Healthy Holiday Recipes

Raw Fudge

Ingredients:
1 cup raw nut butter (almond or cashew)
½ cup carrot or coco powder
¼ cup coconut oil
1 tbsp Vanilla
pinch of sea salt
½ cup chopped nuts
Adjust sweetness by adding stevia to taste

Preparation:
Use organic ingredients whenever possible. Combine ingredients, put in a pan lined with parchment paper, refrigerate.  Cut into pieces when solid.

Holiday Pecans

Ingredients:
4 cups crispy pecans
3 egg whites
pinch of sea salt
½ cup maple syrup
1 tbsp. Vanilla extract

Preparation:
Use organic ingredients whenever possible. Beat egg whites with salt until stiff.  Slowly beat in the maple syrup and vanilla.  Fold in pecans until well coated.  Spread on 2 buttered, stainless steel baking pans and place in low oven (150F) for several hours until the egg whites harden.  Store in an airtight container.  Store finished nuts in refrigerator.

Healthy Hot Chocolate

Ingredients:
1 Cup Almond Milk
1 tsp Green & Blacks Organic Cocoa Powder
1 tsp Coconut Oil

Preparation:
Use organic ingredients whenever possible. Combine ingredients and warm in a pan - do not boil.  Remove from heat, add 1 packet of stevia or a small amount of honey.  Whey protein powder is optional.

Holiday Nutrition - tips for wisely choosing the lesser evil

To help avoid the sugar overload during the holidays follow these delicious and nutritionally sound tips and snack ideas:

1. Eat Protein at every meal
2. Snack on nuts
3. Craving Chocolate? Try 1 small square a day of Dark Chocolate with 70% or above cacao content - or Raw Fudge (see recipe below).
4. Popcorn - stove top popped in coconut oil with real butter topping - yum!
5. Eat a protein bar
6. Try a protein drink - whey, rice, or pea based
7. Cinnamon helps with blood sugar control. Add 1/2 teaspoon on your morning oatmeal.
8. Drink ½ your body weight in ounces of water daily to stay hydrated, and avoid icy drinks this time of year
9. Warm drinks like green tea - helps decrease your appetite and keeps you warm.
10. Try Herbal tea - with stevia as the sweetener and rice, almond, or coconut milk.  It tastes sweet but won’t spike your insulin levels.
11. Chamomile tea is relaxing and will decrease sugar cravings
12. Eat some food before you go to a party - then take 1 plate of food and stay away from the serving table afterwards.
13. Limit alcoholic drinks
14. Eat warming soups and stews - these fill you up and keep you warm.  Use lots of veggies and beans - these digest slowly and keep you feeling full longer.
15. If you eat chips - take a portion out of the bag and put them on a plate or bowl.  Mindless eating can get us in trouble!
16. Get enough sleep - try to go to bed between 9:30-10:30pm
17. If you are feeling stressed and want to reach for food - stop and breath deeply through your nose until you feel more centered.
18. Spend at least a few minutes a day focused on breathing deeply, praying, or meditating - this will help moderate stress.

Most of all enjoy your holidays and time spent with family and friends.
Sincerely,
Kathi Bratberg RN, Holistic Nutritionist

Flu Prevention for the Fall

The leaves and temperature are dropping - don't you drop too!  Keep your immune system strong with these preventative recommendations from Dr. Patricia Ryan and the staff of Alternatives.  Please note these are general recommendations, and intended for educational use only.  For recommendations specific to your individual health, schedule a consultation with Dr. Ryan.

Prevention:
 1. Stay off sugars (Why? Sugars suppress the immune system for up to 5 hours after ingestion by reducing the ability of white blood cells to kill germs) more info
 2. Eat Healthy
 3. Sleep
 4. Increase Fluids - Drink at least half of your weight in ounces of water per day (more if you are sweating or exercising)
 5. Cook with Coconut Oil (for it's Anti-inflammatory/Anti-Viral properties)

Supplements to take when you have the Flu:
 1. Oscillococcinum Homeopathic medicine (most effective if taken immediately when symptoms manifest)
 2. Vitamin D3 - take 50,000u/day for up to 3 days (no more)
 3. A Mushroom Complex like Immunity Take Care by New Chapter
 4. Olive Leaf Extract
 5. Pick one of these anti-viral supplements:
     ·    Sambucus (Black Elderberry Extract)
     ·    Colloidal Silver 
     ·    Viraclear

Supplements that will boost the immune system:
 1. Take 1000mg Vitamin C every one to two hours stopping if bowel becomes upset. Recommended amount is 4-6000mg divided throughout the day
 2. 100mg Zinc per day for 1 week while you are ill
 3. Thymates - A multi-vitamin that boosts immune system and helps with fatigue - take 12 per day while sick in place of your regular multi-vitamin.

