The Hemp Connection:
chocolate

I'm all for local eating. But another endeavor I enjoy is helping other cultures find worthwhile products to produce that encourage preservation of the rainforest and farming of products other than coca. So I was excited to see the country of Peru have such a beautiful and informational pavilion at Expo West.

We all know about quinoa and I've written about purple corn…here are some other foods you might be seeing more of that could be fun to try!

Maca Most of us think of maca as a supplement to enhance sexual prowess. It's actually been studied in the laboratory and been found to enhance libido and semen quality. It may also help alleviate sexual dysfunction related to antidepressant use. It may also help reduce enlarged prostate glands.

That being said, Americans have a really bad habit of taking something they think is"good", grinding it up, concentrating it, and using it in larger quantities than would be possible in nature. In this case, there is some thought that excessive maca consumption may negatively affect thyroid function. In addition, there are several varieties of maca, and only the red was found to have significant hormonal effect. Labeling on supplements may not contain this information and you may be wasting your money.

Bottom line, if you see it on a restaurant menu or a fun international market, take it home and cook it like a turnip! Be careful, however, about the supplement version.

Amaranth Gluten-free enthusiasts love this grain, but like quinoa, it's not actually a grain…it's a seed. It can be toasted and eaten like popcorn, or cooked like a grain. Here is more information on how to use amaranth in your kitchen. In other parts of the world, such as Asia and Africa, amaranth leaves and roots are also culinary specialties.

Regular consumption of amaranth seed may help regulate hypertension and cholesterol, and the leaves and roots are very high in vitamins and minerals, including calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, zinc, copper, and manganese.

Both Bob's Red Mill and Arrowhead Mills sell amaranth flour, but if you can't find it in your store, here are amaranth options on amazon.com.

Aguaymanto This fruit is related to one of my local favorites, the tomatillo (you can see the similar husks in the photo). It is currently being researched for its potential as an antioxidant source, and it has been found to contain melatonin.

Locals like to use it in jams, syrups, and pastries, but it is also seen in fruit salads and salsas.

Lucuma, or eggfruit, if you Google it, will pop up quite frequently as the next big superfood, and ground powders are available online. (As with maca, I am not providing links, as I am not telling you about these foods to encourage a superfood or supplement mentality.) This fruit tree can grow in warmer US climates such as Florida or Arizona. It's a Peruvian favorite, as illustrated by the blog Peru Food. It is described as tasting a little bit like maple syrup ice cream.

It is a favorite of raw food enthusiasts. They promote it as low-glycemic, though I was not able to find the actual scientific reference for it in my search; most references circle back to the same video. If anyone out there can direct me to that, I'm happy to post for everyone.

Nutritionally, lucuma is high in fiber, iron, and as you might guess from its beautiful color, beta carotene.

Sacha Inchi, or the Peruvian peanut, comes from the rainforest. I actually tried this at Expo West; it was prepared like corn nuts and there was also a version coated with fair-trade chocolate (isn't that the best way to get Americans to try anything new and different?) It's pretty high protein, and it contains ALA, the vegan omega-3 fatty acid. (With respect to the omega-3's it's an option to flaxseed.) In Peru, its oil is used for cooking so I imagine some day it will show up in US markets as well.

Again, American marketing reps are trying to capitalize on the superfood craze when selling this food. It's fine to eat, and its nutritional value is nice, but no need to abandon everything else you're doing for it. Try it when you can, enjoy it when you find it, and know it fits well into a hormone-friendly lifestyle.

One of the reasons I put this blog post together is to illustrate why closing out food choices can deny you some food fun, not to mention nutrition! If you're locked into a top ten list of foods, you may miss some great culinary experiences…that can be healthy as well! Sometimes when you're focused on"fixing" a disease it can take the fun out of food. The more enjoyable it is, the more likely it is you'll have a healthy relationship with it. Every culture has its gems, even if they're not salmon, blueberries, and broccoli!

I admit, I had a personal reason for writing this blog post. My Peruvian friend Denise has told me she wants to share her favorite local Peruvian restaurant with me sometime soon. I wanted to be sure I knew what I would be seeing when I looked at the menu. Now that I've done my homework, I'm hungry and looking forward to what the menu has in store.

Gonzales GF, Miranda S, Nieto J, Fernández G, Yucra S, Rubio J, Yi P, and Gasco M. Red maca (Lepidium meyenii) reduced prostate size in rats. Reprod Biol Endocrinol. 2005; 3: 5.

Dording CM. Fisher L. Papakostas G. Farabaugh A. Sonawalla S. Fava M. Mischoulon D. A double-blind, randomized, pilot dose-finding study of maca root (L. meyenii) for the management of SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction.

Czerwiński J, Bartnikowska E, Leontowicz H, et al. Oat (Avena sativa L.) and amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus) meals positively affect plasma lipid profile in rats fed cholesterol-containing diets". J. Nutr. Biochem. 15 (10): 622–9, 2004.

Wu, SJ; Tsai JY, Chang SP, Lin DL, Wang SS, Huang SN, Ng LT (2006). Supercritical carbon dioxide extract exhibits enhanced antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of Pysalis peruviana. J Ethnopharmacol 108 (3): 407–13

Kolar J., Malbeck J. Levels of the antioxidant melatonin in fruits of edible berry species. Planta Medica 2009 75:9

Both Jews and Christians are celebrating Holy Days this week, and since I've never written about Jewish eating, I thought it would be interesting to learn more.

One of the wonderful things about Jewish cuisine is, that in its most historical form, it is the original Mediterranean diet! Hummous, tabouli, nuts, many of the foods you eat year round, regardless of your religious persuasion, originated in the Middle East. So in general, a diet using foods native to Israel and its surroundings is going to be quite healthy.

