stated, “There’s an overwhelmingly strong case to be made for the opposite,” when asked if cutting back on fat to lose weight or prevent heart disease is a good idea.
With obesity up there’s a new war, a war on fat people. Only a few centers’ like New Balance are looking at the cause and changing people’s diets.
LDL and Low Cholesterol Foods
Eating low cholesterol foods robs your brain of LDL that’s called ‘bad cholesterol’. Guess what your brain needs to thrive and think. LDL cholesterol it turns out isn’t bad at all! According to Dr David Perlmutter, in his book, Grain Brain, “LDL isn’t a cholesterol molecule at all, good or bad. It’s a low-density lipoprotein. The purpose of LDL in our brain is to capture life-giving cholesterol and transport it to neurons, where it performs critically important functions. “LDL is only ‘bad’ for you when it becomes oxidized. One of the most common ways to do this is to add glucose sugars [corn syrup, table sugar, etc.] into the diet.
Most grocers offer a Low Cholesterol Foods List. Look at the back of these packages at the grams of sugar and type. You will be surprised.
Why Your Doctor Loves The Low Fat Diet
Even with all the evidence against low fat diets, many doctors are slow to change. My experience in speaking with three area specialists’ is keep eating a low fat diet to be healthy. When I pointed out the volumes of research from their community on the topic, their own colleagues were called quacks. For me, my own remarkable health is evidence.
Besides weight loss, is big business. Farming incentives for grain crops to produce vast quantities of corn for sweetener makes it hard for many to grow other crops. Corn syrup, the worst form of sugar is in nearly every food on your local store shelf.
It makes the instant meal taste better. It replaces the rich flavor our bodies’ crave from fats with a sweet tooth that is hard to please.
Health benefits of butter were buried. The public is asking is butter healthy? According to the British Medical Journal saturated fat, is not the issue when it comes to heart disease.
What Your Brain Eats – End The War On Fat
Reason one, is our body is craving fats because our brain needs it to think and our body needs it to use energy. Second, corn syrup and artificial sweeteners are addictive.
The war on fat changed our culture and business. To change how America eats means to change industry one mouth at a time.
The problem is the research is mounting and our economy or medical professionals don’t really know how to ease into this new paradigm.
There are changes happening though. We know fats in vegetables and fish are good for us. Salmon for instance is known as the heart protector in alternative medicine circles. Coconut oil once a bad fat has whole books dedicated to how to use it.
New York University’s professor of nutrition and public health, Marion Nestle says, “The thinking went that if people reduced saturated fat they would replace it with healthy fruits and vegetables.” He goes on to point out, “Well that was naïve.”
What does this new research say and should we be quick to listen once again?
On the later, the evidence isn’t new. There are thirty-five year studies with whole towns researched over three generations. Studies that are more recent involve large numbers of people with various genetics for as long as a decade. Even with all the evidence the war on fat continues.
A good book to buy is, Brain Grain by David Perlmutter, MD. Once you finish reading part 3 of this series, grab a copy for more evidence and tools to help you make the dietary changes.
Part 3 of ending the war on fat will go into some ways to get started eating for wellness.
other references – http://time.com/2863227/ending-the-war-on-fat/
images: Google free free for reuse, even commercially, bigstock, Fotolia.
