Co-op Corner: Prescription for Health Program Debuts at 10 Area Farmers Markets

Prescription for Health program, Marquette Food Co-op education & Outreach, UP holistic wellness publication, UP holistic business — Sarah Monte, MFC Outreach Coordinator & Amanda Latvala, MFC Education Coordinator at the Downtown Marquette Farmers Market

One in 7 people in the U.P. are food insecure. At 14%, the U.P. has a higher food insecurity rate than the national average of 10.5%. Members of the U.P. community whose work is focused on food and health were invited to meet regularly to help direct these efforts. From those meetings, the Food as Medicine Partnership, a collaborative that is bringing Prescription for Health programs to communities across the Upper Peninsula, emerged.

This group, which includes twenty-five organizations, businesses, and individuals, envisions a collaborative food system in the Upper Peninsula that provides nutrition education and equitable access to wholesome, local, and affordable food for all residents. The first project the group took on is a Prescription for Health program, generously funded by the Superior Health Foundation. This Prescription for Health program is unique in that it addresses food access from both the customer and supplier side.

The Prescription for Health program uses a medical referral process for enrollment.

Participants receive a referral from a participating healthcare provider with a prescription for adding fresh fruits and vegetables to their diets. To qualify for the program, individuals must be at risk for or diagnosed with a chronic health condition, face economic barriers to food access, and be 18 years of age or older.

Participants enrolled into the program will receive vouchers to purchase fruits and vegetables from participating local farms. Each participant will receive a total of $15 per week during the 20-week season. The referral process is administered by the Upper Peninsula Commission for Area Progress (UPCAP).

A goal of Food as Medicine and Prescription for Health is to provide these services as widely as possible. The U.P. Food Exchange (UPFE), a collaborative local food network the Co-op helps administer, has members located across the U.P. and active in local food and farmers markets. Members were able to help identify and onboard farmers markets that could participate in the program.

This is more complicated than it sounds, as many markets in the Upper Peninsula are small and lack a market manager. For Prescription for Health to work, the market must have regular produce vendors and a market manager or fiduciary that can be a central contact for the Food as Medicine team to work with.

The current list of farmers markets includes:

Bay Mills/Brimley Farmers Market, Main St. Calumet Farmers Market, Depot Park Farmers & Artisans Market (Ironwood), Houghton Farmers Market, Hancock Tori & Farmers Market, Gladstone Farmers Market, Downtown Marquette Farmers Market, Munising Farmers Market, Newberry Farmers Market, and the Sault Ste. Marie Farmers Market. We hope that more markets can be added as the program continues.

A second focus of the Prescription for Health Program is to ensure that the farms receive support to help them increase the produce available at farmers markets. Farm debt is a huge problem across the country—even small-scale farming requires a high debt burden that is difficult to pay back, especially with an income that varies seasonally. UPFE and the Food as Medicine team want to help alleviate the debt barrier that keeps farms from starting or expanding.

The first ever UPFE mini grant program awarded nine farms $14,000 to increase their cold storage capacity. Funds can be used for the materials and labor to build new or additional facilities, as well as access to technical assistance for construction and HVAC. Grant recipients are also required to work with the U.P. Produce Safety Technician to ensure all the facilities and harvest systems are following best practices.

This funding will support the increase of local food production by ensuring that farms have a place to safely store produce until it can be sold.

Cold storage facilities are also essential for extending the agricultural sales season by providing space for keeping storage crops that can be sold well into the winter, directly supporting the growth of the U.P. farm economy and increasing access to local food for all residents.

This year’s grant recipients include Boersma Family Roots CSA and Farm, North Harvest CSA Farm, and Minnie Farms in the Western U.P.; Snowy Acres, U.P. Gourmet, and Full Plate Farm in the Central U.P., and Jere Farms, Gordon’s Produce, and Dutcher Farm in the Eastern U.P.

This grant program was developed in partnership with UPFE team members that include: The Marquette Food Co-op and the U.P. Food Exchange, Western Upper Peninsula Planning District Region (WUPPDR), Bay Mills College/Waishkey Bay Farm, Fresh Systems LLC, Renegade Sheep, the Marquette County Conservation District/Michigan On-Farm Produce Safety, Portage Health Foundation, and the North Farm/Upper Peninsula Research & Extension Center. Many partners were instrumental in spreading the word about the grant opportunity across the Upper Peninsula. And of course, the Superior Health Foundation funding made this possible.

A collaborative network is essential to make changes in our communities.

To grow our local food system and increase access to healthy food for all residents, we must work together. We offer our thanks to all the UPFE, Food as Medicine, and farm market partners for their work.