Of course, as with all cultures, modernization has altered these foods the way our ancestors enjoyed them, and those less healhy tweaks tend to appear at holiday time. So I wanted to share some links I found with many suggestions for making sure your Seder celebration enhances, rather than derails, other goals you are working for whether or not it is the holidays.

Here is a link for vegan ideas, including vegan matzoh ball soup, apple charoset, sweet potato kugel, even chocolate matzo.

Martha Stewart's website offers a collection of healthy Seder side dishes, including Brussels sprouts with pears and a parsnip-apple mash.

And of course, what is Passover without matzobrei? I fell in love with matzobrei while attending college in New York. For this Southwestern girl, it was like Jewish chilaquiles! (No jalapenos, of course). I'm back out West these days, but matzobrei followed me and makes a great addition to my repertoire. A few simple tweaks and you've got a great hormone-friendly breakfast. I adapted this recipe from one I found on Yummly.comhttp://www.yummly.com/

6 whole wheat matzos
6 omega-3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh dill (chopped)
2 onions
2 red bell peppers
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Break matzos into roughly 1-inch pieces into a colander, then rinse under hot tap water until pieces are softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes.

Lightly beat eggs with salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon dill in a large bowl and stir in matzos until coated well.

Cook onions and peppers in oil in a 12-inch heavy nonstick skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Add matzo mixture, then increase heat to moderately high and sauté, stirring frequently and breaking up clumps, until matzos are well browned, about 17 minutes. Season with salt, then sprinkle with remaining 1/2 tablespoon dill.

May you all enjoy your Passover celebrations this week!

One of my litmus tests for how healthy a vegan's diet truly is, is to listen to how they describe what they eat. If they focus on telling me what they DON'T eat, and have a limited list of what they DO eat, I start to consider that what we're describing is an eating disorder, not a vegan eater.

Here's a challenge to encourage you to be more vegan and less disordered. It comes from the blog http://www.lunchboxbunch.com/., and it's a list of 100 vegan foods. I've been instructed to italicize foods I'd never try, and bold face foods I have eaten. And to encourage you to share the challenge on your own blogs.

I'm a pretty adventurous eater so there are no italics. I did better than I thought I would, actually, since I am not 100% vegan myself. I now have some great items to add to my own list!

Have fun!
1. Molasses

2. Cactus/Nopales
3. Scrambled Tofu
4. Grilled Portobella Caps
5. Fresh Ground Horseradish
6. Sweet Potato Biscuits
7. Arepa
8. Vegan Cole Slaw
9. Ginger Carrot Soup
10. Fiddlehead Ferns
11. Roasted Elephant Garlic
12. Umeboshi
13. Almond Butter Toast
14. Aloe Vera
15. H and H Bagel NYC
16. Slow Roasted Butternut Squash
17. White truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Freshly ground wasabi
20. Coconut Milk Ice Cream (not store bought)
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Orchard-fresh pressed apple cider
23. Organic California Mango (in season Sept-Oct only)
24. Quinoa
25. Papaya Smoothie
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet (habanero) pepper (just a bite!…hot!
27. Goji Berry Tea
28. Fennel
29. Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie
30. Radishes and Vegan Buttery Spread
31. Starfruit
32. Oven fresh Sourdough bread
33. Sangria made with premium fruit and juices
34. Sauerkraut
35. Acai Smoothie
36. Blue Foot Mushrooms
37. Vegan Cupcake from Babycakes nyc
38. Sweet Potatoes and Tempeh combo
39. Falafel
40. Spelt Crust Pizza
41. Salt and Pepper Oyster Mushrooms
42. Jicama Slaw
43. Pumpkin Edamame Ginger Dumplings
44. Hemp Milk
45. Rose Champagne
46. Fuyu
47. Raw Avocado-Coconut Soup
48. Tofu Pesto Sandwich
49. Apple-Lemon-Ginger-Cayenne fresh-pressed juice…with Extra Ginger
50. Grilled Seitan
51. Prickly pear
52. Fresh Pressed Almond Milk
53. Concord Grapes off the vine
54. Ramps
55. Coconut Water fresh from a young coconut
56. Organic Arugula
57. Vidalia Onion
58. Sampler of organic produce from Diamond Organics
59. Honeycrisp Apple
60. Poi
61. Vegan Campfire-toasted Smores
62. Grape seed Oil
63. Farm fresh-picked Peach
64. Freshly-made pita bread with freshly-made hummus
65. Chestnut Snack Packs
66. Fresh Guava
67. Mint Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
68. Raw Mallomar from One Lucky Duck, NYC
69. Fried plantains
70. Mache
71. Golden Beets
72. Barrel-Fresh Pickles
73. Liquid Smoke
74. Meyer Lemon
75. Veggie Paella
76. Vegan Lasagna (raw optional)
77. Kombucha
78. Homemade Soy Milk
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Lychee Bellini
81. Tempeh Bacon
82. Sprouted Grain Bread
83. Lemon Pepper Tempeh
84. Vanilla Bean
85. Watercress
86. Carrot you pulled out of the ground yourself
87. Vegan In-Season Fruit Pie
88. Flowers
89. Corn Chowder
90. High Quality Vegan Raw Chocolate
91. Yellow fuzz-free Kiwi
92. White Flesh Grapefruit
93. harissa
94. Coconut Oil
95. Jackfruit
96. Homemade Risotto
97. Spirulina
98. Seedless 'Pixie' Tangerine
99. Gourmet Sorbet, not store bought
100. Fresh Plucked English Peas

Something I love, love, love about my work is that there is always something new to learn. Recently my work with Chow Locally has taught me a lot about why people don't have a user-friendly relationship with vegetables. It's probably because most of the vegetables they have been exposed to are bland and boring.

