If food could be controversial, then tuna must be in the conversation. There is so much talk as to how much mercury is in the fish and how damaging it could be. Mercury, in excessive amounts, can be damaging to the nervous system, liver, kidneys and practically the whole body! Yet with the excessive toxicity it is commonly used in tooth fillings such as amalgam. Always refuse amalgam fillings as these are composed of mercury and are common sources of mercury poisoning.

But, what about the fish? Okay, well the most common fish to watch for mercury are the large fish such as tuna, shark, mackerel and swordfish. These fish are highest in the food chain, so they eat all the other little fish. Little fish have little quantities of mercury. The big fish eat a lot of little fish, and all that mercury builds up in the big fish, which is why we find high amounts of mercury in bigger fish.

Does this mean you should stop eating fish? NO! Instead fish is much healthier than most red meat and chicken in the market. Try eating smaller fish like salmon, tilapia, flouder, bluefish and snapper.

A recent study done by Purdue University found that when individuals ate tuna the amount of mercury absorbed decreased after consuming oat bran, wheat bran and black tea. In many Asian cultures that consume large amounts of fish, they also have a high intake of tea, coincidence? Likely not so.

Here are a few products that would help with inhibiting mercury absorption:

Solaray – Black Tea Extract

Choice Organic – Black Tea

Now Foods – Oat Bran

Written by:

Ralph Esposito

Follow me on Twitter @NutritionDocNYU

The one thing I truly loathe hearing is people blaming their past, current or future health problems completely on genetics. It bothers me that people are so easy to put their own personal health out of their own hands. When someone blames their health condition completely on genetics, not only have they attempted to take blame off of their lifestyle, but even more important is that they have taken the healing out of their hands. Well, your genetics are not the end-all-be-all, epi-genetics is a more accurate way of looking at health conditions.

Epigenetics, straight from its Latin derivative is outer-genetics meaning outside sources that impact gene expressions. What this means is that there are non-genetic influences on your DNA, which impacts how it is expressed. So if you tell me that you have high cholesterol because it’s ‘genetic’… Sorry but I just don’t buy it.

Some people will read this and be upset that unless they take control of their lifestyle and their health issue may not resolve. Others may read this and be content that they actually have control over their health condition and then they can resolve their health issue. Which one are you?

I think you can take control of your health condition, modify your lifestyle and eliminate this outer source that is causing chaos upon your body. Essentially, the environment impacts your genes and can cause your body to change and modify itself it order to compensate. Take for example the infamous genetic-blaming disorder hyperlipidemia, also known as high cholesterol and high triglycerides. Many people will see their doctor, and they will be told that they have high cholesterol and if dieting and exercise doesn’t help then it ‘must’ be genetic. However, what if they are just not introducing the right foods, or perhaps they are doing other things like excess alcohol, that could be contributing to their cholesterol issues. Or perhaps they are cholesterol-deprived and their body is trying to compensate with excess cholesterol production. Maybe they are under extreme stress. Each of these aspects are epi, or outside environmental sources.

Nutrigenomics, the study of nutrients on gene expression is a new up and coming science. A book I just read by Naturopath Dr. D’Adamo (of the Blood Type diet) goes very deep into nutrigenomics. It is called The Genotype Diet. This book is way ahead of its time, and I highly suggest you read it. It essentially takes everything I said, but puts it in a book with personalized genetic analysis. Go get it!

-Ralph Esposito

Follow me on twitter @ nutritiondocnyu

Has the novelty of having the kids home from school worn-off – for both you AND the kids?! Yep, it’s that time of year again – the younger half of the household is more restless than usual and getting the blues, while the adults try to downplay their relief!  Back-to-School!!

So let’s start with the wake-up.  If you don’t own a trumpet but, would still like to get the kids out of bed quickly – Take at least a week to slowly shift your kids’ sleep schedule back to meet their needs: At least 10 hours of sleep for six to eleven year olds and at least 9 hours of sleep for ages twelve and above.

To avoid having your carefully prepared bag lunch find its way immediately into the trash when out of your eyeshot – Make Lunch a Team Effort- When it comes to creating healthy, yet desirable school lunches, the trick is to involve the kids in planning and preparing new lunch ideas. Offer them 2 or 3 healthy options each day. When your child chooses one, ‘team-up’ to make and pack the lunch. Whether it’s spreading on condiments, rolling up tortillas or filling baggies; the effort will give kids a sense of pride when sitting down for a healthy lunch! Together come-up with a collection of favorite sandwiches and offer-up a fresh variety each day of the week. When children become bored of their school lunch favorites, often most of their lunch ends up in the trash instead of their tummies.

