Holistic Wellness Show

Death to Diabetes

DeWayne McCulley, aka The Diabetes Engineer: Author of “Death to Diabetes” will be a featured guest on “Holistic Wellness” in June, 2010. DeWayne McCulley shocked his doctors and survived a near-death diabetic coma, despite a blood glucose of 1337, more than a 1200 points above normal!. McCulley was able to overcome severe hyperinsulinemia, hyperglycemia, hypertriglyceridemia, [...]

Autism: Food for Thought

Holistic Wellness Podcast is thrilled to welcome award winning author & columnist Ellen Notbohm to the show. In consideration of Autism Awareness Month, Ellen Notbohm stops by the show to chat with us about her book entitled, “Ten Things Every Child With Autism Wishes You Knew“. Tune in and listen to Ellen share her insights [...]

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Cancer: The Truth, The Lies, The Money (Pt. 1)

Highly regarded cancer researcher, Ty Bollinger makes a guest appearance on Holistic Wellness Podcast to drop some truth bombs on the “Medical Mafia” who control the cancer industry!!! If you or someone you know is confronting cancer, you don’t wanna miss this show!!! Ty Bollinger is a committed christian, devoted husband and father, a CPA, [...]

Autism: Food for Thought 2

Posted by Michael Casals on April 28th, 2010

Cover of "Ten Things Every Child with Aut...

Autism Awareness

April is “Autism Awareness Month” and Mark Blaxill is stopping by Holistic Wellness to talk about autism.

Mark Blaxill is the father of a daughter diagnosed with autism, editor at large for “Age of Autism,” a Vice President of “SafeMinds“ and a frequent speaker at autism conferences. He writes often on autism, science and public policy issues for Age of Autism and has published a number of articles, letters and commentaries on autism in journals such as Public Health Reports, the International Journal of Toxicology, the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, Neurotoxicology and Medical Hypotheses. He has also been invited to peer review articles in journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, the American Journal of Epidemiology, Pediatrics and the International Journal of Toxicology.

Mark received a bachelors degree summa cum laude from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School. In his professional career, he is Managing Partner for 3LP Advisors, an advisory firm focused on intellectual property transactions. He recently published a business book, The Invisible Edge: Taking Your Strategy to the Next Level Using Intellectual Property (Portfolio, March 2009) and is teaming with Dan Olmsted to write a book, called The Age of Autism, due out in September 2010.

Tune in and listen to Mark share his insights about autism.

This episode of Holistic Wellness is brought to you courtesy of our sponsor, “EcoNugenics“!

Don’t miss a single episode! Subscribe now for free to “Holistic Wellness”! You can also subscribe for free via iTunes.

iPhone/iPad App Helps Autistic Children Communicate (socialtimes.com)

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Food Contaminated with Banned Chemicals

Posted by Michael Casals on April 28th, 2010

Food in the U.S. Is Still Tainted with Chemicals That Were Banned Decades Ago

Thirty-eight years after DDT was banned, Americans still consume trace amounts of the infamous insecticide every day, along with more than 20 other banned chemicals.

In a photograph from a 1947 newspaper advertisement, a smiling mother leans over her baby’s crib. The wall behind her is decorated with rows of flowers and Disney characters. Above the photo, a headline reads “Protect Your Children From Disease Carrying Insects.”

The ad, for wallpaper impregnated with DDT, captures a moment of historical ignorance, before the infamous insecticide nearly wiped out many birds and turned up inside the bodies of virtually everyone on Earth.

The story of DDT teaches a lesson about the past. But experts say it also provides a glimpse into the future.

Thirty-eight years after it was banned, Americans still consume traces of DDT and its metabolites every day, along with more than 20 other banned chemicals. Residues of these legacy contaminants are ubiquitous in U.S. food, particularly dairy products, meat and fish.

Their decades-long presence in the food supply underscores the dangers of a new and widely used generation of chemicals with similar properties and health risks. “They’re manmade, and they’re toxic, and they bio-accumulate,” said Arnold Schecter, a professor at the University of Texas School of Public Health who has been studying human exposure to chemicals for more than 25 years. “So the fact that they’re still around a long time after they’ve been banned isn’t surprising.”