We are so lucky to be able to work with farmers who bring us great things like Romanesco, purple carrots, watermelon radishes…things that are just so attractive and interesting you can't help but want to taste them! Plus, even when what we have is more recognizable and traditional, it's so fresh, pulled out of the ground just a day or two before we get it, that it's bursting with flavor. I have found myself, several times, in the traditional grocery store getting ingredients to cook with my vegetables, walking through the produce section, thinking to myself…"That's all they have?"

Recently, without even being asked, one of our customers' daughters told us just how much she loves her veggies.

Yes, she loves carrots more than chocolate! And I promise we didn't somehow sneak chocolate into those carrots…it's just that they are that good when they're fresh out of the ground.

Over the weekend, one of our co-founders, Derek Slife, was invited to showcase our vegetables on the local edition of the Today Show. I watch lots of food demos, but it's not often that you see the hosts of the show hover over the chef like Joe and Rob did with Derek! They were so fascinated with the watermelon radishes they couldn't wait to try them. What the spot doesn't show is that Joe so eagerly dug into one of the carrots he bit into it on air without thinking to wash the dirt off…and you know how that ended.

These experiences, and the many notes we are receiving from happy parents telling us their kids are eating foods they never, ever ate before have completely convinced me, the problem with vegetables is not that they don't taste good, but the way we manage them from farm to table often strips them of their flavor.

If you have a farmer's market or CSA near you, I encourage you to try eating THOSE vegetables. It is a whole different experience than you've ever had. You just might find a new addiction!

It was bound to happen. Food manufacturers saw people like me hyping omega-3 fatty acids and people like you following advice…and they decided to do what they always do…put it into something chocolate and sweet. For more information on this omega-3 supplemented, chocolate-flavored infant formula, which by the way I DO NOT recommend or endorse, please visit Marion Nestle's blog.

And we wonder why our kids are fat. We teach them how to be every time we feed them!

Oh, and while I'm at it, I'm sharing my personal Top Ten List of Foods that should not be in your anti-inflammatory diet. If you ever see any of these, anywhere, remember that the likelihood that a cold front has passed through the devil's front yard is about 1,000 times greater than any of them actually helping your overall well-being.

1. Canola-fried battered blooming onions
2. Acaip;aced Jello
3. Olive oil deep-fried candy bars
4. Blueberry cola
5. Red rice yeast cinnamon rolls
6. Probiotic-laced frozen yogurt
7. Tequila gingko shooters
8. Gluten free donuts
9. Vegan potato chips
10. Red wine popsicles

I am mostly a purist. I like real food from the source. But I am also a realist. And I understand that not everyone can cook, or even likes to cook. And that there are times when you are hungry when there's not a kitchen in sight. So I wanted to share a new product with you that I really like.

I have 3 friends in Seattle, all nutritionists, who partnered with a fourth friend, to create an all-natural, wheat-free, gluten-free, soy-free, low-glycemic energy bar that is just perfect for someone with PCOS. It's got the right kind of fats, and its protein source is whey protein powder, which is great too. Currently available flavors are: chocolate peanut butter, blueberry almond, and oatmeal chocolate chip. I especially like the fact that nutritionists understand that it's much easier to get people to try something healthy if you throw in a little chocolate!

I am really excited about this product, because it's not easy for me to come up with grab-and-go ideas for women with PCOS, and this one fits the bill.

It takes a lot of work and sacrifice to take an idea you have over coffee…"There's nothing out there I can recommend to my clients…hey, why don't I create my own?"…into a reality…and I am really excited that my friends stuck with their idea to the point where I can promote it to people like you. Which is the other reason I'm telling all of you about them. I'd really like them to be rewarded for what it took to go into a business that provides a much-needed service for women like you.

Currently, Zing Bars are primarily available on the West Coast (there is a store locator on the website), but you can order them online by the box. If you like them, be sure you encourage your local stores to stock them.

For more information, visit www.zingbars.com

Not long ago I posted a recipe for homemade, healthy Nutella, and it quickly became one of the most visited posts on the blog.

Now, healthy Nutella is not nearly so hard to come by! Justin's Nut Butters has a chocolate hazelnut butter that totally hits the spot, and is made from all the right stuff.

Justin makes peanut and almond butter as well, but I'm choosing to highlight the hazelnut variety since you all loved the homemade Nutella recipe. Plus, of the three types of nuts Justin uses, hazelnuts are the ones with the best ratio for correcting the type of fatty acid imbalance that is so prevalent in PCOS.

For those of you who travel, or who are looking for easy, portable snacks to throw in your gym bag, this product is also packaged in 0.5 oz packs.

This is one product we found at Expo West that is readily available in many grocery stores, not just high-end natural foods venues. If you can't find it, here's a link to order

Oh, by the way, we got to meet the REAL Justin too! This is, to a foodie, the equivalent of a rock and roll groupie meeting Jon Bon Jovi. It's the (nut butter) bomb.

Happy to report, Justin is just as nice as he is tall!

We know you all love recipes and inspiration, so we are excited to be joining a group of bloggers that will provide you even more of what you're looking for!

Recipe Redux is a monthly blogfest showcasing the creativity of registered dietitians who love to cook. At the beginning of the month we are each given a theme to work with, and on the 21st of each month, our creation relating to that challenge is posted, along with links to all of the other recipes our colleagues have provided.

Dietitians participating in this club agree to focus on at least one of the following in their recipes.

