The Hemp Connection:
olive oil

The last time I wrote about marijuana it brought enough traffic to this blog with the search words,"PCOS" and"marijuana" I figured the subject should be addressed in more detail.

Did you know that our bodies naturally make their own cannabinoids? They are compounds that are needed for a variety of processes, ranging from appetite to pain sensation to mood to memory.

Cannabis, an external cannabinoid, affects these functions as follows:

1. Interferes with both long and short term memory. If you're smoking pot and experiencing brain fog, there just might be a connection.

2. Increases appetite (like I had to tell you that!) When your internal (endo) cannabinoid system is out of balance, it too affects appetite. Leptin and endocannabinoids antagonize each other, and when the latter levels become higher, obesity is more likely. Just as cannabis intensifies cravings for sweets, so do high levels of endocannabinoids.

3. Affects fertility. In both directions. Cannabinoids can increase or decrease the probability of an embryo implanting in the uterus. My guess would be that if you're a person who is craving sweets and struggling with weight, you layer smoking pot on top of that…you're pushing that baby farther away from reality, rather than in the positive direction.

What is fascinating is that omega-3 fatty acids, the ones you see all the time mentioned in this blog, are crucial for good endocannabinoid function. If you're omega-3 deficienct, you're more likely to make it harder for your body to respond to its own naturally produced cannabinoids. So that craving for pot may have a valid foundation. The problem is, it's not the lack of cannabinoids that's causing the problem. It's that they are there, all dressed up, ready to help regulate memory, mood, appetite, and hormone function, but the body has lost the ability to understand what those chemicals are trying to tell them. Flooding your system with more of those chemicals holds potential to create an even worse imbalance, even worse cravings, a vicious cycle that it can feel impossible to break out of.

In addition, omega-3 fatty acids help to be sure that when it comes to maintaining muscle mass and reducing fat mass, the endocannabinoids push that relationship in the right direction.

Why not try improving how your body uses these chemicals and see if it helps reduce your need for the external stuff?

1. Work really, really hard on getting those omega-6 fatty acids out of the diet. They are likely to be found in baked goods, chips, all the stuff you tend to want to eat when you have the munchies. So it seems like a really important strategy is to not bring your munchie foods into the house. Fill your kitchen with fruits, vegetables, crackers made with olive oil, etc., to turn to while you're transitioning to a better hormone balance. Remember, the oils you want to stay away from begin with the letters"s" and"c"--safflower, sunflower, soybean, sesame, corn, cottonseed. Canola is ok.

2. Get as many omega-3 fatty acids as you can in your diet. If you supplement, start with a dose of 500 mg DHA per day. If, combined with #1, you don't see a change within 2 weeks, add 500 mg more DHA. I've seen some cases where titrating up like that, over time, the end dose was 1000 to 1500 mg per day. Hang in there. If you're diligent, it works.
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Watkins BA, Hutchins H, Li Y, Seifert MF. The endocannabinoid signaling system: a marriage of PUFA and musculoskeletal health. J Nutr Biochem. 2010 Dec;21(12):1141-52. Epub 2010 Oct 8.

Kirkham TC, Tucci SA. Endocannabinoids in appetite control and the treatment of obesity". CNS Neurol Disord Drug Targets 5 (3): 272–92, 2006.

Ryusuke Y. Endocannabinoids selectively enhance sweet taste. PNAS 107 (2): 935–9, 2010.

Das SK, Paria BC, Chakraborty I, Dey SK. Cannabinoid ligand-receptor signaling in the mouse uterus. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 92 (10): 4332–6, 1995.

Paria BC, Das SK, Dey SK. The preimplantation mouse embryo is a target for cannabinoid ligand-receptor signaling. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 92 (21): 9460–4, 1995.

If you've been following the blog over the last week, I've been reporting about interesting products and things I learned at the 2011 Natural Products West Expo. It's a huge exposition where food companies hoping to connect with buyers for health food stores have a chance to showcase their products. There were about 2,000 exhibitors there, and in 3 days I didn't get a chance to see and talk to everyone I wanted to. You can imagine, on the exhibitor end, the pressure there is to create a product, packaging concept, and booth display that catches the eye of the people you came to meet!

Unfortunately, not all concepts were on target. I'm sharing one that is a common example of how omega-3 marketing is not always accurate. It's still not regulated well, so there are lots of variations in how facts are presented that can be confusing to the person who knows they want to eat well but doesn't understand all the facts.

Yesterday I pulled a fish oil bottle out of my sample bag and noticed on the label that it was"extra-virgin" fish oil. This is a concept that I'm familiar with when it refers to olive oil, and it means that it is the olive oil from the first press of olives. It's a stronger oil, with a lower smoke point, and more appropriate for recipes where the oil is not heated. But it's not really a concept that has any relevance to fish. (I joked with my Facebook friends about whether or not it really mattered what the fish were doing before we caught them!) This particular product's label was also busy with breakdowns of omega-3's, 5's, 6's, 7's, and 9's, promoting a"perfect complement of 16 omega's". It all sounded very official, but to the average consumer who is still confused about 3's, 6's, and 9's, it only serves to make shopping for fish oil tedious and painful.

