No Soup For You!
You may remember this phrase from the popular 90’s American TV series “Seinfeld.” This phrase caused so many of us to chuckle as the fictional character “The Soup Nazi” refused to serve certain customers in his restaurant. His quick dismissal of these individuals was often for reasons known only to him, leaving his victims feeling dejected and hungry. They lived in fear of provoking his hidden sources of frustration, which would cause him to blurt out the famous phrase, “No Soup For You!”
Many people fear that in living the Wheat Belly lifestyle they will encounter similar scenarios. The imaginary “Grain-fr...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - March 8, 2018 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: News & Updates Source Type: blogs
Fermented veggies
I’ve been discussing the role of fermented foods in preventing or treating dysbiosis and the more difficult condition small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, SIBO. While a high-potency probiotic supplement and prebiotic fibers continue to play important roles, I’d like to expand the conversation about the role of fermented foods.
First of all, there is no need to purchase fermented foods, as you can make them easily, with no special equipment, and at virtually no cost beyond, say, the beets, onions, or cucumbers you plan to ferment. (You will find the basics on how to ferment vegetables in the Wheat Belly Total ...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - February 19, 2018 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Undoctored Wheat Belly Lifestyle autoimmune bowel flora dysbiosis grain-free Inflammation prebiotic probiotic small intestinal Source Type: blogs
Green Bean Casserole
Here’s the Wheat Belly version of a traditional holiday favorite side-dish, Green Bean Casserole.
In the Wheat Belly version, there are no grains, of course, and net carb exposure is low, as the onion, carrots, and green beans are the only substantial carbohydrate sources. If divided into 6 servings, each serving yields approximately 6 grams net carbs, well within our limit of no more than 15 grams net carbs per meal. And, unlike many recipes for Green Bean Casseroles you’ll find online and in some cookbooks, no canned soup is used, thereby avoiding the grain landmines commonly contained, especially wheat flou...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - December 22, 2017 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Recipes Wheat Belly Lifestyle gluten-free grain-free grains Inflammation low-carb undoctored Source Type: blogs
Real-life healthy dinners (for real people with real busy lives)
At the end of a long workday, my husband and I will often trade texts figuring out who will pick up the kids at my mother’s, and who will deal with dinner. Thankfully, we’re equal partners in all responsibilities (except spider-killing, which is strictly Hubby’s job) and dietary preferences. We’re both health-conscious foodie types. We want good food that’s good for us.
An unvarnished look at family dinner
The kids, on the other hand… I’m not sure how this happened, but we somehow raised creatures with tastes vastly different from ours, and each other. We’ve never tried to cook an evening family meal that e...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - November 29, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Monique Tello, MD, MPH Tags: Health Healthy Eating Source Type: blogs
Sunday Poem II
GraceGrace is when you get something good you don ’t deserve;An unexpected kindness,A blindside forgiveness.Growing up, this was a lesson I never fully learnedAll the love I ever got,I felt it had to be earned.Grace is a way for fate to save face:When your number comes upWhen you draw an inside straightWhen the roulette ball lands on black.But you can ’t even roll the diceIf you haven ’t paid a priceIt ’s too late now.I, a middle-aged mediocre man,Am tired, too tired to play.I ’ve been playedBy pale-faced, black-vested croupiersOn every corner, in every town.I ’ve lost all verveAlmost effortlessly on the verge ...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - September 24, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
Your brain on chocolate
Follow me on Twitter @RobShmerling
Did you know that places where chocolate consumption is highest have the most Nobel Prize recipients? It’s true, at least according to a 2012 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Of course, that could be a coincidence. But is it possible that intelligence or other measures of high brain function are actually improved by the consumption of chocolate? A new review summarizes the evidence and concludes with a resounding “maybe.”
Keeping your brain healthy
When it comes to preserving and improving brain function, let’s face it: we need all the help we can get. With ...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - August 16, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Robert H. Shmerling, MD Tags: Brain and cognitive health Healthy Eating Memory Source Type: blogs
8 Foods that Boost Your Mood
What we eat might not be able to cure us indefinitely from depression. I learned that hard lesson earlier this year. However, researchers are compiling strong evidence that what we eat can influence our risk for developing depression and can keep persons in remission from possibly relapsing.
Eating better foods has certainly helped my mood and allowed me to get by on less medication. A 2014 review published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition examined the link between diet and depression risk and found that a diet consisting mainly of fruit, vegetables, fish, and whole grains was significantly associated with a r...
Source: World of Psychology - July 28, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Therese J. Borchard Tags: Alternative and Nutritional Supplements Depression Mental Health and Wellness Personal Self-Help Caffeine Depressive Episode Major Depressive Episode Mood Disorder phytochemicals Psychology Psychopharmacology Source Type: blogs
Nima for do-it-yourself gluten testing
The people who developed the at-home personal gluten testing device, Nima, recently sent me one of their devices to test. I shall therefore be putting this device to work in coming weeks and posting the results here.