Recent studies sketch a complex profile of legacy contaminants in U.S. food – a profusion of chemicals in trace amounts, pervasive but uneven across the food supply, occurring sometimes by themselves, but more often in combination with others. Included are DDT and several lesser-known organochlorine pesticides as well as industrial chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, which were used until the late 1970s in electrical equipment.

This picture raises a host of equally complicated questions: Are small amounts of these chemicals dangerous, by themselves or in mixtures? Why are they still around and how are they getting into our food? Read more »

How To Power Up with Protein for Stronger Muscles

Posted by Michael Casals on April 26th, 2010

USDA Food Pyramid

When it comes to having enough energy to lift weights, build muscle and then maintain it, what you eat makes a difference. Even if you can lift a ton of weight, if your diet consists of simple carbohydrates, fatty foods and sugary drinks, much of your hard work will be in vain because protein is muscles’ foundation. When you lift a weight heavy enough to challenge your muscles, it causes the muscle fibers to literally tear. But then, as the muscle tissue heals, it becomes stronger than it was. In order to build new, stronger muscle than you’ve broken down with exercise — a condition called positive protein balance — you need adequate protein in your diet.

Protein = Power
Muscle tissue is about 15 to 20 percent protein, so if you want to maintain the muscle you’re building, make sure you’re eating enough protein. How much is enough? “Casual exercisers, or people who exercise for overall health and fitness, need 0.5 to 0.9 grams of protein per pound of body weight daily,” says Cindy Moore, MS, RD, director of nutrition therapy and a group fitness instructor at the Cleveland Clinic. (Competitive athletes need more.) For a person who weighs 150 pounds, that adds up to 75 to 135 grams of protein a day. You can get enough by eating foods such as fish (24 grams per three-ounce serving), poultry, eggs, low- and nonfat dairy (eight grams per eight ounces of milk), soy-based foods, beans (15 grams per cup) and lentils. If your day-to-day diet lacks protein, you can boost your intake with protein shakes and supplements, but Moore always recommends whole foods first.

Count on Complex Carbs
Thanks to the low-carb diet craze of a few years ago, carbohydrates got a bad rap. But if you want to have enough energy for exercise to build stronger muscles, you need to eat them. “Carbohydrates, which our bodies store as glycogen, are the body’s preferred energy source,” says Amy Jamieson-Petonic, MEd, a registered dietitian and the director of wellness coaching at the Cleveland Clinic. “They provide fuel to working muscles during exercise, maintain blood sugar levels and help brain function.” The human body stores about 150 grams of glycogen, which isn’t much. That’s why we need to continually fuel ourselves to avoid hitting the wall. The bottom line: If you avoid carbs, your exercise performance suffers.

So how many carbs should you get? “If you eat a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, about 1,200 of those calories [300 grams] should come from carbohydrates,” Moore says. She advises choosing complex carbs, the ones that do double duty by adding fiber to your diet, including whole-grain bread, pasta and cereal, brown rice, couscous, and vegetables. If possible, eat foods that provide long-lasting energy, such as yogurt, oatmeal with bananas or half of a whole-grain bagel with peanut butter. Read more »

A Breast Cancer Fighting Menu!

Posted by Michael Casals on April 16th, 2010

Mastectomie

Despite what many food and supplement manufacturers want you to believe, no one food or ingredient can protect you from breast cancer. But thanks to ongoing research, we have a good sense of what to eat — and avoid — to cut cancer risk.

A Plate of Prevention? First, the big picture: Choose foods and drinks that will help you reach a healthy weight and stay there. Being significantly overweight raises your risk of developing breast cancer and negatively impacts how well you’ll recover from it. Eating healthfully not only helps you reach and maintain a proper weight but fills you with vital, disease-fighting nutrients — many of which are just being discovered. What should you put on your plate? Experts recommend the following:

• Eat five or more servings of a variety of colorful vegetables and fruits every day. Don’t be shy with produce: Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute recommend up to 13 servings, or 6½ cups, of fruits and vegetables a day to keep us slim and to fight a range of diseases.

• Choose whole grains over processed (refined) grains for extra fiber to spur weight loss; these will help steady your blood sugar levels as well, and avoid insulin resistance, which can lead to diabetes.