One of the reasons for all of this confusion is that fish oil is Mother Nature's patent. Consumers want their foods and supplements to be as unrefined as possible, but the only way to patent and protect a manufactured product, is to alter it. So it is very difficult for fish oil companies to create products that distinguish themselves from other competing products while keeping their customers happy. What is left to distinguish a product is where the fish is caught, what species the fish is, and the total amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. And lots of pretty, irrelevant marketing words.

Even with all my knowledge and training, I can spend hours in the health food store looking at labels on fish oil supplements and keeping up with new and different products. From my perspective, it's the total amount of omega-3's that matters. If you have a hard time with the flavor or the burps, there are several flavored options and packaged forms that can get you around that problem.

Here is my advice to you.

1. First of all, before you spend a lot of money and time, try taking fish oil to see if it works for the problem you're trying to solve. Be sure you take enough of it. For the degree of inflammation seen with PCOS, you're going to need to take the equivalent of 1000 mg DHA. That can be 2 to 3 times the recommended dose on the bottle. Be sure you do your math. It can even be the Costco brand. That is actually my first recommendation to clients. I'm more interested in whether or not adding DHA to the diet is helpful, not where the fish was caught, what the flavor of the fish oil is, yadayadayada. I just want to establish if there is a DHA deficiency.

2. Make a list of the problems that you have that you're looking for relief with that you know are related to omega-3 imbalance: memory, concentration, mood swings, carbohydrate cravings, skin problems, menstrual irregularity. Keep this list in a handy place.

3. If memory problems are on your list, be sure you have a mechanism for remembering to take the fish oil! I swear, this is one of the biggest barriers to PCOS, memory and forgetfulness keeping you from remembering what it is you need to do! If you need to engage your significant other, or set up an alarm on your phone, or a Google calendar reminder…do whatever it takes to be consistent. If you didn't take it, and it didn't work, it didn't work because you didn't take it, not because it's not the issue.

4. Be diligent about reducing your omega-6 intake: soy, safflower, sunflower, sesame, corn, cottonseed. The less of these oils you have in your diet, the better chance omega-3's have of doing the job.

5. Be sure you're reading the dose right on the label. One of my biggest issues I have with one of the most popular brands of fish oil is that their dose is two capsules, not one. Most people never read the fine print, assume a dose is one pill, and end up taking half of what they were thinking they were taking.

6. At the end of your trial period, look at your list and see what improved. Did it work? NOW, and only NOW that you've established whether or not you were DHA deficient, consider if the type of fish oil you take. Would you prefer a flavored, a gel, a capsule, a liquid? All of them are going to give you what you want, you're just deciding which one fits best with your personal taste and texture preference.

Pretty packaging and fancy words are not what are going to help you to feel better. It's what's inside the package, and in what concentration, that you need to focus on!

Source: barefeetinthekitchen.blogspot.com via Monika on Pinterest

One of the most well-intended things people do when they decide to start eating healthier, is to eat more salad. A healthier choice, right? Only if you are salad dressing-savvy. Most commercial brands of salad dressing are made with soybean oil. Even if you shop at Whole Foods! If you've cut out a lot of fat from your diet, but you've kept or added more salad dressing, the ratio of that omega-6 to what omega-3 you have could be enough to push you toward a pro-inflammatory situation.

I can't even remember the last time I bought ready-made salad dressing. I made a vinaigrette once and it was so easy, I wondered why I didn't just do it all the time. These days I usually just drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar on my salads and that works just fine.

If you're not there, and you want something a bit more complex, try this balsamic vinaigrette recipe. It comes from a food blogger who uses our Chow Locally food…it went viral after pinned it on Pinterest. So I figured you'd like to have the instructions.

I also found a handy thing at Fresh and Easy yesterday, it's a balsamic vinegar spray bottle. I love it! I just spritzed the surface of my salad bowl with vinegar before adding the greens. The cap twists off if I want to measure out a larger quantity for a recipe. It's going to become a staple on my vinegar shelf.

With all the spring greens in season, it's a good time to try a newer, cleaner way of dressing your salads!

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!

And what the heck is smoke point in the first place? If you're a well-intended but not always great chef like me, you've heated oil in the pan to the point where it starts to create a smoke that really excites your smoke alarm. This is the point where the oil has started to break down nutritionally. It is also thought that at this point, more free radicals are present in the oil, and the cancer-causing potential of that oil increases.

When you're using oil to fry a food, it's best to use oils with higher smoke points. You can get a nice flavor on the outside, more quickly, with a higher temperature, while the oil is hot but not past its prime.