Here is the device with one of the single-use capsules for testing:
The first meal I tested was a Shrimp, Crab, Avocado & Mango Stack ordered at The Chart House in Boston, where my son and I were visiting my sister. My son’s girlfriend, Liz, is an exquisitely sensitive 23-year old with celiac disease and she needs to be vigilant for any cross-contamination at all. (I once served my son and Liz a mea...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - July 16, 2017 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Undoctored Wheat Belly Lifestyle autoimmune celiac disease Dr. Davis gluten grains Inflammation joint pain Source Type: blogs
Foods rich in prebiotic fibers
Prebiotic fibers are essentially the “water” and “fertilizer” that nourish your bowel flora.These are fibers that you ingest but cannot digest, leaving them for microorganisms in the intestines to consume. Some call prebiotic fibers resistant starch since they are impervious to human digestion and digested by microorganisms. Getting prebiotic fibers is crucial to your health and the success of your diet.
Don’t confuse prebiotic fibers with the more commonly recognized cellulose fibers from bran cereals, bran muffins, and whole grains, not too different from wood fiber. Cellulose is not metabolized by you or by bo...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - July 5, 2017 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Undoctored Wheat Belly Lifestyle Source Type: blogs
Eating the Same Foods Repeatedly Is Stupid
Do you have a tendency to eat the same foods over and over?
Are you aware that it’s much better for your overall health, mental functioning, and immunity to take in a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, greens, nuts, and seeds? Eating the same limited foods repeatedly increases the chance that you’ll miss out on certain micronutrients, including many that haven’t been identified or studied yet. A nutritionally restricted diet also increases your susceptibility to disease.
Our forager ancestors moved around a lot and ate nutritionally different wild foods wherever they went. With the rise of agriculture, h...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - June 27, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Health Source Type: blogs
Safe summer grilling tips
Follow me on Twitter @RobShmerling
It’s nearly June and the start of the summer season is upon us in New England. That means taking advantage of the warm weather to hit the beach or a hiking trail, and of course, it’s the season of the backyard barbeque.
Grilling is a great way to enjoy tasty outdoor meals. However, research has found that two harmful chemicals can form during the grilling process. Heterocyclic amines form when proteins (amino acids and creatine) found in meat are cooked over high heat, such as grilling or broiling. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) form when fat and juices from meat drip down to...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - May 26, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Robert H. Shmerling, MD Tags: Health Healthy Eating Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 441
Not a parasite; most closely resembles a slice of onion/onion skin. If you do an internet search for sauteed onions, you will find many beautiful (and tasty looking) examples of similar-appearing structures.This case is a great reminder that many food partially-digested objects can be seen in human stool specimens, and many of them (e.g. bean sprouts, bubble gum, citrus pieces, onion slices, tomato skins) can be seen an mistaken as parasites. The definitive way to differentiate these objects from true parasites is to look them under a dissecting microscopy and by light microscopy if necessary, examining the consistency and...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 9, 2017 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
April in Paris: Voyager Avec Enfants (Day One)
For the past six years, we ' d spent the kids Spring Break in Hilton Head, SC. It was a great family tradition--we ' d rent a house on the beach with pool, the kids would play in the sand and swim every day, we ' d cook, do a lot of reading, relax--it wasthat kind of thing. Simple, fun, kid-friendly, crowd-pleasing. However, now that my kids are getting somewhat older, we ' re trying to push ourselves a little bit more with our travel (in the somewhat limited time we have, around our work schedules and the kids school), and so after a very successful trip to London last summer, we decided,you know what, let ' s just go for...
Source: the underwear drawer - April 3, 2017 Category: Anesthesiology Authors: Michelle Au Source Type: blogs
Fat Blasters: Ketosis ’ best friend
After elimination of virtually all dietary carbohydrates/sugars, the key to achieving physiologic ketosis is to maintain high fat intake. Not increased protein intake that can, in fact, “turn off” ketosis, since liberal protein intake modestly increases blood insulin and sugar levels, thereby undoing the process that generates ketosis. The key is to increase fat intake and thereby feel satiated and turn off all desire for carbs while not provoking insulin release. If accelerated weight loss or breaking a weight loss plateau is among your goals, increased fat intake—counterintuitively—encourages mobi...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - December 5, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Wheat Belly Lifestyle carbs fat blasters gluten grains ketosis low-carb Source Type: blogs
I Was Too Busy To Blog
Its the truth. I was too busy to blog. Tomorrow we are hosting Thanksgiving dinner for the first time. My mother, after 45 years of hosting Thanksgiving, has decided that she wants to go to someone else ' s house for dinner. Now I do admit to doing a fair amount of the cooking for the past 30 years or so, but its the first time at our house. In our new house with its big living room and open to the kitchen dining room which is why we now can host. In our new house with all my health ailments.That ' s okay, my husband helped a lotand I can always take a nap if I get tired. Since I have cooked, I do not do dishes.So anyway, ...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - November 23, 2016 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: busy cooking fatigue holidays lack of sleep medications stress Source Type: blogs