• Follow a low-fat diet. Studies link a high-fat diet to more aggressive forms of breast cancer. A low-fat diet — one where 30 percent or less of your calories come from fat — also helps prevent recurrence. Choose foods with healthy fats for an extra brain- and heart-health boost: Opt for fish and nuts, for instance, over fried foods and those high in saturated fat.

• Get antioxidants from fruits and vegetables, not supplements. Antioxidants are nutrients — namely vitamins C and E, carotenoids and other plant compounds (phytochemicals) — that protect against cell damage that may lead to cancer. Research has shown that people who eat lots of produce, a naturally rich source of antioxidants, have a lower risk for certain cancers but that antioxidant supplements (which contain high concentrations of specific nutrients) do not reduce risk.

What to avoid?

• Researchers suggest to drink no more than one alcoholic beverage per day. Some studies indicate that less — or none at all — is best for breast cancer protection. My personal suggestion is to drink NO alcohol!!! Women with estrogen-receptive breast cancer should avoid alcohol altogether due to its potential effect on estrogen. If you do drink, make sure you get adequate folic acid, or folate. Too little of this B vitamin may increase the risk of breast cancer, especially in women who drink alcohol. Leafy greens, beans, whole grains and fortified cereals are all good sources.

• Limit intake of meats that have been fried, barbecued, cooked well-done, preserved (by smoking or salting) or processed (like deli meats that contain nitrates). These cooking methods are linked to heightened breast cancer risk.
The jury is still out on:

• Tea: Some studies show that people who drink green tea, and to a lesser extent black tea, which is high in a type of antioxidant called polyphenols, have lower cancer risk. But researchers don’t know if the cancer protection comes from drinking tea itself or if tea drinkers have other healthy habits that reduce their risk. (Caffeine may worsen symptoms of fibrocystic breast lumps in some women, but there is no evidence that it increases the risk of breast cancer.)

• Organic food: Though it is an area of debate and strong personal views, there is no conclusive evidence that eating organic reduces cancer risk. However, there may be other reasons you want to eat organic food, and it certainly won’t increase your risk.

• Vitamin D and calcium: High levels of vitamin D and calcium may offer some protection against the most aggressive kinds of breast cancer but only in premenopausal women, emerging research shows.

Autism: Food for Thought

Posted by Michael Casals on April 14th, 2010

10 Things About Autism

Holistic Wellness Podcast is thrilled to welcome award winning author & columnist Ellen Notbohm to the show. In consideration of Autism Awareness Month, Ellen Notbohm stops by the show to chat with us about her book entitled, “Ten Things Every Child With Autism Wishes You Knew“.

Tune in and listen to Ellen share her insights which she’s acquired through her own personal experiences and growth as the mother of the child with autism. If you have a child with autism or if you’re someone who is looking to obtain some great info about autism, you don’t wanna miss this show.

Don’t miss a single episode! Subscribe now for free to “Holistic Wellness Podcast”! You can also subscribe for free via iTunes.

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High Fiber Foods

Posted by Michael Casals on April 9th, 2010

Digestive System

Probiotics aren’t the only way to a healthy gut! High-fiber foods like fruits and grains can also stimulate the growth of good bacteria. You’ve heard of probiotics, those good-for-you bacteria that aid digestion and support healthy immune function. Many processed foods like cereal and yogurt are fortified with them. But did you know your body can make probiotics naturally? Prebiotics, indigestible parts of plants (otherwise known as fermentable fiber), stimulate the growth of good bacteria as they move through your intestinal tract. Bananas, berries, whole grains, leafy greens and legumes are all great sources. Because stress, a poor diet, certain medical conditions and some medications can decrease the amount of healthy bacteria in your gut, eating plenty of prebiotics can help maintain equilibrium.

The Digestive System (slideshare.net)

Energize Your Health, Energize Your Relationship

Posted by Michael Casals on April 7th, 2010

You are an electromagnetic being. Your life energy is established through the relationship between the electrical charges that surround muscles, bones, organs and tissues. You heart is regulated by an electrical nerve bundle. Your brain emits electrical brain waves. The cells and atoms of your body rely on the capacity to adapt and thrive based on electrical charge. In fact, the quality of health you are experiencing today is directly related to the quality of communication between the energy circuits of your body-mind system.