Here is a list of smoke points for oils, from least desirable for frying to most desirable. (e.g., the ones least likely to drive your downstairs neighbor batty when you're making dinner.) Note that two of the best 3 oils for frying, soybean and safflower oil, are also two of the oils we encourage you to decrease your intake of because they are pro-inflammatory and high in omega-6 fatty acids. Oils with lower smoke points are good choices for preparation methods not requiring heating.

All of these numbers, except for camellia oil, were obtained from the website, Cooking for Engineers. Camellia oil information was provided by Steven Frenzl of Bien Padre Foods.

So when you fry, consider avocado and camellia oil. I've started to see more avocado oil in stores and markets, so keep your eye out. Camellia oil is relatively new to the market and for now a little challenging to find. If you'd like to try it for yourself, here's a website where you can order it.

Unrefined canola oil 225°F
Unrefined flaxseed oil 225°F
Unrefined safflower oil 225°F
Unrefined sunflower oil 225°F
Unrefined corn oil 320°F
Unrefined high-oleic sunflower oil 320°F
Extra virgin olive oil 320°F
Unrefined peanut oil 320°F
Semirefined safflower oil 320°F
Unrefined soy oil 320°F
Unrefined walnut oil 320°F
Hemp seed oil 330°F
Butter 350°F
Semirefined canola oil 350°F
Coconut oil 350°F
Unrefined sesame oil 350°F
Semirefined soy oil 350°F
Vegetable shortening 360°F
Lard 370°F
Macadamia nut oil 390°F
Refined canola oil 400°F
Semirefined walnut oil 400°F
High quality (low acidity) extra virgin olive oil 405°F
Sesame oil 410°F
Cottonseed oil 420°F
Grapeseed oil 420°F
Virgin olive oil 420°F
Almond oil 420°F
Hazelnut oil 430°F
Peanut oil 440°F
Sunflower oil 440°F
Refined corn oil 450°F
Refined high-oleic sunflower oil 450°F
Refined peanut oil 450°F 232°C
Refined Safflower oil 450°F
Semirefined sesame oil 450°F
Refined soy oil 450°F
Semirefined sunflower oil 450°F
Olive pomace oil 460°F
Extra light olive oil 468°F
Camellia (green tea) oil 485°F
Soybean oil 495°F
Safflower oil 510°F
Avocado oil 520°F

Just a few weeks ago, I was talking with my husband about the amount of money I spend buying healthy food every month. I often wonder why the foods that are the most damaging to our nutrition are so much less expensive than foods that protect and nourish our bodies in so many different beneficial ways. Then again, when I wander through specialty organic grocery stores, I wonder why some of the prices are so outrageous; however, every once in a while you stumble upon a food item that you just can’t resist trying, even if it more than you usually spend on good nutrition.

Since watching my weight is my third “full time job,” I’m always looking for foods to add to my list of staples, as well as adding some variety to my vegetable and protein intake. I’ve never been one to experiment with exotic foods, but in the last two months, I’ve found myself drawn to organic nut, seed, and coconut oil based products. With this new quest, I came across a wonderful product, Pistachio Pesto, made by Living Tree Community Foods. You’ve probably read on this very blog about the health benefits of pistachios, a powerful and protective nut that is a great addition to your diet. Check out the following link if you want to read up on the pistachio. http://www.incyst.com/2009/04/food-of-week-pistachio-nuts.html

While I’ve never been a fan of pesto, I couldn’t resist giving the Pistachio Pesto a try, particularly after reading the list of all organic ingredients, which includes sun-dried tomatoes, sun-dried black olives, raw sesame, and olive oil. So far I have tried the pesto on a high fiber cracker, which was delicious, and I’m sure I’ll experiment with this as a topping for vegetables very soon. If you would like more information on this product, you can visit http://www.livingtreecommunity.com/.

Stacey Frattinger, RD, CHFS
Owner of Formula FUEL
http://www.formulafitt.com/
Contact me @ formulafuel@hotmail.com

I promised Ivonne I would post a recipe here, but my format will be a little bit nontraditional.

See, so many people have this perception that if you have a nutrition degree, or work in the fitness and counseling worlds, you are somehow this magic creator of 3 gourmet meals a day. They're all perfectly balanced, exactly the necessary number of calories with perfect ratios of carbohydrate, protein, fat, zinc, antioxidants, omega-3's, yadayadayada.

NOT.

I think sometimes these blogs and websites with all these people who'd like you to think it's perfect in foodieland are downright intimidating. I want you to HAVE FUN with food, and I want you to have the confidence to experiment.

So here's a look inside my kitchen and my head when I recently improvised on a popular recipe, Morning Glory Muffins.

Here is the original recipe as I found it on the Internet:

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shredded, sweetened coconut

3/4 cup Earthbound Farm Organic Raisins

1 large organic apple, peeled and grated

1 cup (8 ounces) crushed pineapple, drained

2 cups grated carrots

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts

3 large eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Now let's see what actually happened when I rolled up my sleeves and baked them.

1. "Where is the sugar? Dang! I forgot I was almost out and I only have half as much…OK, in food chem class we learned that while some sugar is necessary not all of it is. Maybe I can make do." Half the sugar is used.