To learn more about the Food as Medicine Program, visit upcap.org/program/food-as-medicine or email Sarah at smonte@marquettefood.coop. To become an owner of the Co-op and support future initiatives like Prescription for Health, visit marquettefood.coop/owners/ownership.

*Article provided by the Marquette Food Co-op.

Senior Viewpoint: Nutrition Essential to Fighting Infection, Dr. Conway McLean, DABFAS, FAPWHc, FAMIFAS

The attention devoted to sickness and health is omnipresent these days, and with good reason. The pandemic is filling the airwaves and prompting fear in the hearts of many. What we need is accurate information, smart practices. This is where the knowledge of the physician specializing in infectious disease, one who knows the immune system intimately, can be invaluable.

So what specifically is the immune system? It’s the part of the body devoted to fighting off invading micro-organisms that are a part of our world. The complexity and effectiveness of our immune system is nothing short of staggering.

What are the functions of the immune system? This system is critical for survival. Our immune system is constantly alert, monitoring for signs of an invading organism. The immune system functions to keep us free of infection, be it through the skin, a skin structure, or our intestinal lining. Cells of the immune system must be able to distinguish self from something else, i.e. “non-self.”

By now it is well-recognized the COVID-19 virus is more dangerous in the elderly.

A decline in immune function is consistently observed among older adults. Aging is also associated with increased inflammation in the absence of infection and has been found to predict infirmity. The result is seniors are more susceptible to infections and have more serious complications when they get one.

The term for this decline in immune function is immunosenescence. It reflects the deterioration of both components of the immune system—the acquired and the innate. The innate system is the ‘first responder’ to an alien invasion (of a microbe). The cells of the innate system act quickly, but are not specialized. The innate system is generally less effective than the adaptive immune response. The adaptive response is able to recognize a specific invading organism and remember it later, if exposed again.

Scientists specializing in the role of macronutrients, micronutrients, and the gut microbiome are convinced they all play a critical role in the functioning of our immune system. It turns out to be an incredibly complex system, with a multitude of factors and variables. Up until recently, we knew next to nothing about our gut bacteria and its complex interaction with our health and immunity. We do know one crucial part of gut health, not surprising, is our diet. But there are many ways to optimize the effectiveness of our immunity.

Your nutrition can affect the microbes residing in your guts, directly altering your immune response.

The microbial community in the mammalian gut is a complex and dynamic system, crucial for the development and maturation of every facet of our immune response. The complex interaction between available nutrients, the microbiota, and the immune system seems to be the most important ‘player’ in the fight against invading pathogens.

What does it take to have a healthy immune system?

We know well many micronutrient deficiencies have been identified as contributors to declining immunity. It is believed these could provide opportunities for directed therapies for potentially restoring immune function, creating better health through improved nutrition.

Some proffered recommendations: eat yogurt for breakfast! Apparently, the probiotics strengthen the immune system, as revealed by a study on athletes and their colds and GI infections. Yogurt is also rich in vitamin D, which also boosts your immune system.

Vitamin C is well-recognized as an extremely important part of an effective immune system, and a deficit can make you more prone to getting sick. Because your body cannot store it, daily intake is essential for good health. Foods rich in vitamin C include oranges, grapefruits, strawberries, bell peppers, spinach, kale, and broccoli.

Vitamin B6 supports many of the reactions that are integral to immune function. Foods high in B6 include chicken and cold water fish (e.g. salmon and tuna), and green vegetables. Another important vitamin for fighting infection is E, which is a powerful antioxidant. Foods rich in vitamin E include nuts, seeds, and spinach.

Some people think of tea as something consumed in the movies, yet studies reveal alkylamine, a naturally occurring chemical in tea, strengthens the immune system, again, helping it fight off infection more effectively. Honey has centuries of use because of its medicinal properties. Numerous reviews find honey, an antioxidant, acts as a natural immunity booster. So you might want to add it to your tea for both flavor and health benefits.

Another suggestion made by researchers is to eat more garlic, since it seems to stimulate many different cell types essential to the immune system. Ginger, another powerful antioxidant, has antiviral properties, probably a good idea these days. Consume more lemon. Lemon juice is high in vitamin C, and can be used for its antioxidant properties and to prevent the common cold.

How about a bowl of chicken soup? Thought by some to simply be a comfort food, the dish has a mild anti-inflammatory effect. Ingredients in the classic recipe (chicken, garlic, onion, celery, etc.) have been found to slow the migration of white blood cells into the upper respiratory tract, helping to relieve the symptoms of a cold. Additionally, a compound found in chicken soup called carnosine seems to prevent colds. How about a nice bowl of curcumin? This is a component in the spice called turmeric. Studies have shown curcumin helps to regulate the immune system.