Be creative when using basic sandwich staples. Think chicken and corn, ham and avocado, cheese and carrots or cream cheese and jam. While there is no way to ensure that your child is not trading away their food, you are preventing them from buying school lunches which consist of mostly processed food.

TIP 1 – Crunchy nuts make great snacks for older kids.

TIP 2 – Avocado is the perfect substitution for mayo on a sandwich.

TIP 3 – Pack meals in small portions as children tend to snack on several items at once.

And then there’s always the sneaky method of tricking your kids into eating healthier meals.  Let’s Play Hide n’ Seek with Veggies! Preschool children consumed nearly twice as many vegetables and 11% fewer calories over the course of a day when researchers at Penn State added pureed vegetables to the children’s favorite foods.

In their study, published July 25, 2011 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the researchers served vegetable-enhanced entrées to 39 children between the ages of 3 and 6 on three separate days. “We incorporated several vegetables into the dishes, including broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, tomatoes and squash,” said Maureen Spill, a post-doctoral fellow in nutritional sciences and the study’s lead author. “We were pleased to find that the children found the vegetable-enhanced versions to be equally acceptable to the standard recipes.”

According to Spill, the children ate the same amount of food regardless of the vegetable content of the meal. AND they found similar results when they served vegetable-enhanced meals to adults.

OK, even so – you’re not always sure that they’re getting enough balanced nutrition – we’ve got some amazing supplements – specially formulated just for kids!

Like: All-1’s Childrens Formula Vitamins & Minerals Powder which is a whole food powder and allows for better absorption.  It’s Hypoallergenic with no colorings, flavorings or sweeteners and contains not only a complete vitamin profile but important chelated minerals and amino acids too!

Or: Flora’s Kinder Love Childrens Multivitamin this formula provides Calcium, Herbal Extracts, B Vitamins and Vitamin C, A, and E making it an ideal multi-vitamin supplement to help maintain all-round health and vitality in children whose diet may be deficient in some of the nutrients they need.

And how about:  NutriBalance Children’s Formula which is intended to provide easily assimilated nutrition to support proper mental functioning and gastrointestinal health. It’s loaded with a balance of essential vitamins and minerals – but, it also contains probiotics to assist with digestion and has no yeast, wheat, corn, sugar or dairy products.

Best Health!

-Jeanne Ricks, CHC, AADP

I have some homework for you, but don’t worry it won’t require any calculus or Shakespeare literature.  The next time you go food shopping, take a look at the ingredients list on the food you buy. I can almost guarantee that you will find one of these ingredients in your food:

• Corn
• Soy
• Wheat
• Gluten (common in many wheat/grain products)
• Dairy
• Eggs
• Peanuts

These foods won’t kill you per se, but they are known allergens and depending on the individual they can truly make your body feel sub-par. Many people think an allergen is something you have a physically visible reaction to. For example, many people are allergic to peanuts and have a serious adverse reaction to them. However, this is not always the case with these other allergens.

Why would you want to eliminate these foods, well here are a few reasons.

Tummy Problems:

If you have an gastrointestinal issue that has difficulty going away, like IBS, food intolerances, bloating, gas, indigestion, irregular bowel movements, then eliminating these foods from your diet may, and likely will, relieve or remove these symptoms.

Skin Issues:

If you experience acne or any other skin issues like eczema, dry skin or your skin just isn’t clear, eliminating these foods may give you insight as to the culprit of the problem. By eliminiating these foods, your liver will have the opportunity to actually cleanse the body and not worry about removing these allergenic foods.

Allergies:

If you deal with chronic allergies, not a specific food allergy  (like peanuts), but sinus issues or other allergy symptoms, then perhaps your body is trying to tell you something.

Inflammation:

Chronic inflammation can be very painful and depressing. Dealing with chronic inflammation, such as back pain, nasal issues, or other inflammatory responses can be reduced with eliminating certain foods and introduces others. The body does an excellent job at healing itself, and inflammatory response are the body’s way of trying to clear up and resolve a problem. But how can it do so without the proper nutrients?

I know what you’re thinking. Yes, corn, soy, dairy, eggs, peanuts, soy, wheat and gluten are in a lot of foods, a lot, and yes it is hard to avoid these things. But it is not impossible, I know because I have done this exact program.

As one of my favorite professors, Dr. Sheldon Watts, once said, “Eat as close to the farm as possible.” Although most of us live very farm from farms, we can find foods in the market that are not processed or filled with corn, soy and the such. By eating more fruits and vegetables, and gluten free grains like oatmeal, buckwheat, brown, rice and quinoa, this program is absolutely possible. Add protein like, Purity’s Ultra Protein Vanilla Shake, wild salmon, free-range chicken, bison meat, or lamb.

