A lot of folks keen on losing weight have been convinced that a diet low in fat and protein and high in carbohydrates is the way to go. Seems intuitive, doesn’t it?: Don’t eat fat and you won’t get fat. That’s why, odds are, this year someone at your Thanksgiving table will be giving thanks without giving your perfectly browned holiday turkey a second look. Instead they’ll be opting to load their plate with their favorite high-carb “health foods”—sweet potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. If you’re a regular reader of my blogs, you already know what I think of high-carb…
We all know our skin makes vitamin D during sun exposure, so you’d think that most of us here in Hawaii would have plenty of vitamin D, right? Wrong. A study done on prototypical surfer-dudes in Honolulu, titled: Low Vitamin D Status Despite Abundant Sun Exposure (Binkely, 2007) found that, amazingly, more than half (51 percent) had less-than-optimal blood levels of vitamin D and were therefore putting their bodies at risk. At risk for what? Low vitamin D has been associated with overweight and obesity, as well as a variety of serious medical conditions, including cancer, heart failure, mental illness,…
Coffee: Friend or Foe? Coffee is one of the most popular breakfast items on the most popular diet (a Paleo Diet) menu. Indeed, I've read reports claiming that coffee has antioxidants that may prevent heart disease and other compounds that may help to prevent certain cancers. At the other end of the argument, many natural health newsletters treat coffee like it's worse than cocaine--blaming coffee for everything from "burning out" our adrenal glands and harming our kidneys, to mood swings, fatigue, and depression. So is starting your day with coffee really going to make you "Bulletproof"? Moderation is the key. …
“Vitamin D’s star is on the rise and researchers say it’s about time.” –AMA News, April 27, 2009 The government’s recommended intake (RDA) for D may underestimate the true amount we need by a factor of ten, according to Michael Holick MD, Ph.D., at Boston University Medical center. Current recommendations are for 200-400 I.U. per day, depending on age. But Dr. Hollick suggests that our true needs may be on the order of 2,000 I.U. Since studies show that most people consume very little D and don’t get enough from sun exposure, there is a nearly universal shortfall of vitamin…