Zinc is known to be an important micronutrient for the immune system. Even a mild deficiency in zinc has been associated with widespread defects in the immune response. Look to fish, seeds, nuts, and broccoli as good food sources. Selenium is a trace element that also has critical functional, structural, and enzymatic roles. Inadequate selenium is associated with a higher risk for a variety of chronic diseases since it is critical to immune function. Foods containing higher levels of this mineral include spinach, lentils, eggs, and fish.

Some recommendations for immune health are related more to lifestyle modifications.

Make workouts a part of your weekly regimen since regular exercise increases the activity of immune cells. Exercise also seems to flush bacteria out of your lungs, reducing the likelihood of an airborne illness. Experts suggest moderate levels of intensity, performed 4 to 5 times a week for 30-40 minutes.

Staying hydrated is required for immune health. Water helps your body produce lymph, which carries white blood cells and other immune cells. Sun exposure is important (although difficult in certain climes) since it is the most efficient way to stock up on vitamin D, an immune system supercharger. Surprisingly little is needed, just 15 to 20 minutes a day, to get the recommended dosage.

Getting the flu shot can improve your immune profile, and has been approved for all adults. Smoking suppresses the immune system generally, so quitting helps lower the risk of infectious disease. Smoking also damages the lining of our “windpipes,” explaining why smokers are much more likely to catch a cold virus.

Because of their effectiveness, nutritional therapies should be getting prescribed in the typical medical practice, though this has been rarely and inconsistently recommended. This therapeutic approach should be utilized more consistently in those demonstrating poor immune function, as well as healthy populations.

Our understanding of the risk factors for immune system dysregulation is far from complete.

We can say definitively that adopting these and related strategies will optimize your chances of reducing or delaying the onset of immune-mediated acute and chronic diseases. In summary, I would say, you have a road map. Your course of action, a plan for better health, can now be laid. Perhaps it is time for positive changes in your routine, and thereby your health. Though giant steps are hard to take, small ones require only a step, and if taken in the right direction, lead to the larger changes you choose.

Dr. Conway McLean is a physician practicing foot and ankle medicine and surgery in the Upper Peninsula (Marquette and Escanaba). McLean is triple board certified in surgery, wound care, and orthotic therapy. He has lectured internationally on many topics. Dr. McLean welcomes questions at drcmclean@outlook.com.

Animal or Vegetable? Your Protein Source & Your Health, by Dr. Conway McLean, DABFAS, FAPWHc, FAMIFAS

“You are what you eat,” goes the old cliché. Is this simply an old wives’ tale or is there some truth to it? Critical to this discussion is that everything we eat gets broken down into its most basic components. This means the carbs in our food get reduced into their simplest form, which are simple sugars. Fats also get broken down, and then stored if the energy from fats is not needed.
It’s when the conversation turns to the subject of proteins that things can get heated. A contentious subject indeed—we aren’t certain about very much.

We do know protein consumption is vital to health as it helps to build new tissue and repair damaged structures. Protein exists throughout the body in everything from muscles and organs to bones and skin. But because your body doesn’t store protein, it’s important to get enough from your diet each day.

Amino acids are the building blocks of protein.

Twenty-one have been identified. The body can manufacture ten, so those remaining eleven are termed the essential amino acids. In other words, it is essential these eleven are consumed in your diet. When the body digests proteins in food, they are broken down into amino acids, which are used for almost every metabolic process in the body. To further muddy the waters, different proteins vary greatly in the types of amino acids they contain.

You can get protein from many food sources, including both plants and animals. Animal protein sources, such as red meat, fish, poultry, and eggs, provide a good balance of all the amino acids we need, and are thus termed complete proteins. Plant protein sources, such as beans, lentils and nuts, are considered incomplete since they lack one or more of the amino acids we cannot manufacture. Although most plant proteins are incomplete, there are a few exceptions. Some experts claim soy protein is complete, although two essential amino acids are only found in very small amounts, so it isn’t comparable to animal protein, while quinoa and buckwheat are both complete sources of protein. It is important for vegetarians and vegans to mix their protein sources, thus ensuring they are getting all the essential amino acids.

None of the studies on the topic deny red meat contains many nutrients. A raw “quarter pounder” of beef contains a quarter of the recommended intake of niacin, vitamin B-3. Zinc is an essential mineral and is mainly found in animal protein sources. Said quarter pounder (raw) has about a third of the daily amount suggested. As is oft-quoted, red meat actually is high in iron, which is better absorbed than the plant-derived kind of iron. Many other nutrients are provided through the consumption of beef, including vitamin B-6, selenium, and various other vitamins and minerals. An oft-regarded benefit is the increased lean muscle mass linked with the consumption of animal protein. Some evidence indicates red meat reduces the muscle loss associated with aging.

Some of the reported hazards of beef consumption are the stuff of legend, and some are actually true.

