All of us know we need to eat more vegetables. The reason many don’t like vegetables is because of dead taste buds. When one is a big consumer of highly processed foods (fast foods or eating most of your food from a box, bag or can), they’re consuming foods with excessive amounts of salt, artificial flavor enhancers and preservatives. If you want to eat more vegetables and be able to appreciate how good they do taste, focus on reducing or eliminating those processed foods!

Another reason many people struggle with vegetable intake is they get stuck in a “carrot rut”. We tend to eat the same vegetables all the time and get burnt out; usually sticking with the habit of eating whatever our families ate when we were growing up. The focus of the next few newsletters will be to educate you on a few new vegetables you can try out.

We would like to take this time to introduce you to “Fennel” (pronounced: feh-nell).

Fennel can be a replacement for celery in recipes and the feathery leaves can be used as a spice or garnish. It’s a strong antioxidant (quercetin, kaempferol, rutin) which makes it useful for reducing inflammation and helping with recovery from chemotherapy and radiation.

Fennel has also been used medicinally to help regulate menstrual cycles, stimulate lactation and facilitate birth.

Nutrition Density: 1 cup sliced, raw

• Calories: 27.0
• Protein: 1.1g
• Total Carbohydrate: 6.3g
• Dietary Fiber: 2.7g
• Sugars ~
• Starch ~
• Glycemic load: 2 J
• Calcium: 42.6mg
• Magnesium: 14.8mg
• Potassium: 360mg  J
• Sodium: 45.2mg
• Vitamin A: 117IU
• Folate: 23.5 mcg

There are many videos on the internet that can teach you how to prepare fennel for cooking.   Visit www.youtube.com and search “best fennel tips”.

Italian Fennel Casserole Serves 4

• 2 tablespoons oil (preferably coconut oil)
• 1 large onion, peeled and sliced thin into ½” – 1” pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 pound fennel, sliced thin into ½” – 1” pieces
• 12 oz chopped tomatoes
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Topping

• 8-10 ounces of breadcrumbs
• 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1-2 teaspoons black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400^o. Heat oil in a large pan. Add onions and garlic. Sauté for about 3 minutes. Add fennel and sauté another 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Then, transfer the mixture to a lightly greased 2 quart oven proof dish.  Mix the bread crumbs, olive oil, salt and pepper and sprinkle over the top then bake (uncovered) for 15-20 minutes until the top is nice and crisp. Serve immediately.

Fennel Sauté Serves 4

• 2 fennel bulbs, sliced thing into ½” – 1” long pieces
• 1 large sweet onion (Vidalia), sliced thin into ½” to 1” long pieces
• 1-2 tablespoons butter
• Salt/pepper to taste

Directions:

In a sauté pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions, sauté for 5 minutes then add fennel and salt and pepper to taste. Sauté another 10 minutes and serve.

Fennel Cucumber Salsa

• 1 English cucumber, diced
• 1 large fennel bulb, diced
• 1 avocado – peeled, pitted, and diced
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup pickled banana peppers, diced
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine the cucumber, fennel, avocado, red onion, banana peppers, cilantro, honey, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Allow mixture to sit 20 minutes before serving.

Federal Law requires that we warn you of the following:

1. Your individual health status and any required health care treatments can only be properly addressed by a professional healthcare provider of your choice. Remember: There is no adequate substitution for a personal consultation with your chosen health care provider. Therefore, we encourage you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional.

2. The Constitution guarantees you the right to be your own physician and to prescribe for your own health.

Have you seen the scientific evidence that genetically modified foods are 100% safe with no long-term health related side effects? Neither have we. What is emerging is more startling evidence that the government and seed industries “solution to world hunger” is creating a potentially irreversible pattern of destruction in agriculture, wild life and human health.

What is a GMO?

Genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) are created by meshing genes from one species into the DNA of a food crop or animal to produce a new trait. Because living organisms have natural barriers to protect themselves

Non-GMO image Click to enlarge

against the introduction of DNA from a different species, genetic engineers must force the DNA from one organism into another. Their methods include:

• Using viruses or bacteria to “infect” animal or plant cells with the new DNA.
• Coating DNA onto tiny metal pellets and firing it with a special gun into the cells.
• Injecting the new DNA into fertilized eggs with a very fine needle.
• Using electric shocks to create holes in the membrane covering sperm and forcing the new DNA into the sperm through these holes.