2. Time to add the pineapple. "Hmmmm…I still have a dozen of those 400 oranges that I picked taking up space in the refrigerator…they're acidic, wonder what would happen if I replaced pineapple with chopped oranges?" Oranges are used in place of pineapple.

3. I used omega-3 eggs in place of regular eggs.

4. Now for the vegetable oil. "Wonder if I could use olive oil? That olive oil pastry I had on the cruise a few years ago was pretty good." So olive oil it is, and 2/3 of the recipe's original amount.

5. Home stretch…time for vanilla…"Oh, MAN! I could SWEAR I had vanilla!" Time for a little trick my mom taught me years ago…extracts are alcohol based, so you can exchange the vanilla for anything you might have that is a liqueur. "What's in my liquor cabinet? Banana liqueur, hazelnut liqueur…" Hazelnut wouldn't open (it was crystallized shut from disuse), so banana it was.

And there you have it. I would be a disaster on a cooking show, but my mad-science-hmmm-let's-see-if-this-works approach turned out some pretty darned good muffins.

Which, at this point, are no longer Morning Glory Muffins. Given the fact that I used local oranges and pecans, our local tree nut, they have been renamed Arizona Sunrise Muffins. Here's the recipe as it ended up:

Arizona Sunrise Muffins

5/8 cups sugar

2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shredded, sweetened coconut

3/4 cup Earthbound Farm Organic Raisins (chopped dates would make it even more local)

1 large organic apple, peeled and grated

1 cup oranges or other citrus, peeled and chopped (probably need more sugar if you use grapefruit)

2 cups grated carrots

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

3 large omega-3 eggs

2/3 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon banana liqueur

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Sift or whisk together the sugar, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Add the coconut, raisins, apple, pineapple, carrots, and nuts, and stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the oil and vanilla. Pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients and blend well.

Spoon the batter into muffin tins lined with muffin cups, filling each to the brim. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool muffins in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to finish cooling.

I must add an important disclaimer here. Not all my experimenting succeeds. I have some serious flops. The thing that matters is that I learn from each experiment, I don't aim for perfection, and I have FUN.

That's what I encourage all of you to do, too, when you step into your kitchen.

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

Back when I lived in Palo Alto, spring farmer's markets were pungent. Our farmers came in from Watsonville (awesome strawberries) and Gilroy (garlic capital of the world). You could smell that garlic blocks away! Spring garlic is a younger garlic with a milder flavor. I typically use it in recipes where the rest of the year I would use scallions, shallots, or green onions, to shift the flavor in a slightly different direction…one that always signifies spring.

If you are a gardener, growing your own spring garlic is easy. Simply plant your garlic very close together, and harvest as a way to thin them out, letting the rest mature into the more popular mature garlic.

We've been getting spring garlic in our shares for a few months now. Our first garlic almost looked like green onions, but last week's batch started to show the beginnings of cloves in the buds. Aren't they beautiful?

I decided to use a couple of them to make my new favorite salad topping, spring garlic crispies.

I was getting ready to saute some kale which I would scramble eggs. I heated up the olive oil and threw in a minced head of spring garlic. Only instead of just barely browning them, and leaving them in the oil to cook with the kale, I fried them to a crisp and removed them.

Then I sprinkled some on top of the finished eggs and kale. The kale was cooked in garlic-flavored olive oil, and topped with more garlic. And was it ever tasty!

These little crispies are the greatest addition to salads, sandwiches, cooked vegetables…give it a try! I have become fond of whole wheat toast with slices of roasted beets, sprinkled with goat cheese, and topped with garlic crunchies. Try it!
Definitely my new spring flavor!

Spring garlic is most typically found at farmer's markets or small grocers. Look for it…or mark your garden calendar with a reminder to plant your own next year.

I have a new favorite recipe that I thought you would like! If you use the anchovy paste, you'll get additional omega-3's; if you're vegan it's fine to use soy sauce. I use lite soy sauce to cut the sodium content. I have also cut the oil in half from the original recipe; feel free to add more if you need it. Just remember that it is the fat in the Caesar that can throw the calories out of whack.

Add chicken or salmon…or even canned tuna…for protein…and you've got a tasty, hormone-friendly meal!

Kale and Romaine Caesar Salad

Ingredients

- 2 T fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- 1 T anchovy paste from a tube (or substitute soy sauce)
- 1 tsp. minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 3 T olive oil
- 2 T + 2 T freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 4-5 oz. romaine lettuce, thinly sliced, washed and dried
- 4-5 oz. dark green kale, washed, dried, and thinly sliced

Preparation

Blend the lemon juice, anchovy paste (or soy sauce), garlic, and Dijon in a food processor and pulse together a few times. Add the olive oil one tablespoon at a time, pulsing for a few seconds after each tablespoon is added. Stir in 2 tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan and season the dressing with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Put dressing in the fridge and chill until ready to use, or if you want to make the salad right away, chill it in the freezer for 10 minutes or so.
Thinly slice romaine lettuce and kale into 1/2 inch strips. Wash, then spin dry or dry with paper towels.