Numerous studies have associated red meat consumption with heart disease, which remains the number one killer in the U.S. An increased risk of stroke also is clearly associated, as is kidney disease. Another association that doesn’t get the publicity of some previous mentions is gastro-intestinal problems. Lastly, to put it bluntly, red meat eaters seem to die younger, as evidenced by multiple studies.

Interestingly, most of the research finds a particular culprit in the form of processed meats. Should you not be aware, these are defined as meats that have been transformed in some fashion. Typically, this is achieved by salting, curing, or smoking meat to enhance the flavor or to preserve it longer. It would seem these processes are carcinogenic to people, and abundant evidence shows this. Some common types associated with processed meat include colorectal, pancreatic, and prostate cancers. It would seem that cooking red meat at higher temperatures is an additional factor contributing to an increased cancer risk.

Research over the years indicates calorie restriction, over time, is what determines longevity. But recent studies propose it is not just calories, but also the composition of one’s diet, especially in the amount and type of protein. These two seem to be the most critical factors in health and longevity. It would seem you are four times more likely to die from cancer or diabetes if you eat a diet high in proteins and are over fifty, although these effects were significantly reduced if it was a plant-based high-protein diet.

What about the subject of total protein requirements?

According to the principles of a ketogenic diet, protein should dominate your food intake. But convincing evidence exists that a high-protein diet is nearly as bad for your health as smoking, particularly if the proteins are derived from animals. What is a concerned consumer to do? Many claim protein consumption is the most important part of the diet. The textbooks say the average sedentary man should consume about 56 grams per day, 46 grams for a woman. For truly good health though, the evidence shows a diet low in processed meat, rich in plant protein, with animal sources like fish, poultry, eggs and dairy, is best.

However, it is also obvious many varied opinions exist on how much protein, and what kind, a human actually needs. A significant factor is how extraordinarily difficult it is to perform good nutritional studies encompassing a longer span of time. In the meantime, ill-informed consumers struggle with diet and nutrition, uncertain of what foods are necessary for health, and which food items are definitively disease-causing. The challenge of good nutrition and good health remains a complex puzzle many yearn to complete.

“Nurturing through Nature, a Daily Practice,” with Kristen McPhee

Click here for Nutritionist & Herbalist Kristen McPhee’s presentation on the value of nutrition in preventing and helping to alleviate chronic illness shared at our “Myth-Busting & Self-Help Tips” forum last Saturday.

And while you’re there, subscribe to Health and Happiness’s Youtube Channel to stay in the loop for more great video presentations!

Partridge Creek Farm: Taking a Bite Out of Our Challenges

If there’s one basic need most of us enjoy satisfying, it is for food. And the fresher and healthier that food is, the better off we’ll be. For most us here in the U.S., our food is shipped in, often from across the country and even across the globe, and we purchase it in supermarkets by the box and bag-full, some of which has added ingredients and processing we know little about.

While the number of small, community-supported farms in the Upper Peninsula supplying fresh, quality produce is growing, there’s still much room for improvement. Food security is an issue here, with the U.P.’s harsh climate and shorter growing season, longer distances for rural residents to large supermarkets with affordable fresh produce, and one-quarter of our children living in poverty (KIDS COUNT, 2016). In fact, our area has a significantly higher than average rate of obesity, diabetes, substance abuse and poverty. All of these issues point to the need for better health-physically, emotionally, and economically.

Partridge Creek Farm (PCF) aims to address this. Founder and director Dan Perkins describes, “Partridge Creek Farm is a community organization working on social issues through the backdrop of a farm.” The non-profit organization not only aims to increase local access to fresh, affordable, healthy food, but also to help us connect back to its importance both nutritionally and socially, teaching how to grow it in our challenging climate, and also how to prepare and preserve it. PCF intends to “invite the culture at large back in, especially those who’ve been disenfranchised, trapped, isolated.”

Perkins believes it’s vital for people to connect with one another and with the land, and that farming can help accomplish this. “Agrarian community is built into our genetics. It’s very odd for us to be separated from that part of our genetic make-up. This has only happened in the last few generations, and we’re experiencing the fall-out health-wise and socially to be disconnected from this part of our make-up,” he explains.

Ten years ago, Perkins began engaging kids in his neighborhood while gardening in the yard behind his property, and sending them home with bags of food. This led to forming Partridge Creek Farm. “I just thought it was a great model for doing social work at zero cost to the taxpayer.”

But the potential benefits are greater even than Perkins had thought. He says MBA Jessica Glendon’s research for PCF’s business plan revealed “If you live in a low-access food zone, which Ishpeming and western Marquette County are, or a low income area, you have a much higher risk of being diabetic, obese or drug addicted. That risk level goes within 5% difference throughout the rest of the community. ‘You mean my kids have just as much chance of becoming addicted as those of that drug addict down the street?’ Yes. Conditions in your community have an equal effect on everybody.”

