E-News Jun 2003

The Heartland Naturopathic Clinic Email Newsletter - June 2003

The following is an issue our email newsletter with helpful information on staying well and our practices. They include articles on home care, natural healing, cured cases, commentary on current issues in the field of health care and medicine and other interesting and useful information. If you are interested in receiving this newsletter simply send your email address, name and a request asking to be added to our email address list to: Staff@HeartlandNaturopathic.com.

CONTENTS
* Therapeutic Diet for Insulin Resistance
* A Sample Day Of Home-Cooked Meals

THERAPEUTIC DIET FOR INSULIN RESISTANCE
If you any of the following problems you probably will benefit from this diet:
* Have trouble losing weight.
* High blood pressure, cholesterol and blood triglycerides.
* Weight gain around the abdomen despite no changes in your lifestyle, or even with reducing fat in your diet.
* Growing tiredness and sluggishness.
* Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) symptoms 2 to 4 hours after eating like mood swings, sweet and food cravings, nervousness, faintness or confusion.

Insulin Resistance Syndrome (IR), sometimes called Metabolic Syndrome or Syndrome X, affects one in four Americans and is a leading contributor to obesity, heart disease, Type II diabetes and a host of other health problems. For more background information on Insulin Resistance Syndrome and an explanation of why this diet is so important for so many people, refer to April’s Email Newsletter or go to the page under Nutrition Care on our website: http://www.heartlandnaturopathic.com

This diet is best done under the supervision of one of our naturopathic doctors. Unsupervised, it will work well for the average person suffering from early stages of IR. However, if you are one of the many people who have serious weight problems, bad hypoglycemia, diabetes or serious cholesterol, blood pressure and other heart disease risk factors, then you will get much better results with the support and expertise of our doctors.

This low-carbohydrate, moderate-protein and moderate-fat diet is focused on real foods as the solution to Insulin Resistance Syndrome. It is mainly refined foods, especially sweets, combined with deficient exercise that gets people into trouble. A program based on whole foods, not more refined food products, is the best long-term solution in IR, and a host of other health problems as well. It is also recommended to take a good multiple vitamin/mineral.

Based on human evolutionary history and physiology this should be your most natural and optimal diet. It reflects what our Paleolithic ancestors (i.e., before agriculture) evolved eating over a million years and, as such, has the highest potential of supporting healing and preventing disease. In addition, this diet is naturally alkalizing, which is considered by some people to be healthier than the typical American acidifying diet. We recommended reading “The Paleo Diet” by Loren Cordain, Ph.D. It gives a good background on the problems of the modern diet and the advantages of the Paleolithic diet. However, he is a researcher and not a clinician or nutritionist, so use this newsletter as your main reference and refer to his book only for background.

It will take at least 2 to 3 months to reestablish normal insulin sensitivity. If there is severe IR or obesity it could take much longer to stabilize. However, most people will experience some improvements early on in the program. After stabilization has been shown through lab values, blood pressures, improved energy, loss of weight (especially abdominal), loss of carbohydrate cravings and loss of hypoglycemic symptoms, then switching to the Maintenance Diet for Insulin Resistance is possible. However, it will be essential to continue to monitor the lab values, signs, symptoms and weight.

With this diet you should NOT be hungry until its time for the next meal. If this is happening try increasing the non-starchy vegetables, nuts, fats and/or protein intake in the meals. Do NOT avoid naturally fatty/oily foods, but limit saturated fats. Avoid hydrogenated oils and fried foods. For hypoglycemia symptoms eat smaller more frequent meals. Try to eat for hunger and not emotional reasons. If you must eat for emotional reasons, eat non-starchy vegetables or lean protein. Snacks should be non-starchy vegetables, nuts, seeds or protein foods.

Finally, this newsletter article is very information dense. Please print it out and read it carefully several times to get the most information out of it. If you are someone who should be supervised for the diet, please call the office for an appointment.

PROBLEM CARBOHYDRATES (refined and starchy) – The cause of the problem!
* No potatoes or simple sugars/carbohydrates (common table sugar, fructose, sweets, cookies, candy, ice cream, pastries, honey, fruit juice, soda pop, alcoholic beverages, etc.). Anything that tastes sweet (including artificial sweeteners and Stevia) may raise insulin levels, thus aggravating IR and perpetuating the cravings for sweets. As IR improves, sweet cravings usually decrease, often within a few weeks.
* Almost no grain products (breads, pasta, oatmeal, cereals, cornbread, corn tortillas, crackers, popcorn, etc.) and no refined grains/carbohydrates (white flour products, white pasta, white rice, etc.).
* Whole grains (whole brown rice, wheat, rye, barley and buckwheat) only in very small amounts.
* Legumes (beans, peas, peanuts, soybeans, soy products, etc.) only in very small amounts.