Your body-mind field is always interacting with the field around it. That means that your wellness and sense of well-being are related. Relationships, whether they business-related, family, friendship or intimate work in the same way. They are energy circuits. Feed them through coherent communication, limits and provide motivation to return to union, and they thrive!

Energize!!!

If there is a disruption or blockage in your health or relationship through mis-communication, unresolved conflict, or lack of appreciation, your experience of love or well being changes. Either way, a disruption or blockage of energy equals pain.

Love is the motivating force that energizes life and influences the power of relationship. The light, sound and expression of life energy thrive with care for your inner needs and feelings. In every relationship there is an opportunity to expand awareness through a reflection of light and love, and in the courage to open your heart. Resolving inner conflict within your physical, emotional, mental and spirit body results in the potential for greater expression and capacity for love.

When there are unresolved issues from past experiences, that energy gets fed into the energy circuit of your relationships whether it is conscious or unconscious. This shows up in toxicity or dissonance as frustration, conflict, pain, suffering or lack of fulfillment. In the same way, health issues are a product of what is circulated through your body-mind system through nutrition, habits, and self-care over time.

The quality of life you experience in any moment is dependent on many factors. When you resonate with gratitude, appreciation, forgiveness and love, you have a greater capacity for connection to others and for that connection to energize you. In a relationship, expression of these same messages to another help your relationship to grow and flourish. When difficulties arise, as they do in life, drawing on the energy of joyful and loving experiences shared helps you to weather challenging situations.

Your health also depends on your ability to set limits. The purpose of your immune system is to discern what is self and what is other. Too much resistance however can show up as the inability for cellular systems to communicate with one another in your body. When there is an inability to discern self from other, the response can play out in a number of issues that show up on the emotional, mental, and physical levels. In relationships, this can show up as blame, feeling like a victim, or being out of control with your responses. The truth is that in any moment you can become more empowered through taking responsibility for what you are contributing to the energy exchange happening within, and accepting where there is a need to make a change in behavior, thinking or actions. Taking responsibility includes setting limits in situations that are hurting you personally. If you are stuck in a repeating pattern, it might be wise to seek support in looking at unconscious roots that still carry a highly-charged emotion or memory imprint.

How you handle stress is directly related to how your body responds. Resonating with the ability to move through a challenging situation in a self-empowered way actually empowers your immune system. This can only be done when you are in touch with your own needs and feelings, and are able to express these needs and feelings in a way that nurtures your energy circuit. This means communication is clear, tells the truth, and expresses care for the energy circuit of your relationship.

Finding ways to empower your own energy circuit include taking care of your body with good nutrition, grounding your energy with connection to nature, meditation, allowing yourself to identify and process feelings, listening to calming music, exercising regularly, getting in touch with your breath and making space for yourself with downtime and hobbies you enjoy are just a few ways to stay connected to your own energy circuit. This also empowers you to create harmonizing energy for all your relationships.
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Authored by: Kimberly Rex, MS is a certified Resonance Repatterning practitioner who works with people of all ages by phone, in-person and by proxy to empower greater wellness and well-being.

Sandy Henson Corso: 10 Steps to Inner Peace (huffingtonpost.com)

What is 02 Living?

Posted by Michael Casals on April 5th, 2010

Dr. Michael B. Finkelstein Natural Alternative Health

Discover 02 Living!

Do you know what it “02 Living” is? If not…please tune in, listen and discover! Dr. Michael B. Finkelstein (M.D., F.A.C.P., A.B.H.M.) stops by the show to share with us and explain what “02 Living” is!

Michael is an expert in holistic, skillful living, and has gained acclaim for his pioneering approach to integrative medicine since beginning his private practice more than twenty years ago. He is Board-certified in both internal medicine and holistic medicine, and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a graduate of the Associate Fellowship Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona School of Medicine.

Michael served as Chief of Integrative Medicine at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mt. Kisco, N.Y. He is a dedicated healer who views health and well being as a wholly singular unit, one that must be taken seriously, and considered with compassion, intention and commitment.