“It blew my head open! This means we’re not just doing this for the poor people in our community, we’re doing this for our own self-preservation! It’s for our own children and our grandchildren. If we don’t fix our problems as a whole, then we’re all going to suffer the consequences. . . If we all work together, we’ll be a whole lot better off.”

Partridge Creek Farm is collaborating with AMCAB and the Headstart staff to engage kids and their families in the growing, preparing and consumption of local foods. PCF also ran a program with very young children at the Carnegie Library’s summer reading sessions painting word stones pertaining to growing food and placing them in the PCF Incubator Garden nearby. Children from Michigamme Youth Services Camp worked hard weeding and spreading horse manure at PCF. Youth from the KBIC received worm castings and support in preparing a garden from PCF.

This winter, PCF will continue working with students in an Ishpeming High School Life Skills class on an indoor growing project. Next year, these students will mentor 200 fifth and sixth graders, passing on their agricultural skills and building common bonds. PCF is working with Great Lakes Recovery Center’s youth on a courtyard garden program, adding lots of compost this winter for full-scale growing in spring. Preparations have also been made for maple tree tapping with them this spring.

PCF was able to quadruple its food production this year, offering it at local farmer’s markets while educating the public about its mission. Perkins credits PCF’s successful headway thus far to the dedication and high-level research of Farm Manager and scientist Ray Bush; great mentorship, research and work ethic from PCF’s first group of NMU interns; a strong community volunteer base; and significant financial support from the Western Marquette County Health Foundation, Green Mountain Foundation of Vermont, and many individual donations, PCF memberships and business sponsors.

The Ishpeming Elks Lodge has offered some of its land by Partridge Creek as a growing area for PCF, and Bruce and Cathy Houghton of Ishpeming have even offered PCF the use of their apple orchard next to Lake Angeline by $1/year long-term lease. PCF will maintain and use the orchard for its programs.

But there is much more that PCF intends to do. Right now the organization is looking to secure land near the Ishpeming schools where greenhouses can be built so growing with student involvement can go on all year. More staff is needed—a community outreach and volunteer coordinator, a business manager to manage its grant budgets and pay vendors, and an educational coordinator.

Perkins adds, “As we grow, we’ll need other locations as well. We want to address the food and social issues of our entire region.”

More volunteers are always welcome, as well as more corporate and individual sponsorships and new members. For more information, visit http://www.partridgecreekfarm.org or contact Dan Perkins at (906) 361-6628 or Ray Bush at (906) 204-5442.

*Health & Happiness U.P. Magazine is pleased to announce that its 2016 donation will go to Partridge Creek Farm’s children’s programming.

Reprinted with permission from the Winter 2016 – 2017 issue of Health & Happiness U.P. Magazine.

A Look At Folate-Rich Foods

Health & Happiness’s Spring 2013 article on Why Folate Matters, by Dr. Jessica Nagelkirk, is likely to provoke your interest in discovering how to make your diet folate-rich. The following chart is from the Natural Institutes of Health’s Office of Dietary Supplements.

Table 2: Selected Food Sources of Folate and Folic Acid [7]
Food	mcg DFE per serving	Percent DV*
Beef liver, braised, 3 ounces	215	54
Spinach, boiled, ½ cup	131	33
Black-eyed peas (cowpeas), boiled, ½ cup	105	26
Breakfast cereals, fortified with 25% of the DV†	100	25
Rice, white, medium-grain, cooked, ½ cup†	90	23
Asparagus, boiled, 4 spears	89	22
Spaghetti, cooked, enriched, ½ cup†	83	21
Brussels sprouts, frozen, boiled, ½ cup	78	20
Lettuce, romaine, shredded, 1 cup	64	16
Avocado, raw, sliced, ½ cup	59	15
Spinach, raw, 1 cup	58	15
Broccoli, chopped, frozen, cooked, ½ cup	52	13
Green peas, frozen, boiled, ½ cup	47	12
Kidney beans, canned, ½ cup	46	12
Bread, white, 1 slice†	43	11
Peanuts, dry roasted, 1 ounce	41	10
Wheat germ, 2 tablespoons	40	10
Tomato juice, canned, ¾ cup	36	9
Crab, Dungeness, 3 ounces	36	9
Orange juice, ¾ cup	35	9
Turnip greens, frozen, boiled, ½ cup	32	8
Orange, fresh, 1 small	29	7
Papaya, raw, cubed, ½ cup	27	7
Banana, 1 medium	24	6
Yeast, baker’s, ¼ teaspoon	23	6
Egg, whole, hard-boiled, 1 large	22	6
Vegetarian baked beans, canned, ½ cup	15	4
Cantaloupe, raw, 1 wedge	14	4
Fish, halibut, cooked, 3 ounces	12	3
Milk, 1% fat, 1 cup	12	3
Ground beef, 85% lean, cooked, 3 ounces	7	2
Chicken breast, roasted, ½ breast	3	1

* DV = Daily Value. The FDA developed DVs to help consumers compare the nutrient contents of products within the context of a total diet. The DV for folate is 400 mcg for adults and children aged 4 and older. However, the FDA does not require food labels to list folate content unless a food has been fortified with this nutrient. Foods providing 20% or more of the DV are considered to be high sources of a nutrient.

