Falling for Fall Fruits and Vegetables

As we move into the fall season with its beautiful colors, we are reminded also of the vibrant colors in our fall fruits and vegetables that are packed with vital nutrients, preparing us for the colder weather ahead. From September to November, the autumn harvest brings a variety of healthful and delicious produce, from broccoli, pumpkins, and sweet potatoes to apples, grapes, and pomegranates.

According to a recent survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Americans do not eat enough fruits and vegetables. Three of every four Americans are failing to eat vegetables at least three times daily, and two out of every three are failing to eat two fruits daily. According to the government health guidelines, the majority of people should be eating at least 2.5 to 3 cups of vegetables daily and 2 cups of fruit a day. What a wonderful time of year to challenge yourself to increase these nutrient dense rich foods!

To get the best of what fall has to offer, be aware of what is in season around you. Also, do not
be afraid to try something new such as leeks, brussel sprouts or figs. Also, fruits such as
cranberries, apples, and kiwis are not only tasty but are also rich in essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants such as vitamin C, potassium, quercetin and flavanoids. Antioxidants boost
immunity, slow aging, and may help fight cancer.

For the fall veggies, the cruciferous family which includes cabbage, rutabaga, and cauliflower, offer a compound known as glucosinolates, which also may have cancer- fighting abilities. And what about the pumpkin with its typically vibrant orange color. Pumpkins are extremely rich in vital anti-oxidants and vitamins. This simple low cost backyard vegetable has minimal calories yet packed with vitamin A and flavonoid poly-phenolic antioxidants like leutin, xanthins and carotenes. Health benefits would include promoting good eyesight, increased dietary fiber, and an improved immune function to name a few. Don’t forget to eat the pumpkin seeds which are a good source of alpha-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid that may help those with inflammation, heart disease, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol.

Fall is a bountiful time of year. So let’s get on board to healthy eating and enjoy a variety of fall fruits and vegetables. Here is a fun fall recipe using pumpkin and apples!

Pumpkin Apple Pancakes with Apple Cinnamon Syrup
Yield: 10 pancakes

For the pancakes:

• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 apple, peeled and cut in very small pieces
• 1 1/3 cup organic flour (can use wheat, but also oat, millet, or rice for gluten allergies)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2-1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spices
• pinch salt
• 1 cup organic milk (can use a non dairy choice such as almond, coconut, or rice)
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup, honey, or agave syrup (can use stevia or xylitol equivalent)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For the syrup:

• 1 cup apple cider or apple juice preferably organic
• 1 tablespoon organic sugar (or agave, honey or stevia/xylitol equivalent)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
• 2-3 sticks cinnamon bark

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, place the flour, baking powder, spices and salt.
 In a second bowl, place the pureed pumpkin, the sweetener, vanilla, and milk.
2. Peel the apple and cut it in small pieces directly into the pumpkin milk mixture.
3. Meanwhile, place the ingredients for the syrup in a small sauce pan and cook down until it has the consistency of syrup.
4. When ready to make the pancakes, pour the pumpkin-apple mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix well with a spoon. 
Heat a frying pan or griddle and spray with a bit of oil.
 When the pan is hot pour a spoonful of batter for each pancake.
 When bubbles appear on the top, it is ready to flip.
 Serve with the cinnamon apple syrup, maple syrup, honey or sprinkled stevia or xylitol.

From the Doctor’s Desk: I Nominate Vitamin D As “Vitamin of the Year”

With all the attention it’s been getting, I think it’s safe to proclaim Vitamin D the vitamin of the year! That attention is certainly deserved. I have been promoting the wellness effects of Vitamin D for several years. And here’s why.

Vitamin D Therapy Is Great For Bone Health.

Vitamin D has long been known for increasing bone health. It increases calcium and phosphorus absorption in the gut and makes bones stronger. It induces osteoclast maturation—that means it helps with bone restructuring and makes bones heal. It increases calcium deposition in bone and makes bones more dense. And it reduces the parathyroid hormone helping to maintain bone strength. But Vitamin D and bone health are just the beginning.

