Cooking For Health

The Meat Industry’s “Cultural” Revolution

By Madiha Saeed, MD & Erik Goldman

The meat industry is about to undergo a “cultural” revolution…..a tissue culture revolution, to be precise. The soaring global demand for meat has opened doors to alternative ways of producing consumable animal tissue, ushering in the first major challenge to industrial-scale animal agriculture in history. Numerous companies worldwide, some backed by major investors, are now […]

Frequent Coffee Consumption Reduces Womens’ Diabetes Risk

By Erik Goldman

Good news for women who love coffee. Those who drink 4 or more cups of caffeinated coffee daily have a markedly lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared with those who drink less than one. That’s the conclusion from a recent prospective study involving 4,522 women with prior histories of gestational diabetes, who were […]

Quenching the Dehydration Nation

By Deanna Minich, PhD & Erik Goldman

Earlier this year, a game-changing study looking at the long-term health impact of dehydration gained the attention of CNN, NBC News, and other major media outlets. The massive project, part of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study, followed over 11,000 individuals for 25 years, to test a hypothesis […]

Mediterranean Diet Reduces Risk of Gestational Diabetes, Ecclampsia

By August West, Contributing Writer

Women who follow a Mediterranean diet pattern—high in fresh vegetables and fruits, nuts, whole grains, legumes, and fish, but low in saturated fats, red meat, and processed foods—have a markedly lower risk of gestational diabetes, eclampsia, pre-eclampsia, and other adverse outcomes of pregnancy. That’s the key signal from a new study of nearly 8,000 geographically, […]

FODMAPS & IBS: Don’t Throw the Baby Out with the Bathwater

By Sally LaMont, ND. LAc

What do apples, onions, hummus, and ice cream have in common? They’re all rich in FODMAPs: a set of short-chain carbohydrates that can set off the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), such as bloating, gas, cramping, constipation and/or diarrhea. Short-term adherence to FODMAP-free diets can be very effective in reducing the symptom burden associated […]

All Choked Up: Harvesting the Health Benefits of Artichokes

By Sally LaMont, ND, LAc, Contributing Writer

Artichokes are the edible flower buds of a thistle plant called Cynara scolymus. The botanical name derives from a Greek myth about Zeus, who fell in love with a beautiful woman named Cynara. The story goes that Zeus was visiting his brother Poseidon one day on a small Aegean island, when he came upon the […]

Himalayan Tartary Buckwheat: Bitter is Better…and Gluten-Free

By Sally LaMont, ND, LAc, Contributing Writer

One of the most exciting advances to emerge from the public’s heightened awareness of celiac disease and gluten sensitivity is the rediscovery of ancient, gluten-free, heirloom seeds and grains. Himalayan Tartary Buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum) – a naturally gluten-free variety of buckwheat–-is an excellent example of such a rediscovery. This nutrient-rich strain of buckwheat originated in […]

When the Going Gets Teff…. Discovering an Ancient, Gluten-Free Grain

By Sally Lamont, ND, LAc

Many Americans had their first “taste” of teff—Ethiopia’s ancient cereal staple– through the writing of Abraham Verghese, MD, the beloved Stanford surgeon who authored the 2009 novel, Cutting for Stone. The story begins in Verghese’s childhood homeland of Ethiopia, and in it, the author describes his love of injera, the traditional sourdough flatbread made from […]

Tasty Recipes for a Late-Winter Immune Boost

By Janet Gulland, Contributing Writer

Looking for easy—and tasty—ways to help your patient raise their folate, potassium and Vitamin C levels, elevate their Vitamin D, and increase their intake of immune-boosting phytochemicals? The Institute for Natural Medicine’s colorful new e-book, Winter Weather Foods for Immune Support, is an excellent place to start. Packed with simple and mouth-watering mostly vegan recipes […]

Culinary Mushrooms Offer a Wealth Of Immune-Boosting Nutrients

By Sally LaMont, ND, LAc

As practitioners, we encourage our patients to eat more brightly colored, phytonutrient-rich fruits and vegetables, and there’s no question that color is strongly correlated with nutrient content. But we should not overlook nature’s white, tan, and brown-pigmented delights. And by that, I mean mushrooms! Edible mushrooms contain diverse immunoregulatory compounds, like chitin, β-glucans, sterols, terpenes […]