• reduction in overall calories and/or sugar
• increase in fiber
• lowering of saturated fat and/or increase in mono- or poly-unsaturated fats
• reduction in sodium/salt from processed foods
• showcases at least one food group mentioned by the Dietary Guidelines as the basis of a healthy diet: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fat-free and low-fat dairy products, seafood and beans

Our challenge this month was to create something using either maple syrup or honey. I decided to use one of my favorite treats on a cold night, champurrado, as the basis for which to create Mexican Oatmeal. Champurrado is a hot drink traditionally made with masa (the cornmeal you use to make tortillas), flavored with all of the spices native to Mexico (chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla, fennel seed, and some type of sweetener). All of these are beneficial for inflammation and insulin resistance, so adding them to oatmeal makes a perfect hormone-friendly breakfast!
I simply took those spices, switched out the masa for oatmeal and created the following breakfast you can make in your microwave. Think Mexican Hot Chocolate and oatmeal all mixed together…yummy, healthy, and full of energy to get you through to lunch!

Buen apetito!

Mexican Hot Chocolate Oatmeal

1/2 cup oatmeal
3/4 cup 1% milk
1 wedge Abuelita Mexican chocolate*
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and microwave on high for 2 minutes. Remove, stir until chocolate is completely dissoved, and microwave for one minute more.

Serves 1

Nutrition information 330 calories, 6 grams of fat, 3 grams saturated fat, 55 grams carbohydrate, 5 grams fiber, 13 grams protein, 7 mg cholesterol, 111 mg sodium

*You can use any dark chocolate, really, I just chose this one because it's what I keep around to make Mexican hot chocolate. The darker the chocolate the better…vegan chocolates will give you more antioxidant power as milk tends to bind the beneficial compounds and render them metabolically unavailable.

I recently mentioned that I was embarking on a mini-series of blog posts about the grief process, and how it relates to PCOS. I talked about a handy summary term known as DABDA, which stands for denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Denial is present in our lives in many ways, and it’s actually a very helpful defense – sometimes our minds go into denial, because unconsciously, they know that we’re not quite ready to handle a crisis, trauma, or issue yet. For example, the woman who sees signs of cheating in her marriage, yet overlooks the hints, bypasses opportunities to question her husband, and insists that her neighbor can’t be right – yet she KNOWS in her heart that it’s true. That’s denial.

In death, denial is often quite literally a failure to recognize or believe that a person is dead, that they died a certain way (i.e., suicide), that the death was unavoidable, or that they are not at fault in the death. While one is in the process of dying, the denial may simply be a belief that it is not possible to be dying from THIS – not me, not now.

Specific to PCOS, denial looks:
• “I don’t have PCOS – it’s something else – they just haven’t come up with the right diagnosis for me.”
• “PCOS is no big deal – I mean, I had to have an IVF and all, but whatever – I got my baby, and now I can ignore it.” J
• “PCOS isn’t like a terminal disease or anything, so why do I have to deal with it?”
• “Having a baby will fix it. That’s 10 years away, but in any case, I don’t have to deal with it now.”
• “Those medications don’t really work (so I’m not going to take them).”
• “If I just can find the right combination of supplements, this will all be okay.”
• “If I go gluten-free, I’ll be cured – but that’s so impossible, I won’t even try.”
• “I’m pretty sure that dark chocolate is a health food, so I’m going to have this entire 3.4 ounce bar.”
• “Exercise is overrated – I’ll just gain weight if I gain muscle mass, right?”

Denial’s great when it really is needed and protects you, like the child who is being molested and denies it until she’s an adult, when it’s actually safe for her to tell someone. Or when you just got a cancer diagnosis, and you don’t quite get that your particular cancer has a 75% mortality rate – and maybe if you realized that before you got a chance to explore treatment, you’d consider suicide to be a good option. Sometimes it’s protective.

Yet, as adults, most of the time, denial is working against us. It prevents us from seeing the real picture of what’s happening with our bodies, our lives, and our relationships. It prevents us from grieving. It keeps us from making decisions that will improve or protect our future. It stops us from eating better, or exercising more, or getting enough sleep (another favorite form of denial that I hear all the time is “I don’t know how I do it, but I can totally get along on five hours of sleep” – to which I say, BALONEY!). It stops us from spending money on the help we really need. It allows us to continue engaging in damaging behaviors, poor self-care, and unhealthy relationships.

If reading this gives you a little stinging sensation of recognition, there’s good news. You can start to acknowledge reality. Talking to someone who cares about you, sharing your fears and the thoughts you’ve been hiding, is a good start. If you can’t do that, put it in writing – it’s amazing how seeing it in black and white can help to bring clarity to your random thoughts.

Next week, I’ll address anger, and the insidious impacts that it has on your health.

Gretchen Kubacky, Psy.D. is a Health Psychologist in private practice in West Los Angeles, California. She has completed the inCYST training. She specializes in counseling women and couples who are coping with infertility, PCOS, and related endocrine disorders and chronic illnesses.

If you would like to learn more about Dr. HOUSE or her practice, or obtain referrals in the Los Angeles area, please visit her website at www.drhousemd.com, or e-mail her at AskDrHouseMD@gmail.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @askdrhousemd.

Practically ever client I have ever had, has come to me with some kind of expectation that the secret to their weight problem/eating disorder/heart disease lies in a magical set of recipes filed away on my computer. If I don't hand them recipes, they feel as though I have failed them.

It's not that I don't mind creating recipes, in fact, it is one of my very favorite things to do! But I feel as if I give you too much structure in what I encourage you to do, you miss the point of cooking. And I feed the delusion that some specific set of instructions on a piece of paper is going to magically fix your problem.

So today I thought I would share what my morning has been like. I hope you will see, that the best kitchen inspirations come from the most surprising places. You often have to put the recipes away in order to see them.

