The Center for Mind-Body Medicine’s innovative “Food as Medicine” conference provides physicians with a comprehensive, scientifically-sound education in the application of nutrition for the management of a wide range of common, chronic disorders.
BELLEVUE, WA—The surging popularity of “Eat Right 4 Your Type,” the book by Peter D’Adamo, ND, outlining the theory and practice of the so-called “blood type diets,” has a growing number of people making sudden alterations in their habitual eating patterns.
Most people know that fish is “healthy” food, but many people do not like it, and it is a challenge for them to get healthful omega-3s into their diets. Sonja Connor, RD, a nutrition counselor, offers tips for demystifying seafood for landlubbers, and making it palatable for fish-phobes.
Omega-3 researchers from around the world gathered in Bethesda to present the latest findings from clinical studies on the effects of omega-3’s in preventing and treating heart disease, diabetes and other conditions. A review of some of the most compelling presentations.
Heart disease and diabetes were virtually unheard-of among Alaskan Eskimos, until the 1970s, when they abandoned their hunting and fishing lifestyle, and their marine diet. They began eating a lot of processed foods and saturated fats, and living in more sedentary ways. Thirty years later, these diseases are rampant. Dr. Sven Ebbeson is working with Eskimo communities to reverse these deadly trends.
Diabetes is characterized by chronic overactivity of the sympathetic nervous system, and concurrent loss of parasympathetic balance. This results in high heart rates and low heart rate variability, which increases risk of heart attack. Omega-3 fatty acids, from seafood and supplements, appear to reverse these risk factors.
Despite a growing mountain of research indicating that increased intake of omega-3 fatty acids can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, the FDA backed away from a firm recommendation, citing lack of “significant scientific agreement.”
A small but growing number of gastroenterologists are starting to look seriously at botanical medicines, probiotics, nutritional interventions, and Asian therapies like acupuncture for the management of chronic, difficult-to-treat digestive disorders like irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease, and ulcers. Robert Greenlaw, MD, an Illinois gastroenterologist, shares his clinical experiences.
Researchers have figured out a way to get a healthful omega-3 fatty acid into eggs, by feeding chickens with omega-rich marine algae. Gold Circle Farms was the first to market the DHA-rich eggs as an alternative for health conscious but fish-phobic consumers. Four of these eggs give as much DHA as a 3.5-ounce chunk of salmon.
Parental concerns about their own fat intake should not necessarily define diets for their children. While childhood obesity is clearly a major public health problem, it is important to remember that young children need certain amounts of dietary fat. Forcing children to adhere to adult weight loss regimens is not necessarily the best way to address the childhood obesity problem.
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