Place the kale strips in a salad bowl, and pour in salad dressing. Massage dressing into kale with your hands until the leaves change color. Add romaine and toss to coat with dressing. Add the remaining 2 T of freshly grated Parmesan to the salad and toss again. Serve right away.

I've recently been helping clients with skin issues such as psoriasis and eczema. These problems are annoying both cosmetically and comfort-wise, so it's super important to me, that my advice helps increase their comfort.

What we do is work from the inside out as well as outside in.

From the inside, the same diet you see me write about here, for infertility, is excellent for reducing the inflammatory process that is the root cause of these diagnoses. In fact, it was because women who were both infertile and suffering from eczema and psoriasis started telling me their redness and itchiness was gradually relieving after implementing dietary changes, that I realized there was a connection.

From the outside in, and this is important because no one wants to be red and itchy for a few months while they wait to feel better, simple oils from your kitchen can be very healing. If you've got olive oil, try that.

I'm partial to virgin coconut oil. It's already in many of your skin products and has a lot of healing properties. It moisturizes and heals and doesn't seem to cause acne like other products I've tried on my own skin.

Your skin tells you a lot about your internal inflammatory process. Hang in there! If you're making positive changes, you should soon experience positive feedback for the effort.

Hello everyone,

I want to take a moment to introduce you to our new sponsor, Green Mountain at Fox Run in Ludlow, Vermont, and explain how this partnership came to be.

Here is an introductory note from Robyn, Green Mountain's dietitian:

Women working to manage PCOS know first-hand that making lifestyle changes to promote better health is often easier said than done. To say nothing of the confusion about what's best to eat. At Green Mountain at Fox Run, you can begin to sort out the confusion and find what works best for you in terms of eating and physical activity with the help of professionals who understand the needs of women with PCOS, and who truly care about helping women take control of their health. Green Mountain offers a comprehensive program that allows women with PCOS to get a taste of how good they can feel while eating healthy and being active.

Here you'll practice healthy living that features foods you like and physical activity you enjoy. Our meals are comprised of high-quality choices such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, fish, legumes, lower fat dairy products, nuts & seeds, and healthy added fats such as flax seed, olive oil & canola oil. We also leave room for “fun” foods to illustrate how healthy eating can be flexible and delicious. Our chefs strive to create exciting meals out of whole foods, with most menu items made from scratch. We offer a conservative level of carbohydrate as part of our balanced meals & snacks for better management of blood sugar and insulin levels. Generous amounts of fun fitness classes offered throughout the day encourage better insulin sensitivity as well.

Our strong focus on education not only guides women in practicing healthy habits while with us, but prepares them to integrate these new habits into their routines back at home.

First of all, I want to tell you that I'm very, very picky about who inCYST partners with, and who it accepts sponsorships from. Companies with products and services to sell see women with PCOS as a very lucrative demographic. That includes fertility centers, diet centers, supplement companies…you name it. With one in ten women in this country having PCOS, that's an awful lot of dollar signs.

It could mean an awful lot of money for a well-visited blog like this, to accept advertising from all of these companies wanting your attention, but that's not how this business is operated. I actually discontinued Google Ads because no matter how hard I tried to filter, I kept getting ads on here that were counterproductive to the message I wanted to project. And more opportunities are declined than accepted.

I also am very selective about who inCYST promotes as a PCOS expert. It's not just anyone you see here, it's someone who has been willing to invest time and money into the inCYST training. A training that is as much about the facts of PCOS, as it is about understanding what it means to go through a health care system with the syndrome and be treated poorly by doctors, dietitians, etc., who give counterproductive advice.

I know I've probably offended a few colleagues who wanted to be included in what we do here, but didn't want to participate in the training as I've outlined it. But this program is about women with PCOS, first and foremost, not about the many entities that want to profit from them.

What that means to all of you is, that you can be assured that professionals listed here and on my website are of a different breed, and that sponsors I choose to include in the inCYST mission have quality services and products, delivered with integrity.

Which brings me to our newest sponsor, Green Mountain at Fox Run. I love them! I actually had an opportunity to spend a week at their Vermont resort a few years ago, and wish that all of you had an opportunity to spend time there. Alan Wayler and Marsha Hudnall, the owners of this fitness retreat, work hard to provide quality programming that incorporates the principles you regularly read about on this blog. Marsha actually took the time to come to one of our professional trainings a few years ago.

Sometimes it helps to just get out of your personal situation and have some time to experience what healthy living actually feels like. Eating well. Moving your body. Sleeping well. Lower stress level. I know there are many people coming to this blog with the search words,"pcos""program". For you and anyone else who simply didn't know this program even existed, I encourage you to check out their website. Their logo will be up on the right if you ever want to come back and click through for information.