† Fortified with folic acid as part of the folate fortification program.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Nutrient Database Web site [7] lists the nutrient content of many foods and provides a comprehensive list of foods containing folate/folic acid.

What Is A Healthy Way To Lose Weight?

by Jessica Nagelkirk

The multi-billion dollar weight loss industry has a dirty little secret: Dieting doesn’t work. You name the diet, there’s a book selling it and people buying it. The problem is, most diets have it all wrong. Dieting typically focuses on food deprivation, which actually drops your metabolism and makes your body want to store fat. Here we’ll explore the physiology of metabolism and some simple steps you can take to change your life for good.

The Anatomy of Digestion

In the center of the brain, you’ll find the hypothalamus, an important regulation control center for your body. Appetite for food and thirst, as well as metabolism, are all controlled by this little almond-size structure. Here, two important hormone regulators, CART and NYP, are released to control the brain’s biochemistry of hunger. These hormones have opposing effects (CART increases metabolism and reduces appetite, while NYP makes you hungry) and are in a constant battle for control of your appetite. The release of CART and NYP are controlled by events that occur in the gut.

In the gut, when you eat healthy fat or protein, your intestines release a messenger called CCK that turns on the “rest and digest” parasympathetic nervous system, allowing your body to focus all its energy on breaking down that meal you just ate. This messenger also causes the release of another messenger hormone, leptin, stored in fat cells. Leptin activates CART, telling you to stop eating.

NYP, on the other hand, is stimulated every 30 minutes by the stomach’s release of a substance called ghrelin. So why don’t we get hungry every half hour? It turns out the leptin pathway is able to override NYP’s response to ghrelin and keep you feeling satisfied. This is why including healthy fats and protein in your diet is so important for achieving and maintaining a healthy weight.

The Role of Food

A healthy diet is all about including healthy fat, fiber and protein. By eating the right kinds of foods, you can trick your brain into believing that you’re full. Eating a little bit of good fats, like a handful of walnuts, approximately 25 minutes before a meal, stimulates the production of CCK, activates CART, and helps you eat less at mealtime because you don’t feel ravenous. If you do this, you’ll be able to eat for pleasure rather than hunger.

An adequate intake of healthy fat, (around 25% of your daily calories), includes a healthy balance of omega-3, 6, and 9 essential fatty acids. Some good sources of fat include avocado, coconut, nuts and nut butters, seeds and seed butters, fish and fish oils from deep-water fish, and organic eggs.

Eating a diet high in fiber slows the time it takes food to move from your small intestines to your large intestines, resulting in increased appetite-suppressing signals. Studies show that bulking up on fiber in the mornings makes you less hungry in the afternoons. Vegetables and fruits, (especially leafy greens and apples), are an excellent source of fiber. The revised USDA food guidelines suggest each plate at mealtime to be 50% vegetables. It is recommended to eat size to nine servings of fruit and vegetables each day.

Protein gives you energy, helps burn off extra calories, and satisfies hunger. Studies indicate that a high protein diet does a better job of reducing hunger between meals than high-carbohydrate vegetarian meals. According to the Mayo Clinic, a good, lean source of protein should make up 25% of your diet. Try free-range beef, eggs, dairy, deep-sea cold water fish, legumes, nuts, wild game, and poultry.

Bust a Move

After you eat, your body has glucose available for energy. Normally, the pancreas secretes just the right amount of insulin to move the glucose into muscle cells for energy, keeping the blood sugar stable. Many overweight people are insensitive to insulin so the pancreas secretes more and more insulin in an attempt to get a response from the body. An elevated level of insulin in the blood stream encourages fat deposition and the development of obesity. Clinical studies have shown that regular exercise improves the muscles’ sensitivity to insulin and lowers blood insulin levels. When you improve insulin sensitivity, you also reduce your appetite by preventing large swings in blood sugar levels. Excess circulating insulin in an insulin-insensitive person can cause blood sugar to drop too low, causing hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia makes you hungry, even if you have just eaten a large meal. Exercise sets the metabolic stage for weight loss to occur by controlling your blood sugar.

