October 11, 2022

How To Go Gluten-Free as a Senior

As awareness of gluten issues grow, more and more people – including seniors – are being diagnosed with celiac disease and gluten allergies. While learning to live a gluten-free lifestyle can be daunting to anyone, it provides unique challenges to seniors over age 65. Here, we address some challenges seniors going gluten-free may grapple with. GETTING DIAGNOSED WITH A GLUTEN SENSITIVITY Once considered a disease that affects mainly children, doctors now know that gluten issues can affect anyone at any age. But for older people who may be grappling with other health issues, getting a proper diagnosis can be tricky […]
September 25, 2022

8 High Fiber Gluten-Free Foods You Should Be Eating

One of the downsides of following a strict gluten-free diet is that you lose a lot of your fiber sources, as many fiber-rich foods are wheat-based. Fiber is an important part of a healthy diet for numerous reasons: It helps maintain an environment of healthy gut bacteria It helps with constipation It aids in healthy cholesterol and blood pressure levels It helps treat belly bloat It makes you feel fuller for longer It helps you maintain a healthy weight It helps avoid complications like heart disease, diabetes, and colon cancer Long story short: fiber is crucial. Studies show the average […]
September 25, 2022

Undoing Medical Myths: Lies My Doctor Told Me

Has your doctor lied to you? Eat low-fat and high-carb, including plenty of “healthy” whole grains—does that sound familiar? Perhaps this is what you were told at your last doctor’s appointment or visit with a nutritionist, or perhaps it is something you read online when searching for a healthy diet. And perhaps you’ve been misled. Ken Berry, MD, FAAFP is here to dispel the myths and misinformation that have been perpetuated by the medical and food industries for decades. Dr. Berry’s bestseller, Lies My Doctor Told Me: Medical Myths That Can Harm Your Health, exposes the truth behind all kinds […]
July 30, 2022

Diet for the Mind Fights Memory Loss

As we age, our brains age too. Our ability to think slows down, and we may experience occasional difficulty in, for example, recalling where we left our keys or retrieving a word or name. By all accounts, this is considered a normal degree of cognitive decline. Several factors play into whether you will suffer from cognitive decline or develop Alzheimer’s disease as you age — lifestyle, health conditions, environment, and genetics, for example. But there is scientific evidence indicating that diet plays a bigger role in brain health than we ever thought. And thanks in part to Dr. Martha Clare […]
July 30, 2022

Gluten-Free Raw Walnut Brownie Energy Bites

By Ani Phyo        Decadent and rich, these are made with good-fat almonds and antioxidant-laden cacao and sweetened with fiber-rich Medjool dates. They provide whole-food nutrition, so enjoy as a snack or treat. These can be kept at room temperature for a couple of days or will keep for at least a week refrigerated. Ingredient tips: Bob’s Red Mill makes almond meal (flour), but if you can’t find it, just use whole raw almonds and process them into a powder using your food processor. Prep tip: Keep batter from sticking to your hands by lightly coating them with coconut oil, olive […]
July 19, 2022

What Are 100 Year Olds Eating?

The secrets of an Italian village have long fascinated scientists from around the world. Scientists from Rome’s Sapienza University and the San Diego School of Medicine spent six months looking into why residents of Acciaroli and nearby tiny communities enjoy such extraordinary longevity—while also seeming to be largely immune from dementia, heart disease and other chronic conditions associated with ageing in most of the Western world. Acciaroli is part of the Cilento coast, a largely industry-free area that now has national park protected status. It was in Cilento that the late U.S. nutritionist Ancel Keys first established convincing evidence of […]
July 6, 2022

Crucial Vitamins You’re Missing On GF Diet

If you’re familiar with governmental dietary recommendations, you’ve probably heard the phrase rainbow on your plate. This means that different color groupings of foods generally represent different health benefits, meaning a colorful whole foods diet is a nutritious way to eat. This is great advice for anyone following a gluten-free diet because it demonstrates a very easy method for balanced nutrition through daily diet. Right? Well, right. But, it’s a little bit more complicated on a gluten-free diet because there are common nutrients missing as a result of not eating certain foods. These missing nutrients can actually be helpful because they give […]
July 6, 2022

Mediterranean Superfoods Are Health Heroes

You have probably heard of the Mediterranean Diet. Besides conjuring visions of sipping chilled prosecco overlooking a sparkling sea, this way of cooking and eating is a heavily plant-based diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, herbs, fish, lean meats (in moderation) and monounsaturated oils, such as olive oil. It’s a true farm-to-table diet that relies on locally produced/caught/raised foods. In a number of studies, people who live around the Mediterranean in Southern Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, and Greece, as well as countries such as Croatia, Israel and Morocco, and live a mostly agrarian life tend to have lower incidences […]
June 7, 2022

Gluten-Free Diet Is More Than Fad

While an estimated 1% of the population suffers from celiac disease, a whopping 29% of the American population say they’re trying to cut back or eliminate gluten from their diets. So why are so many people avoiding gluten if only 1% of the population has celiac disease? Science is showing more and more that this is not black and white – there are reasons that go beyond the latest trends explaining why so many people are avoiding gluten. While many people have dismissed this huge boom in gluten-free dieting as a fad with no scientific basis, studies are slowly beginning […]
May 31, 2022

Natural Steps To Liver Health

When I suspected liver malfunction in one of my patients recently, he protested. He assumed that his liver was fine since he didn’t drink large amounts of alcohol. His assumption was a common one. Whenever I mention liver problems, most of my patients think of cirrhosis (associated with excessive alcohol consumption) or hepatitis, a viral disease with particular risk factors. They assume there’s not much else to worry about when it comes to liver health. Perhaps it’s an assumption you’ve made yourself. But just because you are not at risk for cirrhosis or hepatitis, that doesn’t mean you’re doing all […]
May 28, 2022

Going Green: Eat Green To Improve Your Health

There are dozens of diets that promise better nutrition and rapid weight loss. But the simplest way to improve your health is to make like Kermit & go green. Pistachios They take a little effort to crack open, but pistachios are worth it, as they contain the important brain nutrient vitamin B6 and 18 percent of your daily requirement of thiamine (vitamin B1). Try adding chopped pistachios to chocolate desserts—brownies, ice cream or tarts for color, crunch, flavor and nutrients. Use in a recipe: Warm Pistachio, Chicken, and Hearts of Palm Salad Pumpkin seeds Full of zinc, antioxidant phytonutrients and protein, […]
March 29, 2022

Lamb: Don’t Forget About This Delicious Meat

Lamb is a nutritious and delectable protein and one that I like to serve on special occasions or when I just want a change from beef, poultry or pork. But consumption of lamb in the U.S. has plummeted over the last 50 years. In the 1960s, Americans consumed on average 4.5 lbs. per year. Today, it’s about 0.7lbs. Why, when lamb is so delicious? There are a couple of theories that help explain the decline. First, soldiers during WWII were fed a lot of canned lamb and mutton, so when they returned home, they wanted no more of the meat […]
March 15, 2022

Plant-Based Meals Are Growing on the Table

Here in Los Angeles, with our access to plentiful produce and a pervasive interest in healthy eating, we have a long history of plant-based cuisine. In 1885, a newspaper called The Daily Alta California reported on a popular vegetarian brunch item, “Quartered alligator pears with the pulp spread on slices of grilled bread and seasoned with salt and pepper.” Today we know this delicacy as avocado toast! When Upton Sinclair published The Jungle in 1906, it highlighted the exploitation of workers and unsanitary conditions in the meat packing industry in Chicago. The novel inspired a minor craze for vegetarian restaurants […]