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Alternatives Movie Night begins with Food Inc

The first Alternatives movie night is planned for Wednesday, October 20th at 6:30pm. Alternatives will be showing Food, Inc., a movie about the dangers of toxins and growth hormones in the food supply. The movie shows the unnatural conditions where farm animals have been found to live, Bratberg explained.

“People need to know where food comes from and they can’t begin to make changes until they are educated.” Alternatives encourages clients to bring their families, as the topics these movies address will help motivate everyone in the household to adopt healthy new habits. After the movie, there will be an open discussion about what we can do to make positive changes based on the information presented.

The movie nights will be held quarterly, and will be announced in Alternatives seasonal newsletter. Delicious organic popcorn fresh popped in healthy organic coconut oil dusted in pink sea salt will be provided. Seating is limited, so reserve your seat early! We will be calling a couple of days in advance to confirm attendance and ensure we have a seat for everyone. Contact Alternatives: A Center for Conscious Health at 827-9450.

Brain Mapping Holds Key to Many Conditions

Many medical experts agree that the most difficult aspect of treating an illness, condition or injury is getting to the root of the problem.  Am I depressed or just anxious?  Why can’t I get help for my son’s ADHD problems?  What’s wrong with my bright daughter who is struggling so with math?  These are questions that have perplexed even the most astute medical minds for years.  Diagnosing such conditions becomes even more difficult when symptoms overlap.

A diagnostic tool now available at Alternatives: A Center for Conscious Health, has taken much of the guesswork from pinpointing the cause of serious issues.  Brain mapping, otherwise known as qEEG (quantitative electroencephalogram), is a procedure that collects and processes a detailed analysis of the brain, which is used to develop targeted protocols that can dramatically improve problems such as depression, anxiety and ADHD.

Brain mapping is the first step in a type of neurotherapy that has been available at Alternatives for more than two years  and is working wonders for so many patients of all ages, according to Jamie Moore, RN, Neurotherapy Clinician at Alternatives.  The system incorporates elaborate video games, learning activities, and a variety of tools implemented by the practitioner in a reward-based system. 

A simple, quick and painless process, brain mapping helps detect where in the brain the problem originates and allows Moore to design a plan to retrain the brain.  Nineteen electrodes are attached to the head of a patient.  qEEG data is then collected with the eyes closed and with the eyes open.  The patient may also read or work math problems so that the brain can be evaluated while working on a difficult task.  The brain waves that result on the computer screen help Moore detect where the problem is located and identify what it is.

“Brain mapping allows me to see what the brain is doing in both relaxed and active states.  If children have a problem with math, we ask them to do math equations while hooked up to the system and see what areas of the brain respond or don’t.  Sometimes we will ask them to read or recall stressful situations during the brain mapping to help pinpoint the areas of activity and imbalance.  The difference between anxiety and depression can be difficult to diagnose, but brain mapping can detect that, which is very important.  A person could be taking anti-depressants and not be depressed at all but anxious.”

A program can then be developed to literally re-train specific areas of the brain by encouraging the brain to learn new patterns or break old ones to improve a patient’s problems.

At Alternatives, the diagnostic tool has been particularly effective in diagnosing such conditions as depression, anxiety, ADHD and learning disabilities.  But the uses of brain mapping are widespread.  Even those with sports injuries can be helped.  “We did a brain mapping on an eighth-grader who was functionally illiterate in math and in the 10 percentile in the U.S,” Moore said.  “After following a series of treatments, he now ranks in the 50th percentile.  That same student recently suffered a concussion in football, which resulted in changes in the brain.  Because he had a baseline qEEG from one year ago, we were able to compare the old qEEG with the new brain mapping post concussion. That analysis revealed that he had suffered a mild traumatic brain injury.  It was recommended that he not play full contact football for one season so that his brain could heal.  Without a baseline brain mapping, we would have never known the extent of the damage that had occurred.  He might have also continued playing football, resulting in further damage. He is now back at Alternatives for further treatment.” 