My culinary challenge this week for Chow Locally is developing recipes for mustard greens. My big barrier to this challenge is that try I as I might, and trust me, I have done so many, many times, I just can't get into mustard greens. They are pretty bitter to my palate. But since we have about 125 customers wanting to know what to do with the mustard greens we gave them, and since mustard greens grow pretty well in Phoenix, I got the feeling the Universe decided to tell me it was time to cut the mustard (Ha! Couldn't resist!)

I didn't snap my fingers on this one. I am pretty sure by now, in fact, I have read every single blog post about mustard greens, looking for ideas that sounded like they might work for a wide spectrum of taste buds. When I woke up this morning, needed to try a recipe, I had no idea what I was going to do.

In typical procrastinator's style, I decided to clean my kitchen instead. And…there sat inspiration #1: a couple of inches of stale beer that I was not able to finish last night. It was tasty, a local brewery's White Chocolate Ale, and I didn't want to throw it away. I realized since it was sweet I could get away with less sugar, which I had been thinking of using.

On the way but not totally there, I decided to procrastinate even more by working on my pile of samples from Expo West. This is what my living room floor looks like for about 2 weeks after I get home!

Out from the pile popped my collection of samples from a great family-owned business over in Orange County, Matt's Munchies. They have created a fun variety of healthy fruit leathers. The ginger spice, which is really a ginger and cinnamon-laced mango leather, became ingredient #3.

I poured the beer in a skillet, heated it up to dissolve the mango leather, and then put my chopped mustard greens in to let them braise. I cooked them all the way down until the sugars started to caramelize.

OK, I lied, it did use recipes in this process…but not in the way you are thinking. Because I'd read literally hundreds of recipes in search of inspiration, I noticed that a lot of Indian recipes for greens incorporate just a touch of brown sugar. So I knew if my concoction had something sweet in it, it would caramelize and offset the bitterness that make mustard greens challenging for me.
I am not going to give you any more instructions than this, and you won't get a nutrition analysis. You all know the ingredients here are good ones, and to give you more of a script defeats the purpose of my nudging you to free yourselves of overly rigid behavior in the kitchen. I promise you, your very favorite foods will be the ones where you left the script and started having some fun!

Finally, I threw in just a touch of sweetened coconut flakes for color and texture.

Since the beginning, flaxseed oil has been an important part of our protocol. It provides the helpful estrogenic benefits that soy does, but without the potential problems soy creates for thyroid function. The problem is, most flaxseed oil is not easy to take and therefore it isn't used as much as it could/should be.

Shape Foods has finally solved that problem with their new line of culinary flax oils. In the first picture you see the line of smoothie-friendly flavors: banana, coconut, chocolate, and caramel. I was skeptical, but they turned out to be yummy! These products are hot off the factory line and not easy to find. Be sure to ask for the Royal Harvest flavored flax at your favorite store to be sure the buyers know there is a demand. I did manage to find the Coconut and Banana flavored varieties on amazon.com if you're interested in ordering by mail.

If you're more of a savory person, you may be interested in their Heart Shape line of cultural cuisine adaptations: Szechuan, Thai, Indian, Mexican, and Italian. Salsas, bruschettas, pad thais, etc., will never be the same again!

This product line is slated to appear on grocery shelves this summer. I have no link to provide you. (That is, yet!) Again, be sure your local buyer knows you want to buy them!

This product line was by far one of my favorite finds at Natural Products Expo West. One of the most frequent questions I've had when teaching omega-3 chemistry was about how to cook with flax oil. I always hated answering the question because it hasn't really been a kitchen-friendly oil.

Now it is, and I'm excited to try them in my own kitchen!

Every year when Lent comes around, I'm reminded of my years working in an eating disorder treatment center. It was the time when my patients viewed the holiday as an excuse to indulge their disease. Over night, everyone seemed to become Catholic and want the special dietary rules to apply to them!

I decided to have a rule that other than the"fish on Friday" tradition, all Lenten sacrifices would have to relate to something other than food. After all, Lent is supposed to be a practice of sacrifice, and making it easier to live in your comfort zone is not really what Lent is about.

Here are ten sacrifices to consider that may indirectly have to do with food, but in a way that may allow you to come out of Lent with a new healthy habit that benefits you long after the 40 days it felt like a sacrifice.

Any behavior change is hard. The purpose of Lent is not to punish yourself, but to pull yourself out of living with a focus on yourself and turning it toward others. The healthier you feel, the more likely it is you will want to interact with others. And social support can, over the long haul, help to balance your hormones.

The beauty of Lent as compared to a New Year's resolution is, you only have to commit to 40 days. Then you can re-evaluate. There is something about the permanency of a New Year's resolution that almost insures its being broken. Lent is a way to try a new behavior on for size and evaluate if it works for you.

1. Give up negative self-talk

2. Put away excessive weighing on the scale

3. Instead of spending money on that nail job or that new eye shadow color, buy the fish oil. And take it!

4. Go to bed at a regular, earlier, hour.

5. Get up early and get to that yoga class on time.

6. Pack your lunch.

7. Limit your social networking time (Facebook, Twitter) and attend a new meetup group once a week. A group that has absolutely nothing to do with food, exercise, fertility, or PCOS.