Welcome, Green Mountain at Fox Run! I'm so excited that our readers get a chance to learn about your wonderful program!

So you've been told you need to clean up your nutrition act, and you've stopped eating the Fritos. You've decided to stop being the reason the stock price of your local fast food restaurant has weathered the Wall Street willies. Your salad dressing shelf in your refrigerator is now half of what's in your refrigerator.

Still no luck.

Hey, isn't eating better supposed to be the answer?

Depends on how you define eating better.

I'm noticing with my inCYST classes that a disproportionate percentage of women coming for information have adopted vegetarian practices. And I'm beginning to wonder if it isn't part of the problem.

No, the problem isn't that you're vegetarian. It's how you're defining vegetarian, and it's how you go about being one that matters. Here are my simple rules for being the healthiest (potentially fertile) vegetarian you can be.

1. Define your vegetarianism by what you DO eat.

Most people I know who become vegetarian after eating meat, define that practice in terms of what they DON'T eat. They DON'T do red meat. They DON'T do dairy. They DON'T do fish. DON'T, DON'T, DON'T.

Therein lies the problem.

A most important rule of nutrition is, when you eliminate an entire category of food, for whatever reason, be it meat or wheat, you are also eliminating crucial nutrients that this category contains.

My definition of vegetarian is someone who meets all of their complete nutritional needs without using animal products.

Do you know what fertility-related nutrients you're likely short on if all you've done is cut out meat? If not, read on!

2. Zap yourself with zinc!

Zinc is needed for oodles of reactions that keep your body running, from your brain to your ovaries. Are you eating whole grains? Beans? Pumpkin and sunflower seeds? Nuts? Oops…go get your shopping list, right now, and put them down!

3. Forgetting folate can be fatal

You likely know about this nutrient since there has been so much publicity about its role in pregnancy. Put spinach on your sandwich instead of lettuce…make sure your morning cereal is fortified…eat more beans and split peas…and become savvy with sunflower seeds!

4. Cultivate a copper attitude

It's not as famous as folate, but it still is important to remember. Outside of red meat, its vegan sources are rather random: molasses, green olives, cocoa, nuts, avocadoes, black pepper, sunflower seeds…hopefully at least one of these sounds tasty!

5. Try to remember tryptophan

Tryptophan is a building block for serotonin, one of the major neurotransmitters regulating the brain's hormone center. For vegetarians, there are still a lot of options even if you're not using dairy products or eating turkey. Does your pantry have…cocoa, mangoes, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, oats, dates, chickpeas, peanuts, bananas, and sunflower seeds? It needs to.

6. Allow for algae

If you're vegan, chances are you're not getting enough DHA and EPA, the omega-3 fatty acids primarily found in fish. Become friendly with an ingredient known as Life's DHA, a marine algae source of DHA (unfortunately not EPA), that is being added to vegan-friendly foods. The link I'm providing gets you to the most recent list of foods containing this ingredient that you may want to become proficient at finding.

7. Not all vegan products are created equally healthy. Be sure if you've gone vegan, that you are aware of oils that can interfere with healthy balance. These oils are all vegan, but tend to be pro-inflammatory: safflower, sunflower, soybean, corn, cottonseed, sesame. (Remember my"S and C" rule from previous posts. If you're eating absolutely no meat at all, but you're eating a salad doused with soybean oil-based dressing…that could be a problem. Become familiar with brands that are made with olive or canola oils, or learn to make vinaigrettes. (Canola is the"C" oil exception, by the way.

8. Be happy without hydrogenated.

Hydrogenated = trans fat. Enough said.

9. Forget the fructose…high fructose corn syrup, that is.

It's been connected to insulin resistance in more than one study. And despite what marketers would really like you to believe, more than one nutrition expert does not endorse its use.

10. Be pro-protein

This is the most obvious one…know your complementary proteins and be sure your diet includes them. One caveat…soy may be hard on your thyroid function and is not a good choice if you have a family history of breast cancer. Be sure you are reading labels, as soy is a filler in many, many foods.

I like to look for patterns that make nutrition recommendations easy to recommend. In this post, it didn't work out that way. A lot of these foods are random. If I'm not giving you ideas that seem easy to work into your food plan…think of consulting with one of our experts! That's what we excel at, and that's what we're waiting to help you with.

After all, you became vegan to be healthy, let's work together to do it correctly.

Sorry, I couldn't resist that…the slogan"kale is the new beef" has always made me laugh, knowing as soon as the next superfood on the horizon…and its marketers…figure out a way to bump kale out of its current favored superfood slot, it will be pushed to the last word in that slogan!

I was so interested to read a new study this week about a favorite"diet" food, popcorn, that we sometimes think of as being pretty empty nutritionally but something to satisfy the need to crunch. Turns out, popcorn is more than a pretty face, it's got some great antioxidant power!

Some scientist, and I'm guessing someone who's not so fond of green food, decided to run popcorn through antioxidant testing and it scored pretty well! In fact, because the water in fruits and vegetables dilutes the concentration of polyphenols (the type of antioxidant popcorn contains), ounce for ounce, the antioxidant content of dryer popcorn is even higher.