The Rest Of The Story.

Vitamin D’s benefits are not limited to bone health. Vitamin D receptors are located all over the body: in your bones, instestines, brain, breast, prostate, and lymphocytes. Additionally, many cells have active intracellular receptors such as the pancreas, immune cells, nerve cells, prostate, ovaries, and pituitary gland. Vitamin D benefits your whole body. It is very important for your overall wellness.

As Vitamin D is absorbed by the intracellular sites, additional benefits are implicated. Vitamin D provides benefits for all of these conditions:

• Cardiovascular disease
• Hypertension
• Diabetes
• Osteoarthritis
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Depression
• Epilepsy
• Migraines
• Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
• Musculoskeletal pain
• Autoimmune diseases
• Inflammatory Conditions
• Cancer
• Fibromyalgia

Now that you are more aware of how Vitamin D helps your body, let’s talk about how you can get adequate amounts of Vitamin D.

Good Sources of Vitamin D.

Vitamin D Milk

Twenty minutes of unblocked sun exposure daily is a natural source of Vitamin D. But pay close attention to your skin during sun exposure. If you have any sign of sunburn, it’s time to get out of the sun. Vitamin D is also readily available as a supplement in the form of drops, capsules and even injections. Injections are occasionally necessary in patients with extremely low levels of Vitamin D.

Is fortified milk a good source of Vitamin D? Unfortunately, no. Fortified milk does not adequately supply your body with the Vitamin D it needs.

In my next post, I’ll discuss Vitamin D insufficiency and its affects on the body.

More articles about Vitamin D:

• 7 in 10 Kids Have Low Vitamin D
• Healthy Nutrition and Vitamin D
• Vitamin_D

From The Doctor’s Desk: Wellness Is Not Band-Aid Medicine

So you wake up one day and you have symptoms. You select a doctor, make an appointment, recite your symptom list, receive a diagnosis, get a prescription, take the prescription and hope that the prescription gets rid of the symptoms.

But the question is this: Are you well?

Symptom relief medicine is great, but it is reactive medicine. I call this band-aid medicine. Just throw a band-aid on it in 5-10 minutes and ignore the real underlying cause. You can relieve symptoms with band-aids, but if the cause is left unchecked (usually an imbalance of some sort), then disease will be the result.

I like to use symptoms as clues to finding the cause. I call it proactive medicine. Symptoms are the result of imbalance. Disease is the result of ignoring the symptoms. It is a progressive cycle: imbalance, symptoms, disease.

Balance is the key.  As I said above, symptoms are the result of imbalance. Medicine today has lost site of this. In the fast pace of the typical doctor’s office (even mine many years ago), all we have time for is symptom focus and treatment. There is no time for focus on cause.

You don’t have to look to far to see the importance of balance.  Look at our bodies.  They are all about balance:  two eyes, two ears, two legs…you get the picture.  This balance is by design. We should not lose sight of the fact that symptoms are the body crying out for help.

Symptoms reveal imbalances, and the imbalances can be quite diverse. They can include hormones: Estrogen/Progesterone, Thyroid/Cortisol, Growth Hormone/Cortisol, just to name a few. But imbalances can involve more than just our hormones. Neurotransmitters can be imbalanced. Have you ever heard of anxiety or depression? Neurotransmitters involve serotinin, glutamic acid, and nor-epinephrine just to name a few.  And no, anxiety and/or depression are not the result of a SSRI deficiency.

Even Fats can be imbalanced.  Everybody has heard of Omega 3.  Omega 3’s are anti-inflammatory, they lower cholesterol and are good for the skin. But have you heard of Omega 6 fats. Omega 6’s are pro-inflammatory. Americans have excessive Omega 6’s in our high processed diets. The typical American diet is 24 to 1 ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3. A healthy ratio should be 3 to 1.

Symptoms are the body’s way of asking for help. Let’s start listening.