This may seem difficult, but by eating healthier in just a week you will feel 10 times better than you thought you could.

Side Note:

• Try to avoid caffeinated drinks like coffee, soda, and black tea. Opt for ginger tea, decaf organic coffee and WATER!
• If you can try to buy organic or free-range chicken. Bison meat is naturally free-range. Also, wild fish like wild salmon is a much better option, given the additives that are found in farmed fish.

-Ralph

If you like my blogs follow me @nutritiondocnyu on twitter!

“It’s generally believed that having a nightcap may aid sleep, especially getting to sleep” says Seiji Nishino, Director of the Sleep & Circadian Neurobiology Lab at Stanford University School of Medicine. “This may be true for some people who have small amounts of alcohol intake. However, it should be noted that large amounts of alcohol intake interfere with sleep quality and the restorative role of sleep.”

This was no surprise – For a long time researchers have known that large amounts of alcohol shortens the length of time that it takes you to make that transition from full wakefulness to sleep (or Sleep Latency); increases your slow-wave sleep (SWS) and suppresses rapid eye movement (REM) during the first half of your sleep. During the second half of sleep, REM increases and sleep becomes shallower.

How do they know what happens? A study just released that was done on the acute effects of alcohol and the relationship between sleep and heart rate variability (HRV) during sleep, has shown that alcohol interferes with the restorative functions of sleep. Alcohol directly affects overall sleep architecture,” said Yohei Sagawa, a physician in the Department of Neuropsychiatry at the Akita University School of Medicine.

For this study, they gave 10 healthy, male university students with (average age of 21.6), 3 different alcohol beverages at 3 week intervals: 0g (control), 0.5g (low dose) or 1.0g (high dose). On the day of the experiment, a holter electrocardiogram was attached for a 24-hour period; the student was instructed to drink one of the 3 alcoholic beverages 100 minutes before going to bed; and polysomnography was then performed for 8 hours while they slept. The researchers were focused on the relationship between the students’ heart rate variability and their sleep.

The team found that alcohol increased heart rate and interfered with the restorative functions of sleep — and the more alcohol the participants drank, the greater the effect. “Although the first half of sleep after alcohol intake looks good on the EEG, the result of the assessment regarding the autonomic nervous system shows that drinking leads to insomnia rather than good sleep.”

The effect on habitual drinkers might be even worse, a study co-author said. “This study evaluated the effects on sleep after only a single dose of alcohol and easily found negative health consequences,” Seiji Nishino, said in an August 2011 news release. “Many people habitually drink alcohol and if the reduction of healthy parasympathetic nervous system activity during sleep occurs routinely as the result of drinking, the negative health consequences may be much larger and could bring about various diseases.” It is reported that habitual drinkers with high blood pressure are often associated with reductions of parasympathetic nerve activities.”

Sagawa agreed. “Many alcoholics and habitual drinkers suffer from insomnia” and it’s been shown that “suppressed parasympathetic nerve activity is the result of alcohol drinking. Thus, it is concluded that suppressed parasympathetic nerve activity is associated with insomnia, which includes difficulty getting to sleep, early-morning awakening, lack of a sense of deep sleep and difficulty maintaining sleep.”

But don’t worry – skip the nightcap!  At House of Nutrition we’ve got some incredible sleep aids that won’t break the bank!

Solgar’s – Sweetest Dreams Gaia’s – Sound Sleep Liquid Phyto-Caps

Natrol’s – Sleep n’ Restore Enzymatic’s – Fatigued to Fantastic Revitalizing Sleep Formula

Not a “pill person” – prefer a liquid?  We’ve got you covered too! Check-out:

Herbs etc.’s (Alcohol Free) – Deep Sleep Bach’s – Rescue Remedy Sleep

Michael’s – Sleeping Spray Herb Pharm’s – Relaxing Sleep Tonic Compound

And find many more sleep solutions here:  House of Nutrition – Sleep Aid

Best Health!

Jeanne Ricks, CHC, AADP

Straight from the docks – fresh evidence that Fish Oil is absolutely essential to your health – especially for cognitive brain function, as well as aging.

Researchers at Rhode Island Hospital’s Alzheimer’s Disease & Memory Disorders Center have found positive associations between Fish Oil supplements and cognitive functioning as well as differences in brain structure between users and non-users of Fish Oil supplements. The findings suggest possible benefits of Fish Oil supplements on brain health and aging.

       The results were reported at the recent International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease, in Paris, France that just wrapped-up on July 21^st; and truly provide new hope for anybody concerned about the long-range health of their brain.hmmmm, are you taking Fish Oil?

       The study included 819 individuals, 117 of them reported regular use of Fish Oil supplements before entry and during study follow-up. The researchers compared cognitive functioning and brain degeneration for patients who reported routinely using these supplements to those who were not using Fish Oil supplements.