Dr. Finkelsteins’s work has evolved over the years from a rather typical internal medicine practice to a more healing oriented approach to health and wellness. He maintains his affiliations with the western medical world and has advanced further into areas of healing by learning from and associating with practitioners in a wide range of “complementary and alternative” fields. He has worked to cultivate relationships with other practitioners in the community to help individuals connect with those practices that are potentially going to bring about the greatest shift in their abilities to heal and remain whole.

Michael has a particular interest in Energy Medicine and has completed training as a level 2 Reiki practitioner. He also has read extensively studying the insights and wisdom offered to us by ancient earth based cultures and Nature. Overall his work now is focused on integrating as much of this body of collective wisdom and science into something that is practical for individuals directly. His belief that everyone has the potential to reach a greater degree of resonance is the foundation for his optimism that greater health is within reach for all of us. He expects that those that will benefit most are ready to do more of what is necessary to achieve this for themselves. He also accepts that there are many paths which may offer hope; Michael works with each person as an individual to see with greater clarity the right one for them. Often this requires demystifying the unknown or releasing us from the habitual patterns of thought that the medical system, our culture and society impose and our fear holds on to. Ultimately, the right path has many elements, including both the medical sciences and “more natural” approaches.

Be sure to tune in to Holistic Wellness Podcast and hear Michael share some great info. Don’t miss a single episode! Subscribe now for free to “Holistic Wellness Podcast”! You can also subscribe for free via iTunes.

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Asparagus Tips!

Posted by Michael Casals on April 2nd, 2010

Three kinds of Asparagus officinalis (asparagu...

3 Kinds of Asparagus

Asparagus has been prized as an epicurean delight and for its medicinal properties for almost 2000 years

It was thought to be cultivated in ancient Egypt

Asparagus can be served hot or cold

You can tie asparagus stalks in a bundle to steam them, as this will make it easier to remove the stalks once cooked

Avoid cooking asparagus in iron pots as the tannins in the asparagus can react with the iron and cause the stalks to become discolored

A Few Quick Serving Ideas:

Healthy sauté asparagus with garlic, shiitake mushrooms and tofu or chicken.

For a delectable hors d’oeuvre, roast asparagus along with other vegetables such as pattypan squash, Portobello mushrooms, and beets.

Toss freshly cooked pasta with asparagus, olive oil and your favorite pasta spices. We especially enjoy thyme, tarragon and rosemary.

Steamed asparagus served with light lemon vinaigrette makes a delightfully refreshing salad.

Chopped asparagus make a flavorful and colorful addition to omelets.

Tender and Green: 5 New Ideas for Asparagus (thekitchn.com)
Dinner Diary: Asparagus with Citrus Dressing (dailywd.womansday.com)
Recipe: Asparagus with Poached Egg, Tarragon and Chives (thekitchn.com)

Aromatherapy For the Table

Posted by Michael Casals on March 31st, 2010

Time to eat!

Are you the type that reaches for the salt shaker before even tasting the food? What’s the point in sitting down to a healthy meal and then drowning it in salt? Wouldn’t you rather taste the food rather than the salt? Cooking with essential oils and herbs is a much healthier and tastier way to prepare food.

Unless you’re under doctor’s orders to restrict sodium, you probably don’t worry about sodium in your diet. The biggest benefit of eating whole foods is that you control the ingredients. By it’s nature, processed food has had the taste processed out and food manufacturers compensate by adding copious amounts of sodium. So, even without adding sodium to your plate, your diet is probably already exceeding the normal limits of what the FDA recommends for salt intake.

While sodium is the flavor enhancer of choice for most households, many canned, processed, and even frozen foods are already full of this ingredient. In fact, a single fast food meal can supply more than twice your daily limit of sodium.

The biggest offenders for over-delivering on sodium are cheese, bacon, and soy sauce. Instead of infusing these ingredients, spice up your dish with ginger, rice vinegar, or lime juice.

Some foods mask their sodium content so that you don’t even know it’s in there. A Java Chip Frappuccino from Starbucks packs in 300 mg of sodium. Baked cookies, doughnuts, and bread can contain baking soda, which houses 1,259 mg of sodium per teaspoon. Read more »