By inserting certain bacterial genes into crop seeds it allows farmers to spray otherwise deadly doses of weed-killer directly on the crop without killing it. Other seeds are inserted with soil bacterium Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt) to produce an insect-killing pesticide within every cell of the plant. When insects eat the plant, they get a mouthful of toxins which cause their stomachs to erupt, killing the bug. These GM plants are so toxic they are registered as pesticides with the Environmental Protection Agency, and for good reason. Mass deaths have been seen in livestock allowed to graze on GM Bt plants in both the US and abroad. If bugs and livestock die after eating Bt plants, what effects will be seen on humans?

Biotech companies like Monsanto and DuPont claim the Bt-toxin has a history of safe use citing even organic farmers use Bt bacteria spray for natural insect control. However they fail to point out that the Bt-toxin produced in GM plants:

• Is thousands times more concentrated than the natural Bt spray used by organic farmers.
• Is designed to be more toxic.
• Has properties of an allergen.
• Unlike the spray, cannot be washed off the plant.

Risks

The American Academy of Environmental Medicine reported serious health risks associated with GM foods in animal studies including infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, faulty insulin regulation, and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system.

• Mice fed GM soy had fewer, and smaller, babies.
• More than half the babies of mother rats fed GM soy died within three weeks.
• Testicle cells of mice and rats on a GM soy diet changed in color and size.
• By the third generation, most GM soy-fed hamsters became infertile.
• Rodents fed GM corn/soy showed signs of toxicity, lowered immunity & increased allergies.
• The stomach lining of rats fed GM potatoes showed excessive cell growth, a condition that may lead to cancer.
• Studies also found organ lesions, altered liver and pancreas cells, changed enzyme levels, etc.

Unfortunately, no clinical study has looked at the effects of  GMO’s  on humans. The only published experiment found that once GM soy is ingested by humans, the genetic material forced into the food will remain inside our intestines and continue to function. This means the potential for super diseases, antibiotic resistance and internal pesticide production.

In December, the International Journal of Biological Sciences reported that all three GM corn options produced by Monsanto created kidney and liver dysfunction, which are the main organs that respond to chemical food poisoning. New evidence has also come to light exposing the recommendations of at least a dozen FDA scientists who urged long-term safety studies before GMO’s hit the market in the mid 1990’s. Despite these warnings, the FDA approved GMO’s addition to food without requiring product labeling. In 1996 widespread crops hit the market and nine years later the number of people suffering from three or more chronic diseases nearly doubled from 7% to 13%, allergic reactions treated in emergency rooms doubled and overall food related illnesses doubled according to the CDC.

The Creation of Superweeds

Bio-tech companies flourished after FDA approval even up until 2009 when Forbes magazine named Monsanto “company of the year”. But as more studies into the effects of GMO’s emerge, questionable company ethics come to light, bioengineered corn seeds fail to produce and super-weeds resistant to herbicide creep across 11 million acres of U.S. farmland (5x more than just 3 years ago), Forbes retracted their statement saying they were “wrong, really wrong”.

Last year in France, the Supreme Court found Monsanto guilty of advertising their herbicide Roundup as “biodegradable and environmentally friendly.” The active ingredient in Roundup (glyphosate) is acutely toxic to fish, birds and beneficial insects. We now have farmers dousing their fields with 10x the recommended amount of herbicide (which studies show may not even be enough to kill the superweeds!) which seeps into the soil, nearby streams and the air. Farmers are fed up, stocks are plummeting, but Monsanto says it will make a comeback. They are in the process of producing a new soybean seed with high levels of omega-3 fatty acids to appeal to health-conscious consumers who they hope will demand the product from farmers.

Shopping

Read your labels!!! Right now, more than 70% of foods on supermarket shelves contain derivatives of the eight GM foods on the market – soy, corn, oil from canola and cottonseed, sugar from sugar beets, Hawaiian papaya, and a small amount of zucchini and crook neck squash. Currently, about 85% of corn, 92% of soybeans, 76% of cotton, 75% of canola and 50% of Hawaiian papaya grown in the U.S. is genetically modified.