       Lori Daiello, PharmD, lead researcher, reports that compared to non-users, use of Fish Oil supplements was associated with better cognitive functioning. However, this association was significant only in those individuals who had a normal baseline cognitive function and in individuals who tested negative for a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s Disease known as APOE4. This is consistent with previous research.

       The unique finding, however, is that there was a clear association between Fish Oil supplements and brain volume.In other words, Fish Oil use was associated with less brain shrinkage in patients taking these supplements during the study compared to those who didn’t use them.

Hey, but before you click over to House of Nutrition to get your brain healthy product – you should probably ask – How do I chose a Fish Oil supplement? 

Glad you asked!  Here are some easy tips.

• Look for the seal. Companies including USP and NSF analyze supplements for the real vitamin level and for any impurities. The seal on the label tells you an independent company has reviewed the supplement.Also, a reputable company will also ensure that the purity, quality and your safety are guaranteed.
• Look for oil which is molecularly distilled, a process that takes place in a vacuum to avoid oxidation of Fish Oil. This is the only process that successfully removes impurities and contaminants from Fish Oil. This process also produces a more concentrated form of Fish Oil supplement with high potencies of EPA and DHA.
• Look for a product that’s “species specific,” with fish like wild Salmon, Anchovies and Sardines on the label (btw these are the specific varieties which have the highest levels and the best Fish Oil for Omega-3). This is the only way to know where the oil came from. When a supplement label just says “fish oil” or “marine lipids,” they’re hiding something and the product should NOT be considered.
• Look for supplements that have a balanced ratio of all eight Omega-3 fatty acids. Research has proven that all eight members of the Omega-3 family are vitally important to your health. The Omega-3 nutrients need to be complete and balanced, just like they are in nature, in order to be beneficial. Many people have heard of ALA, DHA and EPA – they’re the Omega-3 ‘all-stars’. But DPA, HPA, ETA, ETA and SDA are all just as important. And when the whole Fish Oil family is present, they’re much more powerful than any individual fatty acid.
• Lastly, make sure there are no unlabeled oils or strange ingredients hidden in the product. How? Take a moment to add up the individual Omega-3 fatty acids listed on the label. They should equal the total amount of oil in the product. Otherwise, you’re getting ripped off!

So now that you know what to look for come by and check out some great prices on some really superior Fish Oil products like:

Futurebiotics Omega-3 Fish Oil

Schiff’s Omega-3 Fish Oil Enteric Coated

Natrol’s Omega-3 Fish Oil

Carlson’s Very Finest Norwegian Fish Oil

Best Health,

Jeanne Ricks, CHC, AADP

1. Call your mom (or anyone else who may take the place of ‘mom’ from time to time) for NO reason whatsoever. Have no motive. Just say hi. Ask them how they’re doing. Don’t talk about yourself. Moms LOVE this kind of stuff.

2. Find somewhere local that you can volunteer for one hour this week. It takes 3 minutes (Google or craigslist: 1 min + possible 2 min for email/phone call). A lot of gyms & studios (the YMCA included) will trade off volunteer hours for classes – great way for some instant Karma rewards. Go.

3. Call an old friend. Take 30 minutes out of Tumblr/Facebook/TV time and actually dial the digits. It’s not as scary as you might think. No pick up? On to the next. Speaking to a friend at least once a week can enhance friendships. Texting? Not so much (and I’m the queen of texting, I hate talking on the phone). Aside from a good thumb workout, texting doesn’t enrich. We like voice.

4. Bake something for someone else. Depending on your goals, you might not want to keep baked goods easily available, but what happens when you want ONE cookie? Make the full recipe for others. Tons of healthy recipes out there: always good to give someone something fresh. Bring them to work, school, the gym etc. (beware of allergy policies) and, if it’s healthy, print out a few copies of the recipe & nutritional content. It makes you feel good.

5. Go read. A real book, with pages. If you’re not used to reading, find something short, perhaps an old favorite. Sit under a tree. Seriously, when’s the last time you DID that? Feels good, your brain will feel alive after. (turn off your cell phone)

6. Wake up early and MAKE breakfast at home. Eggs, bacon, toast, scramble, parfait. Sit and eat your breakfast without rushing. It’s an awesome way to feel ‘weekend-y’ during the week.

7. Go for a walk. Yup, that’s it. Walk. Outside.

8. Compliment your friends on things they DO or how they make you FEEL. “I admired how organized you are”. “You make me feel calm.” “I think you’re really great at _______ “. Avoid commenting on their looks for one day. Try it.

The list could go on and on. What would you include?  What’s on your instant-karma list?