8. Practice a daily random act of kindness.

9. Do something daily that has no purpose and is just plain fun!

10. Spend a little bit of extra money on organic household cleaning products.

The Mediterranean Diet is healthy, it’s true, but it’s not the only healthy way to eat. It just happens to be one that is heavily researched… and therefore marketed by the commodity boards representing foods that grow well in the Mediterranean. It so happens that California, the world’s eighth largest economy, and Chile, a country with a large agricultural tradition, have climates similar to the Mediterranean. Both economies depend on our love of the Mediterranean diet to thrive, and they therefore are a big part of the reason why so much research money has been invested into this way of eating.
I love the Mediterranean diet myself, but I sure don’t want anyone out there from other cultures abandoning their way of eating because it’s Northern European… or African… or Tasmanian. Mother Nature doesn’t play favorites—she makes sure she takes care of her Eskimos just as she nurtures her Italians. I thought it would be fun to survey varieties of cuisines around the world so that no matter what your origin, there’s something out there that is good for you.

I’ll start with German food, which is part of my personal heritage and what I was enjoying for lunch today. I made a salad with vegetables that likely would show up on a German summer salad, including two different types of radishes.

We got rutabagas and potatoes in our box this week, and I made the rutabaga-potato salad recipe our chef created. I had some lowfat chicken-apple bratwurst in the freezer, so thawed and cooked them up to have ready for the rest of the week’s lunches.

And… for dessert, I had some plain yogurt that I ground some Trader Joe’s coffee/chocolate/sugar mix on top of.
Let’s break that down for closer inspection.
Salad My salad had two different kinds of radishes, carrots, onions, celery, and a variety of lettuces. I sprinkled some German dill salad mix on top, then added apple cider vinegar and canola oil before tossing. Radishes: Great for cancer prevention. See my colleague Dr. Chris Wharton’s article on why radishes are so nutritious for more information. That beautiful red color? Comes from antioxidants similar to the ones blueberries get all the credit for. Onions: Very important to German cooking. And they are part of the __________family of vegetables, famous for __________________________-- Lettuce: I mixed several varieties to get more red color, again, to get more antioxidants.
Bratwurst The traditional version is a little bit fatty, but these days there are so many varieties chicken, turkey, and low-fat sausage, it’s easy to make a high-protein, low fat choice. This lunch, I had the green apple/cinnamon chicken variety from Fresh and Easy. Each link only had 110 calories.
Potatoes Potatoes? Yes, potatoes! How many of you stay away from them because you’ve been told they are high glycemic? Well, they are, if you don’t eat them wisely, such as eating them, super-sized, as French fries dripping in pro-inflammatory omega-6 oil.
The poor potato in this situation is not the culprit here, it’s the messenger. If you eat a small baked potato in a balanced meal, you’re doing ok. The potato salad I made has two benefits. Baked and then cooled potatoes contain resistant starch, a form of carbohydrate that is not immediately absorbed into your bloodstream. It passes into your large intestine where it ferments and becomes food for healthy bacteria (food that feeds those bacteria is also called prebiotic). Secondly, the dressing for this salad was vinegar. And as you’ve heard here many times before, vinegar helps to keep your blood sugar stable after meals, potentially as well as metformin. So a little bit of potato salad, without the mayo, holds potential to be PCOS-friendly.
Vinegar One of the strong points of the German diet is the vinegar. In addition to the salad, it’s used in pickled vegetables, sauerkraut, and sauerbraten. If it's sour, it's likely ok to eat!
Cheese Though I didn’t have any with this meal, cheese is something Germans love! A common breakfast is a piece of thinly sliced cheese on a slice of whole kernel rye bread, topped with a tomato. Cheese, remember, in moderation, has been found to be associated with increased fertility. The reason it works in the German diet is because, unlike Americans, Germans don’t shred, smother, and melt it on anything and everything they eat. It’s eaten in small portions and used to accent the rest of the food on the plate.
Berries Germany is pretty far north, meaning in the summer it is a fruit basket of flavor. Currants, strawberries, cherries, apples, peaches, grapes… you name it, someone is growing it. Mit sahne (with cream) is a popular way to serve fruit, and if it’s real cream and it’s minimally sweetened, it’s wonderful treat!
I have to tell you, the German meal I described above left me feeling so full and satisfied I wasn’t hungry until long after sundown. It really reinforced for me the power of eating balanced. Talk to people of German heritage, and they’ll often tell you about a grandparent or great-grandparent who lived, relatively disease-free, into their 90’s. They certainly didn’t get there on 800 calorie diets… perhaps we should be taking this diet a little more seriously instead of discounting it because of its potatoes.

Lent is a time we tend to think of sacrifice. Typically we jump into thinking of vices we need to give up. On the theme of grief, perhaps this year Lent can be the time you work to adopt a healthy habit. Any change in behavior involves sacrifice, but real behavior change is hard if you’re only focusing on what you’re NOT going to do. If you haven’t decided what you ARE going to do when you don’t do what it is you DON’T want to do, you’re not very likely to succeed at changing the behavior.
Most women who diet make the mistake of focusing on what they aren’t going to eat. If a large majority of their diet is junk, and all they do is remove it, that leaves big voids of food that aren’t being filled. I’ve heard over and over through the years, how surprised clients are to find how much they genuinely can eat and still lose weight. They’d never thought of it as a journey of what TO eat. It’s always been about what NOT to eat. I like to keep them so busy eating everything they need to eat that they are too full to think of what they’re missing out on.
Adding exercise is going to mean giving up TV time. Going to bed a little earlier is going to mean giving up your nightly date with Jay Leno. Delegating more to someone else is going to mean giving up control of something.
Practicing better self-care truly does mean giving something up. It’s not an either/or thing. All of those are sacrifices, but instead of denying them to yourself, which often means setting yourself up for an indulgent binge come Easter, think of Lent as an opportunity to adopt a new behavior!
If you’re having a hard time giving up the chocolate, think of what you can add to your diet when you crave it. A packet of Justin’s Nut Butter? A handful of nuts? Greek yogurt? Some string cheese?
Not doing it for you to hear these suggestions? Then maybe it’s not the chocolate that’s the problem. Maybe it’s the dependence on binge eating to deal with stress. Try sacrificing an hour of Facebook time for an hour of yoga class.
Anytime you ADD a new behavior, it requires sacrifice of something else in order for you to make room for it. If you’re only focusing on the sacrifice, it’s going to suck.
Lent is a great time to change a behavior, provided your focus is on the newer, nurturing choice, rather than on viewing what you’re trying NOT to do as a punishment.
How can you succeed with what you’ve given up for Lent? What healthy choice can you use to fill in the void?