For Moore, the work is gratifying because the results are so positive.  One study of qEEG revealed that in five cases of patients suffering from brain injuries or conditions, memory improvements ranged from 68 percent to 181 percent (http://chp-neurotherapy.com/pdfs/JHTR15-6-07001-013.pdf).


Moore has seen those same positive results.  “We’ve seen improvement in nearly everyone who has tried this program.”

Thermography Detecting Breast Cancer in the Earliest Stages

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a great time to make sure that you are doing everything possible to prevent one of the deadliest cancers that affect women.  For three years now, Alternatives has been offering breast thermography, a technology that employs a digital infrared camera and computer systems to measure heat from the surface of the breasts.  The test produces an image, which can be evaluated for abnormalities in the breast.  


“Thermography is not a test that replaces mammography, but it does provide different information,” noted Dr. Patricia Ryan, Alternatives’ founder.  “Mammography looks at structural changes in the breast and identifies cancer after it already has formed.  Thermography measures increased blood flow to areas of the breast where tumors may be forming. Thermography can be used in concert with mammography to help identify breast cancer and protect women from the advancement of the disease.”  


Research conducted at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Cornell and reported in 2008 revealed that Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging (DITI) or breast thermography identified 58 of 60 malignancies, with 97 percent sensitivity, 44 percent specificity and 82 percent negative predictive value depending on the mode used.1  


“DITI is a valuable adjunct to mammography and ultrasound, especially in women with dense breast parenchyma,” the study concluded.


In fact, cancer was recently detected in an Alternatives patient who was reported to have a normal mammogram, Dr. Ryan noted. For more information contact Alternatives today at 827-9450.

1. Am J Surg. 2008 Oct ;196 (4):523-6. Effectiveness of a noninvasive digital infrared thermal imaging system in the detection of breast cancer. Arora N, Martins D, Ruggerio D, Tousimis E, Swistel AJ, Osborne MP, Simmons RM. Department of Surgery; http://www.breastthermography.com/articles/AmJSurg-EffectivenessIR-detectingBCA2008.pdf

Important Nutrition Advice for Expectant Moms

It used to be that a new mom could expect a healthy baby with very little effort.  After all, a woman’s body supplies all of the God-given nutrients to grow a well-developed new life, right?  Sadly, such is not the case anymore.  


“A placenta used to be considered adequate protection for a baby, but one study found an average of 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants in the umbilical cord blood of newborn infants,” said Kathi Bratberg, RN, MS Holistic Nutrition at Alternatives http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden2/execsumm.php.
   
“Many newborns are at a detriment at birth with compromised liver and immune systems.  Some are even born with allergies,” she explained.  The explosion of ADHD, autism and learning disabilities also are believed to have a genetic link, according to some experts.  “What’s worse, if the mother had a bad diet, smoked and drank alcohol, those conditions will factor into her newborn as well,” Bratberg said.


The ways in which industrial pollution begins in the womb are chronicled in the compelling YouTube video “10 Americans” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5n4HhQr25Q, produced by the Environmental Working Group http://www.ewg.org/.


That’s why Alternatives is helping expectant moms shore up their first lines of defense by identifying potential nutrition problems and designing nutritious food plans for the health of the mother and baby.  Micronutrient testing – a blood test – is now available at Alternatives. SpectraCell’s micronutrient test measures more than 32 vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in the body and evaluates how they are absorbed and utilized. 


“Expectant moms can prepare ahead of time,” Bratberg said, “by eating clean foods, healthy fats and proper proteins.  If a new mom is healthy, then she’ll be passing on healthy attributes to her new baby.  In fact, if a woman is even thinking of getting pregnant, she should begin to prepare her body through proper nutrition and supplements.”  Alternatives offers many resources and expertise into proper eating plans for expectant moms and children. 


A quarterly movie series will delve into the subject of chemical and toxic pollutants in our food chain and a discussion afterwards will cover the healthy alternatives that parents can consider for their children.  “We will get parents the information they need to make healthy changes in their children’s diets,” Bratberg said.  Cooking can be time-consuming, but it also should be a family affair, Bratberg noted.  “Mom isn’t the only one who has to cook.  Kids can get involved as well and they’re more willing to eat what they prepare,” she added.


“If you can get your kids started on good healthy foods and fats, and keep them away from toxins, sugars and artificial sweeteners, hopefully the genetic predisposition of poor nutrition.”

For additional information about healthy eating, go to the Westin A. Price Foundation at http://www.westonaprice.org/.