Remember, however, that the way you fix popcorn can quickly detract from this nutritional potential. We're not talking kettle corn here, and we're not talking pre-prepared microwave envelopes, and we're certainly not talking movie popcorn. Here are three ways you can take advantage of popcorn and keep it focused on the good part.

1. Air pop it. Simple enough.

2. Make your own microwave popcorn. Here's a great set of instructions from the Snack Girl blog.

3. Trader Joe's sells a bagged popcorn cooked in olive oil, which I will go for in a pinch.

There you have it, a whole grain, low fat, high fiber, low glycemic, anti-oxidant snack. Enjoy!

American Chemical Society (ACS) (2012, March 25). Popcorn: The snack with even higher antioxidants levels than fruits and vegetables. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 26, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2012/03/120325173008.htm#.T3CJEqUT3-M.mailto

I'm going to send you to the Green Mountain at Fox Run blog for this post. It's awesome! It has wonderful detail about the nutritional value of maple syrup, and WHY it has the antioxidants it has…fascinating! Mother Nature really knows what she's doing. Bottom line, yes it's a carbohydrate, but in moderation it can be beneficial.

Here are some recipes from Green Mountain's kitchen--enjoy!

Apple Cider Dressing
Serves 16

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1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
4 tablespoons apple cider
4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup maple syrup — b grade
2 tablespoons Calvados
1 pinch salt and pepper
- — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - -
Apple Salsa
Serves 8
------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 large Apples — diced
1 tablespoon red onion — diced
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon cilantro — minced
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons olive oil
to taste salt and pepper

Honey-Dijon Dressing

Serves 8

¼ cup honey
¼ cup dijon mustard
¼ cup cider vinegar
3/8 cup canola oil
½ dash salt
½ dash pepper
½ teaspoon oregano

Whisk all ingredients together.

Replace the Dijon with Maple Syrup for Maple Dijon

Maple-Balsamic Vinaigrette

Makes 1 ½ cups

3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon mustard
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup canola oil

Blend vinegar, mustard, and maple syrup together.
Slowly add oil until incorporated.

Replace maple syrup with honey for honey-balsamic vinaigrette.

Another great marinade!

Raspberry Maple Poppy Seed Dressing

Makes 1 ½ cups

1 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
½ tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon poppy seeds

salt and pepper to taste
Mix it up and adjust seasonings.
Your slaw may never be the same.

Maple-Glazed Salmon

¼ cup Vermont Maple Syrup
1 tbs. lemon juice
2 tbs. light soy sauce
1 tsp. Dijon or stone-ground mustard
½ tsp. finely chopped gingerroot, if desired
1 ¼-pound salmon fillet
2 tbs. thinly sliced scallions

Method of Preparation

1. Mix all ingredients except salmon and scallions.

2. Cut salmon fillet into 4 serving pieces. Place fish in shallow glass or plastic dish. Drizzle marinade over fish reserving about ¼-cup marinade to serve over cooked fish. Refrigerate about 30 minutes.

3. Heat oven to 400© F. Remove fish from marinade; set aside marinade. Place fish in baking dish. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, basting occasionally with marinade, until fish flakes easily with fork.

4. To serve, drizzle reserved ¼-cup marinade over fish; top with scallions.

Variation:

Grilled Maple-Glazed Salmon: Instead of baking, place on grill rack, cover and grill fish 5 to 6 inches from medium coals 4 minutes. Turn fish; brush with marinade; cover and grill about 4 minutes longer or until fish is opaque and flakes easily with fork.
Red Beet Vinaigrette
Makes 1 1/2 cups

1/4 cup beet powder
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
2 tablespoons maple syrup
black pepper — to taste
3/4 cup canola oil

Add beet powder, vinegar, & mustard to blender. Blend until all powder is incorporated into the vinegar. Add syrup & blacck pepper, blend again to mix. With blender running, slowly add canola oil.

I have had a stressful week. Lots going on in my life, as well as the lives of others I care about. Deadlines. Disappointments. Good news! And long hours.

Sound familiar? Are those the reasons you use to not make healthy choices?

I carved out time this afternoon to get my groceries for the week. One of my favorite stores is Fresh and Easy, as they always mark perishables down to 50% off their original price when they get close to expiration. There is often a mango-pineapple salsa on the discount shelf, as there was today.

I bought the salsa, came home, pulled a frozen salmon filet out of the freezer, and thawed it. Then I brushed it with some olive oil, sprinkled on some jalapeno salt, and broiled it. When it was finished, I topped it with the mango salsa.

It was yummy…and boy did it hit the spot!

Fruit salsas can be used with any kind of meat, even with beans on Mexican food if you're going veggie. I just Googled"fruit","salsa" and"recipes" and found quite a few links. Here is one with almost 100 different variations.