A study was recently released suggesting that dark chocolate can help to reduce cholesterol in diabetics! Whoo hoo! Here's the article summarizing some of the benefits of chocolate.

http://www.drcutler.com/cholesterol/dark-chocolate-may-help-lower-cholesterol-in-diabetics-800137266/

Note in the article, however, researchers are still weighing the evidence about whether or not the fat and sugar in chocolate the way we like to eat it outweighs some of these benefits.

You can't binge on it or replace other foods with it…chocolate should be a component of a healthy, balanced diet.

Here are my five favorite ways to include chocolate in ways that reduce the downsides.

1. Used in mole sauce. Mole sauce is a complex Mexican delicacy made from a combination of cocoa and other spices such as cinnamon. It's not something you'll find in your average Tex-Mex restaurant, but look for it in more upscale venues like our own local (James Beard nominated) Barrio Cafe, often with chicken or turkey.

2. In hot chocolate. Cocoa powder (undutched) in lowfat milk is always a great bedtime treat! I kind of like the Abuelita brand Mexican hot chocolate because it too has the cinnamon touch.

3. In chocolate milk. Remember, women who have one fat-containing source of dairy per day are more fertile than women who do not. Chocolate milk is a double whammy of goodness!

4. As cacao nibs, in your morning oatmeal. Cacao nibs are the dried cacao seed, from which chocolate is derived. You can buy them in stores like Whole Foods and they're a great way to flavor your breakfast.

5. As cacao nibs, in your afternoon trail mix. Frequent a store with bulk food bins and create your own concoction of cacao, healthy nuts, a little bit of dried fruit…and voila! You've got something to nibble on when the afternoon munchies hit.

Chocolate galore…and no candy bar in sight. Enjoy!

Over the weekend I noticed Girl Scout cookies for sale in many places I was out and about. Last year I wrote a fun piece about respectful behavior in the presence of Girl Scout cookies. But the fact remains, they're kind of a food we associate with bingeing.

Despite their"okayness" in moderation, the unfortunate thing is, some of the favorite Girl Scout cookie varieties, a perfectly good ingredient, chocolate, have been packaged in combination with trans (hydrogenated) fats, which aren't really something you want to regularly include in your diet.

Over the weekend, at a street fair, I met Lisa Reinhart, chocolatier from Wei of Chocolate. Lisa's chocolate is very high in cacao content. It's tasty. It's dairy free, vegan, and organic. It's also not the kind of chocolate you are prone to binge on.

An ounce of dark chocolate a day, according to experts, because of its antioxidant content…is as heart-healthy as a baby aspirin. Tell me you'd rather have a daily aspirin over a daily dose of delicious chocolate!

On her website, Lisa has compiled 6 Tips for Choosing Healthy Chocolate. You can use these guidelines when shopping for healthy chocolate wherever you live. If you can't find it, or you'd like to try the healthy Wei variety, you can order it on their website.

Chocolate, real chocolate, is definitely something you do to be good to yourself. It doesn't to be a food or choice residing in your"bad" column, something you have a love-hate relationship with, or something you have to give up in order to be healthy.

Trust me, if that was the case…if I had to tell you readers to give up chocolate…I'd surely have to reconsider my career choice.: )

… only a “bad” choice. At least that’s the way I choose to look at it these days. I find that I’ve been able to maintain good health and normal weight the past few years after adopting a more realistic approach to the way I eat.

In the past I was a slave to the “all or nothing” mentality, and in the long-term it got me nowhere, though in the short term it seemed to produce results. If I was seeking fat loss, sure, the fat came off if I ate 100% “clean”, no treats, no cheats. Ever. Eventually, once I’d reached a goal (or a breaking point!) I’d end up overdoing it with whichever foods I’d declared off-limits. And after that, well… I would feel like I failed, and these things became part of my daily habits seemingly overnight once more. Sound familiar?

The truth is, foods like these were only “bad” for me when they were the foundation of my diet. These days, I choose to approach my eating habits in a more realistic way. I live in the real world, not some “perfect eaters Utopia” and, I love burgers, cookies, chocolate, and wine (among other foods commonly found on dieters’ Do-Not-Eat lists). At the same time though, I understand that these foods are not always the most nutritionally sound choices, and too much of any of them not only leads to less-than optimal health, they can provide way too many calories, possibly pushing my weight/body fat in the wrong direction.

So, I focus on having a strong and healthy foundation by eating primarily lean proteins, plenty of vegetables and fruits – essentially, foods that are more nutritionally balanced and promote good health. I re-labeled these other foods from bad foods to treats. The definition of the word"treat" in the Merriam-Webster dictionary is:"an especially unexpected source of joy, delight or amusement."

How do I do this? If there is a special occasion coming, and I know there will be something there that I consider an indulgence rather than the foods that make up my foundation, I will plan for that by keeping the rest of my meals leading up to that special occasion particularly healthy. If there is no special occasion, I will take note of my cravings throughout the week, and based on what my body is asking for, that weekend I’ll go out for a treat. Sometimes it’s as simple as a little frozen yogurt, or a cookie at Paradise Bakery. Sometimes I really want some pizza or a hamburger. Whatever it is, I make sure to honor that craving, enjoying the meal and then continue with my usual healthy diet. I guess you can call it a “common-sense” diet.