In addition to its effects on insulin, regular exercise can increase good cholesterol, reduce triglycerides, lower blood pressure, and have a positive impact on bone density.

Get Started

Here are some tips for applying the knowledge you now have about the physiology of metabolism.

Know where you’re starting. Get off the scale and pull out a tape measure. Studies show that waist circumference, not overall weight, is the most important indicator of mortality to being overweight. Measure at the point of your belly button. Measurements over 37 inches for females and over 40 inches for males indicate an increased risk to your health.

Eat before you’re famished. Eat a healthy balance of fat, fiber, and protein at each meal. Try using a nine inch plate if portion control is difficult for you.

Identify food sensitivities. Although the relationship between food sensitivities and body weight remains uncertain, according to research, chronic food allergies may lead to overeating, resulting in obesity. If you believe food sensitivities may be playing a role in your weight gain, contact your physician to talk about food allergy testing or an elimination diet.

Learn stress management techniques that work for you. NYP, the chemical in the hypothalamus that decreases metabolism and increases appetite, is a stress hormone. This may explain why some people in chronically stressful situations tend to gain weight.

Eliminate high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Your brain doesn’t recognize HFCS as excess calories or as a NYP suppressant. It may contribute to weight gain by both making you hungry as well as unable to shut off your appetite.

Exercise. In order to gain minimal health effects of exercise, you will need at least thirty minutes of aerobic activity at moderate intensity on most days, preferably all days, of the week. It’s important always to listen to your body and increase or decrease your exercise accordingly. Strength training is an extremely important aspect of exercise and should not be neglected. Work with a personal trainer, physical therapist, chiropractor, or your physician to come up with an exercise regimen right for you.

Every person is unique, Naturopathic physicians expect the reason for weight gain to be equally individual. Before starting any weight loss plan, consult your doctor to make sure your weight gain isn’t from a medical condition that requires treatment other than lifestyle changes. Implementing healthy lifestyle habits will not only help you shed those unwanted pounds, but also help you have more energy and less risk for serious medical conditions.

For more information on dieting, including low carb diets, the danger of yo-yo dieting, and more, visit my blog at http://modernnaturopath.blogspot.com/ and click on “weight loss”.

Jessica Nagelkirk, medical student at National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon will graduate in the spring of 2012 as a Naturopathic Physician (ND).

Reprinted with permission from Health & Happiness U.P. Magazine, Spring 2012.

Why. . . Aesthetic Medicine?

by Jessica Nagelkirk

While they might have only been for movie stars in the past, today cosmetic surgery and anti-aging medicine are booming. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery reports almost 9.5 million cosmetic procedures were done in 2010, costing consumers $10.7 billion. That’s not including the countless anti-aging products on the market, often referred to as “cosmeceuticals,” promoted as being more powerful than regular cosmetics. We’re going to look at the motivation behind all of this spending, the physiology of aging, and some of the unexpected health benefits of aesthetic medicine.

Fine Lines & Wrinkles
Collagen is the main structural component of skin, acting as its glue and structural support. UV light is known to damage collagen, reducing the amount and causing the formation of microscopic contractions that appear as wrinkles. Oral and topical use of antioxidants can provide a good supply of nutrients to the skin that help protect collagen from damage. Supplements that increase collagen production and reduce damage include:

– Vitamin C Orally: 1,000- 3,000 mg daily
– Vitamin C Topically: Preliminary evidence shows that the product Cellex-C High Potency Serum reduces fine lines, wrinkles, and roughness, and improves tone.
– Exfoliation using sugar or salt scrubs that contain alpha-hydroxy acids
– Green Tea
– Glucosamine: Popular for arthritis due to its ability to help regenerate connective tissue. In skin, it re-generates collagen.
– Vitamin A Topically: May cause irritation, so use with caution

It is commonly known that increasing intake of antioxidants has widespread benefit throughout many systems of the body and is much more than skin deep, reducing damage to tissue ranging from arteries to brain tissue.

Estrogens are noted to increase the thickness of the skin and promote hydration, creating supple, smooth skin. A decline in estrogen during menopause is associated with the thinning of the skin, loss of moisture retention, and accelerated aging. A side effect of hormone replacement therapy is often skin benefits, but there are many negative side effects to this therapy so it is seldom used for its skin benefits alone. Topical estrogens and phytoestrogens (from plants), however, may have a role in cosmetic applications. Rodiola, Panax, and Cimicifuga are the best herbs to consider for providing phytoestrogen support to the skin and entire endocrine system without the negative effects associated with estrogen therapy.

Laser therapy may be used to resurface the facial skin. However, it can be used to kill only the most superficial living skin, which will then flake and shed like a sunburn, revealing younger, temporarily less wrinkled skin. The results are not dramatic but are pleasing enough to a large number of people that the practice and specialty is growing.