GOOD CARBOHYDRATES (non-refined and non-starchy)
* Small amounts of fruit are OK but eat it with protein meals and not alone. Berries are best. No dried fruit.
* Eat lots and lots of non-starchy vegetables. Raw or lightly cooked is best. These should be the main source of carbohydrates in the diet. Fresh vegetables are best, frozen is OK but canned is to be avoided except for canned tomatoes and tomato sauce.

PROTEINS
* Moderate amounts of lean meats, seafood and fish. Good examples are wild fish, wild game animals, free-range chicken, turkey, range-fed beef and naturally grown pork. Grain-fed means more saturated fats and omega-6 oils. Wild and range-fed means less of these and more omega-3s. The more omega-3s the better.
* If you do not have a dairy allergy, a little dairy is OK. The best dairy products are lower fat dairy products such as low or no-fat cottage cheese, milk and unsweetened yogurt. Limit butter and no margarine.
* Eggs are fine unless you have allergies to them, but the best are eggs from free-range chickens and eggs grown to be high in omega-3 oils. Best is no more than 7 yolks per week due to the high fat content.
* For most people moderate amounts of nuts (walnuts, macadamia nuts, almonds, cashews, pecans, etc.) and seeds (sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, etc.) are fine. Raw are best. Walnuts are high in omega-3s. Nut and seed butters are good (almond, cashew, sesame). Peanut butter and peanuts are legumes and not recommended.

FATS
* Reduce saturated fats as found in dairy products (cheese, butter, etc.) and most commercial red meats.
* Moderate amounts of healthy oils. Best are monounsaturated oils (olive oil best for cooking, canola oil 2nd, nuts, avocados) and polyunsaturated oils high in omega-3 oils (canola, flax, fish oils, walnuts). Feel free to add liberally to salads, sauces for vegetables and when cooking lean meats. Flax oil is high in omega-3 oils but goes rancid very easily so refrigerate and do not heat and add only after cooking.
* Avoid hydrogenated oils and fried foods. Some low-heat stovetop frying with olive or canola oil is OK.

MISCELLANEOUS
* Drink lots of pure water.
* Organic is always best when available.
* Cut down on salt but feel free to use other spices liberally.
* Except for non-starchy vegetables, the other carbohydrates should be limited to protein meals.

It is usually safe to assume that most processed foods will interfere with this diet, even if low-carb. Finally, it must be emphasized that exercise is a very important component of success. The more exercise the better you will do.

VEGETABLES
Highly recommended vegetables. Eat as many of these as possible for the best health:
Artichoke, Asparagus, Avocado, Beet greens, Bok Choy, Broccoli, Brussel sprouts, Cabbage (green and red), Cauliflower, Celery, Chicory, Chinese cabbage, Chives, Collard greens, Cucumber, Dandelion greens, Endive, Escarole, Fennel, Garlic, Kale, Kohlrabi, Lettuce (avoid iceberg), Mushrooms, Mustard greens, Onions, Parsley, Peppers (all kinds), Purslane, Plantain, Radish, Seaweed, Spinach, Swiss chard, Tomatillos, Tomatoes, Turnips greens, Turnips, Watercress, Zucchini.

Vegetables to use in moderation:
Beets, Carrots, Green beans, Eggplant, Jicima, Peas (actually a legume), Squashes, New potatoes, Taro, Yams.

Vegetables to avoid:
Potatoes, Parsnip, Pumpkin, Rutabaga, Sweet potatoes, Corn (actually a grain).

A SAMPLE DAY OF HOME-COOKED MEALS FOR ONE PERSON
Breakfast:
* A one or two free-range egg omelet with a tablespoon of cheese, chopped scallions or other vegetables, spices, pepper and a dash of salt. (If find you are eating a lot of eggs remove some of the yolks.) [Takes 10-12 minutes to make but while cooking go to making lunch.]
* A cut up apple with cashew butter. [1 minute.]
* Water/tea (and water throughout the day).

Lunch (can be taken to work):
* A large salad with red leaf lettuce, red cabbage, scallions, other vegetables and walnuts or other nuts or seeds (made fresh that morning). With a natural low sugar/carb commercial dressing (canola or olive oil, vinegar, spices, sun-dried tomatoes, etc.). [Takes 10-12 minutes to make.]
* Optional: 4-5 ounces of baked wild salmon with garlic, spices and a dash of salt (a piece of a salmon baked earlier in the week). Add more nuts and seeds to the salad if you don’t use this option.
* Water/tea

Dinner:
* 6-ounce lean range-fed sirloin steak (or fish or chicken) with some garlic and olive oil added while cooking.
* 2-3 cups of steamed broccoli, carrots, onions and/or other vegetables with a sauce.
* The sauce is: one quarter cup of roasted tahini (sesame seed butter), lemon or lime juice to taste, tsp of tamari or soy sauce, tbsp of flax oil, and spices to taste.
* A piece of fruit as dessert.
* Water/tea

Many of the supplements specifically mentioned in these articles can be ordered from us by calling (402) 391-6714 or can be found at your local health food store and various online companies.

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