If you've got fruit that hasn't been eaten that you want to do something with, or a plain piece of meat you're not sure what you want to do with…or you just love fruit, think about fruit salsa as an easy and tasty way to get in that nutrient-packed food group.

Cauliflower Couscous

2 heads cauliflower, finely ground in a food processor
1/2 fresh cup lemon juice
1 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon black pepper
pinch of sea salt
1 bunch fresh parsley, stems removed
1 bunch fresh mint, stems removed
1 bunch fresh cilantro, stems removed
1 13oz jar pitted Greek olives

In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients and mix thoroughly

Marinated Bok Choy Salad

5 heads baby bok choy
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Nama Shoyu
4 cloves garlic, peeled

Starting from the bottom of the plant, chop the bok choy stalks into half-inch pieces, leaving the leaves whole. In a blender, combine the olive oil, Nama Shoyu and garlic and blend thoroughly. Add to the bok choy, mix well and serve.

Pesto Sauce

2-3 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 fresh lemon juice
pinch sea salt
1 cup raw pine nuts
1 cup fresh basil
2 tablespoons olive oil

In a high speed blender, combine all the ingredients, and blend until smooth.
(can add 3/4 cup Thai cocunut water if desired)
We served this last night over brown rice linguini pasta and it was delicious!!

I just tried all of these and they are so easy to prepare and absolutely yummy

Cucumber Watercress Soup
3 1/2 cups cucumber juice (4-6 cucumbers)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 bunch fresh watercress
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp sea salt

Using a juicer, juice the cucumbers. In a high speed blender, combine all of the ingredients and blend until smooth
*I added some fresh dill and parsley to this recipe and chose not to use salt, you can try either way

Something I observe, fairly frequently with PCOS, is a tendency to not ask for things you need, and to assume that what you see in front of you is the only way something can be. Every time you choose not to take action in a situation because of that assumption, you lose out on the opportunity to get what you want. When you do not get what you want because you did not pursue what you want…you are not a victim, because it is the natural outcome of the choice you consciously made for yourself.

Over the weekend, I was at the Natural Products West Expo in Anaheim, and I ran into John Sorial of Ta Dah! Foods, who I had met at last year's expo. My friend Ivonne and I love, love, loved his Mediterranean hummus and falafel wraps. (Doesn't that one up top look tasty?) Except when I looked at the label, they were made with one of the"s" and" c" oils we encourage you all to avoid. I was so sad, that the thing we wanted the most to recommend…we could not. so I introduced myself, explained why the oil was a concern, and asked if there was ever a possibility that he would use either olive or oil. he explained that when he moved into his new manufacturing facility, which allowed more ingredient options, he would consider the suggestion.

And guess what? He changed his oil! So excited to tell all of you about these new options for quick and easy meals.

After I returned, I posted a photo of me with some of our Zing friends on the inCYST fan page. A fan from Canada expressed disappointment that Zing Bars could not be shipped to Canada. I encouraged her to write and place a request…and guess what? She will be getting her Zing in Eastern Canada.

If you don't see something in the store, ask for it. If you have a suggestion for how a company can be better, share it.

What have you got to lose, except for not getting what you want?

Bored with salmon, but still want to get your Omega 3's?

Prefer a mild-flavored, white fish?

Looking for a more sustainable option in your seafood?

Try Barramundi!

A native of the tropical waters of northern Australia, southeast Asia, and southern China, Barramundi is farmed in the U.S.

If you're worried about farmed fish, don't be. Not all farmed fish is bad. In fact, the Monterey Bay's Seafood Watch program rates U.S. farmed Barramundi a"Best Choice" because of our environmentally friendly farming practices.

Why eat it? Barramundi has 833 mg of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids per 5-oz serving and contains less than 150 calories! It's a great source of lean protein, is rich in vitamins and minerals, and is low in saturated fat. Because of U.S. farming practices, it's also free from contamination with PCBs, mercury or other contaminants.

How to buy it? You may find it called Silver Barramundi, Giant Perch, Palmer Perch, and Barra. Locally it can be found at Giant and Safeway.

How to make it? Barramundi has a sweet, mild flavor and light, flaky texture and is super easy to prepare. Below is a recipe and links to more!

Barramundi and Lemon Butter

4 Barramundi fillets

2 tsp. olive or canola oil

2 Tbsp. butter

1 clove garlic, minced

3 Tbsp. fresh or bottled lemon juice

5 leaves minced fresh basil (or 3/4 tsp. dry)

Salt to taste

Gently saute the garlic in butter for about 2 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and basil. Add salt to taste. Remove from heat. Coat fillets with olive or canola oil. Pan fry one side on high heat for 3 minutes. Flip and cook other side 1-2 more minutes or until fish is cooked through. Transfer to serving dish. Spoon sauce over fillets.

Serving Suggestion: Serve on a bed of sauteed spinach or greens, and fresh tomato salsa.

Danielle Omar, MS, RD
The Food Confidence Expert

www.foodconfidence.com