• Look for Non-GMO Project Seals Products – see image above for seal example
• Buy organic/local when possible. Certified organic products cannot intentionally include any GMO ingredients.
• Honey and bee pollen – may have GM sources of pollen
• Sugar – If a non-organic product lists “sugar” (not pure cane sugar) as an ingredient it’s most likely a combination of sugar cane and GM sugar beets.
• Meat/Eggs – Unless specified on the label, products may be from cows injected with the GM bovine growth hormone or from animals fed GM soy or corn feed. Look for labels stating no rBGH, rBST or artificial hormones.
• Enzymes, flavorings, processing agents & additives including aspartame (NutraSweet®) may contain GMO’s
• Other common items which may include GMO’s –

Federal Law requires that we warn you of the following:
1. Your individual health status and any required health care treatments can only be properly addressed by a professional healthcare provider of your choice. Remember: There is no adequate substitution for a personal consultation with your chosen health care provider. Therefore, we encourage you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional.

2. The Constitution guarantees you the right to be your own physician and to prescribe for your own health.

click image to enlarge

Look at the “other ingredients” usually
at the bottom of the label.

Artificial colors and sweeteners are used
to make the product look better or taste
better.  Avoid the artificial sweeteners
and colors:

• Aspartame
• Saccharin
• Sucralose
• FD&C blue, yellow, red, etc
• “Lakes” (colors)

Fillers are used in supplements to make
the production easier and faster.
Unfortunately, these fillers can
compromise the effectiveness of the
nutrients in the supplement. Fillers are
often called “flowering agents” on the
label. Binders are used for bulk and
stabilization of the product.  Lubricants
are used to allow the powder form to
process through the machines more
easily.  Some common lubricants,
fillers and binders include:

• gelatin
• hydrogenated oil (strictly avoid)
• magnesium stearate
• maltodextrin
• microcrystalline cellulose
• modified cellulose (for example hydroxypropyl methylcellulose)
• polyethylene glycol
• polyvinyl alcohol
• crospovidone (PPVP or polyvinylpolypyrrolidone)
• potassium sorbate
• talc
• sodium benzoate
• sodium stearyl fumarate
• stearic acid
• xanthum gum

For various reasons, certain toxic metals are added to poor quality supplements.  Some common toxic elements you should avoid that you’ll see actually printed on the label are:

• titanium dioxide
• aluminum
• nickel
• tin
• silver

Vitamin D and Vitamin E

Look at the source of Vitamin D and Vitamin E.  The Vitamin D should be D₃ or cholecalciferol.  It should not be the synthetic form D₂ or ergocalciferol.  The Vitamin E should be d-alpha tocopherol with mixed tocopherol.  Mixed tocopherols are the best.  It should not be the synthetic form dl-alpha tocopherol.

Megadose

A supplement that is labeled “megadose” does not mean that it is any better. Your body can only absorb so much of a nutrient and the rest is eliminated from your body as a waste product. For example, you can only absorb about 500mg of Calcium at a given time.

Thoughts on Fish Oils
Fish oils are known for getting oxidized easily. To stop this, and to stop the oils from going rancid, manufacturers of fish oil products add preservatives to them. The best quality supplements contain only vitamin E as the preservative and are free of all artificial preservatives. The good thing about vitamin E is that it has a high nutritional value also; however, it also acts as a powerful anti-oxidant.  In general, it’s a good rule of thumb to keep all of your fat soluble supplements (Vitamins A, D, E, and K and GLA, EPA, ALA, DHA) in the refrigerator.

When is the best time to take a supplement?

The best time to take the majority of supplements is with meals. Supplements serve to enhance the nutritional density of your food and there are enzymes and other properties in food that enhance the absorption of the nutrients.

Do I Need More Than Just a Multiple Vitamin?

Even if you ate a perfect diet, USDA data has shown that even if you ate a “perfect diet”, our food supply is simply not as nutritious as it was 30 years ago.  Supplementing your diet can help to correct these short-comings.  The only way to know if the supplements you’re taking are working or to know exactly what vitamins/minerals and dosages you need is to get tested.  Using bloodwork and other diagnostic tools will tell us where the problem areas are occurring or just developing.  During your report of findings we will carefully note major and minor conditions that may lead to serious illness.  This detailed report will explain your test findings, as well as the nutrient and dietary recommendations based upon your test results. Call today to set up a consultation.

Federal Law requires that we warn you of the following:
1. Your individual health status and any required health care treatments can only be properly addressed by a professional healthcare provider of your choice. Remember: There is no adequate substitution for a personal consultation with your chosen health care provider. Therefore, we encourage you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional.

2. The Constitution guarantees you the right to be your own physician and to prescribe for your own health.