Changing Perspectives to Honor a Promise
A Promise Made
We had made a promise to my 20 year old daughter that I didn’t want to keep. Actually my plan was that my husband, David would make the promise happen, but due to bad ankle, he was on the bench for this one. The promise was to find an apartment in NYC for Gretta’s junior year in college. We had made the deal based on two conditions; she would find a suitable roommate and get good grades. Her best friend in NYC, McKenna was more than a suitable roommate and she made the dean’s list both semesters last year. It was clear I had to honor the deal.
The “Microbiota” Factor
The Simms/ Mann UCLA Center for Integrative Oncology has a lecture series that features top physicians, researchers and educators open to the community. This week, I attended a lecture on wellness, the immune system and the gastrointestinal microbiota (the term microbiota replaces “gut flora,” which refers to the tens of trillions of bacteria that reside in the intestinal tract). Carolyn Katzin, MS, CNS and Robert Schiestl, PHD were the presenters.
Against the Grain: It Is Worse Than We Thought
Grain Brain, a new book by Dr. Pearlmutter caught my attention as it makes a direct connection between eating whole grains and brain disease. Up until now most conversations about gluten and grains in my coaching practice have centered on avoiding or decreasing glutens to control weight and decrease likelihood of developing diabetes later.
Decoding Sugar and Weight Control
All sugar is not the same. There are two kinds of sugar, glucose and fructose. Glucose is a primary fuel for the body. There are major differences in the way your body processes fructose and glucose. When you consume fructose even in whole fruits, you body packs on pounds at a much higher rate than if you just consumed glucose. When you eat fructose, your liver bears the major burden of breaking down the fructose. With glucose, the liver breaks down only 20%. Every cell in your body uses and can access glucose quickly after consumption. On the other hand, fructose is converted into free fatty acids, VLDL (the damaging form of cholesterol) and triglycerides, which is stored as fat.
Invisible Offenders in the Kitchen
The war to prevent cancer is fought on many fronts but rarely in the home environment. Personal environments are unknown territory that remains a mystery to most health care providers and their patients. Sadly, this suggests our home environment has no role in cancer prevention, an assumption that is untrue if you look at available information from cancer research and cancer advocacy organizations.
Read MoreMaking Better Choices with an Aging Parent
David’s expertise with aging parents helped me recognize what was important to my mom in her later years. About 18 months before she died, I made a conscious choice to put my personal issues with mom aside. My game plan was I would accept her the way she was and try to see the world with her eyes rather than mine. I asked more questions out of curiosity about choices she had made, her life history and how she was really doing. Instead of attempting to talk her into something, I gave her choices and let her know whatever she decided I would support 100%. I supported all her choices and let her know she could change her mind and I would support that change too. I dropped my agenda and helped her get what she wanted done. I found that we got along better and best of all I learned some things about mom I didn’t know.
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