I can understand that this approach may not work for everyone, but it works for me more than any restrictive diet ever has. I was initially afraid to give this a shot, thinking I’d be tempted to just keep eating the “junky” stuff. Yet, here I am, pleasantly surprised that I was wrong. I have chosen to live a healthy life, and everything else has fallen into place around that choice.

We’d love to hear from those of you who have been successful at managing your weight while still being able to enjoy some of those foods that have a bad reputation…

OK, you got up this morning, looked at your naked body in the mirror and sighed, wishing it looked more like that of media kittens Britney Spears or Katy Perry. How in the world can you feel young and sexy when PCOS is working so hard against you? When"Black Swan" feels more appropriately like how you feel?

It's just so much work to live with this disease. It's certainly no tea party. Why not just head for the chocolates right now?!?!?

I'll make you a deal.

--I'll continue to provide free advice, recipes, and education here on this blog, with hopes that you can save some money and reduce your sugar cravings. I'll work to"legalize" as many foods that you've been afraid to eat as possible.
--I will advocate for the health care system to take women more seriously without allowing the politics of reimbursement to interfere with your getting the best possible advice and treatment you possibly can. (You'll see an installment of that part of my promise later this week here on the blog.)
--I'll do my best to make sure the big guns with power to make decisions affecting your well being always have PCOS on their radar…and to make sure they know at least as much about this problem, if not more, than a passing issue like swine flu.
--I'll work to make it more attractive to businesses to offer deals that help you to be healthier, that are more useful than free iPads, even free Viagra.
--I'll work to develop as many Internet-based services as possible and expand the network as much as possible so that there is little need to travel far to get the help you need.

Whether the issue is PCOS or same-sex marriage, it frustrates me immensely when I see entire groups of people singled out and made to feel like somehow they're"less" because they're"different" (I prefer unique). I am inspired to advocate for respect and equality.

All I ask is that in return, today, you do just one thing for me. Actually for yourself.

Look in the mirror. Smile at who is looking back. Tell that smiling face she's beautiful. And do something nice for her.

After all, if I'm devoting my career to working on behalf of all of you, shouldn't you cut that woman a little slack and give her some love as well?

Be good to yourself today. You're the most important Valentine there is to be in love with.

Happy Valentine's Day!

One of my friends travels to Albuquerque frequently on business. I just emailed him to tell him to look for mole sauce on his current trip. And then I got to thinking, with Valentine's Day just around the corner, it would be a unique and healthy way for this blog's readers to dish up some chocolate!

Mole sauce is a Mexican sauce derived from cocoa powder. There are many different varieties, but some of the more common varities also include cinnamon, chile peppers, and nuts. Not long ago a local chef did a demonstration at our local botanical garden. Her version had about 14 different herbs and spices! This sauce is great on most meats, but I like it best on chicken.

Chocolate actually may have some heart-healthy benefits; researchers have said that an ounce of dark chocolate is as good as a baby aspirin for heart health! And cinnamon is gaining recognition for its effect on improving insulin function.

If you Google"mole sauce", you'll find plenty of recipes to try. Make this the week you treat your sweetie, as well as your heart.

I recently received a review copy of the Glycemic Index Cookbook for Dummies, by Meri Raffetto, RD, and Rosanne Rust, MS, RD, LDN. Meri's name may sound familiar to some of you, as she also wrote the Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies.

This followup book is a nice practical guide to putting the principles of the glycemic index into action. I like this. I can't tell you how many times I've spoken to groups of women with PCOS who can repeat the many sound principles of diet for PCOS, as if they have more education than I do on the topic, but look at me like a deer in the headlights at the end of the presentation when I ask,"OK, now what are you all cooking for dinner?"

What really matters is not how much you KNOW about what to eat, but how often you EAT based on what you know. This book transitions you from theory into practice.

This book is not lacking in theory, however. It nicely distinguishes between low-glycemic foods and a low-glycemic diet, for example. You don't always get both with the same food choice.

The authors are also very good about discussing in detail the many factors besides diet (like stress, binge eating, not attending to portion sizes, for example), that can interfere with good blood glucose control.

Once they make sure you're on board with the principles of low-glycemic eating as they were intended to be used, they proceed to what to eat. Even there, they're entirely practical, reminding readers that if you haven't taken the time to stock your kitchen with the right items, you're not going to eat the way you say you want to. From planning your menus, and making your shopping list, to organizing your kitchen to navigating the grocery store, Meri and Rosanne work you through setting yourself up for success.

And then…about 2/3 of the book is actual recipes to use. If the recipes don't make you wonder why it took you so long to try this way of eating, the beautiful food photography in the middle of the book will certainly start you thinking!

Trust me, I saw chocolate, cream cheese cake, asparagus and goat cheese and toasted walnuts, cheesy quinoa with spinach, and even spaghetti, yes spaghetti!

If you're done with the theorizing and ready to get in the kitchen and get your eating plan off on the right foot, consider adding this book to your library.

Click here to order the Glycemic Index for Dummies
Click here to order the Glycemic Index Cookbook for Dummies — paperback version
Click here to order the Glycemic Index Cookbook for Dummies — Kindle version

Disclaimer: I do want to add that Meri is a personal friend and she did mention inCYST in her book as a PCOS resource. Because of this I do have a bias that cannot be avoided. However, I have declined to promote friends with other books, products and services on the blog that were not the right fit for our audience. I do my best to stay 100% fair, but I want you to know it's not a perfect world. Just wanted to be sure you know where I stand on the issue.