Soft tissue fillers and injections are another cosmetic option. The difficulty is that the skin does not usually leave such injected materials alone, and they are slowly broken down, so repeated injections are needed. These treatments also come with some risks, like infection and tissue death.

Light & Heat Energy, (LHE), is a device that delivers gentle pulses of light and heat energy to activate the body’s natural healing ability. For its wrinkle reduction benefits, it creates mild thermal damage to skin cells that triggers a wound-heal response and new collagen is produced. This action occurs over a period of a few weeks to a few months, leading to improvement in skin texture and smoothing of fine lines.

The above therapies can be extremely expensive, usually costing well over $1,000 for a series of treatments, so maximizing the skin’s ability to maintain its new, younger appearance is a great motivator for a more healthy lifestyle, and it’s a great way to protect that investment!

Sun Spots
Sun spots have been shown to respond well to laser and light therapies like LHE. These therapies use light and heat to damage the darker pigmented cells, causing them to die and be brought to the surface of the skin where they are sloughed off.

Topicallly, axelaic acid is noted to inhibit the synthesis of melanin and can be useful for hyperpigmentation disorders.

Spider Veins
Veins contain one-way valves that help encourage blood to flow back to your heart, against gravity. Spider veins form when these valves stop working properly, allowing blood to pool and dilate the veins. Spider veins, also known as varicose veins, are the most common vascular disease in the U.S., affecting up to 60% of adults.

One often successful treatment for small spider veins, sclerotherapy, involves injecting an agent into the vein that damages the lining enough to shut the vein down, directing blood to a deeper vein on its path back to the heart. No anesthesia is required and it has been reported to achieve improvement in 80-90% of cases. Deeper spider veins may require the use of lasers or surgery to remove the dilated vein.

Some natural therapies that can improve vascular stability include compression stockings, ranging from 18 mmHg to 50 mmHg; horse chestnut tincture, applied externally; 1/2 tsp. daily of hawthorne solid extract; and regular intake of Vitamin C, flavonoids and antioxidants. (Are you seeing a pattern here?)

General Skin Care
The basic anti-aging protocol is to cleanse, protect, and nourish your skin daily. Wash your face with a natural, gentle cleanser twice daily. You can mist your face with an herbal or green tea toner for topical antioxidants. Apply almond, coconut, or jojoba (pronounced “ho-ho-ba”) oil topically in the morning. Of these, jojoba is the most similar to natural facial oils. Also apply a good sunscreen every day and use a makeup that contains sunscreen. (See What is the Best Sun Protection for You in the Summer 2011 issue of Health & Happiness for ingredients to avoid, or go to http://www.skindeep.org.) Before bed, wash your face and apply toner. Moisturizer is not recommended, as it decreases your body’s natural production of oil, which is important for protecting against wrinkles.

Consider following an anti-inflammatory diet, For more information see Dean Ornish’s book The Spectrum, or Dr. Jessica Black, ND’s The Anti-Inflammation Diet and Recipe Book. Eat five to seven servings of vegetables and fruit daily, focusing on brightly pigmented foods that provide antioxidants and flavonoids. Sleep at least eight hours per night in a dark, cool room to maximize tissue repair, which happens during deep sleep. Exercise regularly to improve blood flow and the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to your tissues both inside and out. Drink at least 64 ounces of water daily to support and improve your body’s ability to remove toxins. Start each day with a full glass of water before breakfast and drink water throughout the day. Cod liver oil provides omega 3 fatty acids to reduce inflammation and support healthy cell membranes. Proper nutrition and self-care are critical adjuncts to aesthetic medicine. Consult with your physician to formulate a plan that suits your individual needs.

When people feel good about how they look on the outside, they are often more motivated to take care of their bodies on the inside. This is the reason that I, as a naturopathic student, have become an advocate for aesthetic medicine. By taking care of the body on the inside, patients can make the expense and effort involved in these cosmetic procedures worthwhile. That motivation for improved self-care through better nutrition, more exercise and adopting many other healthy activities, in addition to supporting a person aesthetically, decreases her chances of suffering debilitating medical conditions as she ages. The connection between looking good and feeling good cannot be separated, and perhaps all the money spent on aesthetic products may not be as frivolous as some may think, due to the improved wellness associated with the healthier lifestyle it encourages.

Jessica Nagelkirk, medical student at National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon will graduate in the spring of 2012 as a Naturopathic Physician (ND). View her blog at http://modernnaturopath.blogspot.com/p/medicine.html for more articles and resources about natural medicine.

Reprinted with permission from the Fall 2011 issue of Health & Happiness U.P. Magazine.