The Hemp Connection [Search results for food choices] 

This past spring I was on a committee to plan events for our local Earth Day celebration. I advocated for our catering to, as much as possible, follow the guidelines taught on this blog, and for our vendors to be locally owned (at least) and organic (whenever possible).

In the process, I came to know Chef Elizabeth, house chef at the Phoenix Downtown Market. She whipped up a delicious chicken/walnut/rosemary salad that was the hit of the party. Chef Elizabeth mentioned that several of our local City Council representatives are frequent patrons of the farmer's market, which I was excited to hear.

I thought it would be fun to contact each of our City Council members to learn more about their thoughts about food and local and organic eating. Our first installment is here, and I will post followup installments as they return.

Michael Nowakowski, representing Phoenix District 7, is a lifelong resident of Phoenix. He holds a Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Religious Studies from Arizona State University. He is married to Delia and is a proud parent of 5 children.

Councilman Nowakowski also is the General Manager of a non-profit radio station, coming from previous work with the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix where he served as Assistant Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry. He currently serves on the Downtown and Aviation, Public Safety and Veterans, and Seniors, Youth and Families subcommittees. He also currently chairs the Housing and Neighborhoods subcommittee.

As you can see, Councilman Nowakowski, between his elected position, his radio station, and being the father of a growing brood, has plenty of reasons to not prioritize food. Sound familiar? Let's see what he says about how it really plays out!

LOCAL BUSINESSES

1. Do you have a favorite locally owned restaurant you enjoy patronizing? A favorite item on their menu?

I have many favorite locally-owned restaurants, such as China Chili on 3rd Street, MacAlpine’s on 7th Street, and My Florist on McDowell. The Mac Cheese Burger at MacAlpine’s is one of the best things on their menu and is always a good choice.

2. Do you have any favorite locally owned restaurants in your council district that you'd like us to mention?

My staff have told me that other restaurants they like, such as Carly’s on Roosevelt and Cibo’s on 5th Avenue, and Thaiger on Central are expanding what you can expect from restaurants in Phoenix and where you can find them.

3. When people visit you from out of town, do you have"Arizona Must Eat" experiences you like to share?

A restaurant I believe everyone should visit in Phoenix is Los Dos Molinos on Central and Dobbins. The food is amazing and unique to Phoenix.

LOCAL AND ORGANIC FOOD

4. Do you have a favorite Arizona-grown food?

Arizona green chili peppers are my favorite Arizona-grown food.

5. Have you had a chance to visit the Phoenix Downtown Market? If so, any favorite booths?

I’ve visited the Phoenix Downtown Market many times, and the food vendors always surprise me. I and many people have gone to the market intending to buy raw food, but wind up leaving with a full stomach from the tamales, Italian food and fresh fruit sold alongside what we bring home to prepare.

SOME BRIEF COMMENTS

There's a lot of variety in the listed choices, which means less possibility for losing out on important nutrients. And, clearly, a love of food! I especially love how the Downtown Market started out as a simple shopping excursion for the Nowakowski staff…and has become an enjoyable culinary experience. If you're not enjoying what you eat, you certainly aren't going to care about your choices!

Our legislators are in a position to be creating laws with impact on what we eat at home and in restaurants. I read this New York Times article last night about the food being consumed in Washington, DC, at the table where our health care plan revision is being hammered out. It left me wondering how nutrition could even be considered as an important component of those revisions. So nice to see, at least within our local government, that an appreciation for simple healthful choices and the local vendors working to create better choices that does show up on our representatives' radar.

JUST A FEW NOTES ABOUT CHILI PEPPERS
Chili peppers are a wealth of antioxidants! Red chiles contain higher amounts of vitamin C and carotene than yellow and green ones, but all colors of chilis are a good source of most B vitamins, and vitamin B6 in particular. They are very high in potassium and high in magnesium and iron. If you're a regular reader of this blog, these nutrients should sound familiar, since they've all been mentioned as important to maintaining fertlity.

Vegetarian readers take note! The high vitamin C content of chili peppers can help increase the uptake of iron from other ingredients in a meal, such as beans and grains. Sounds like an authentic bean burrito with a side of rice (maybe from the farmer's market?) could be a great Nowakowski choice for dinner tonight!

I was asked, in reference to my post on Sunday, what religion does not allow canola oil. To clarify, there is no religion I am aware of, that prohibits the use of canola oil.

What I meant in that post, is that people eat for a lot of reasons other than to obtain nutrients. Some people make food choices because of ethics--like vegans. Others choose to eat raw. Still others prefer paleo. These choices are equally as important, if not more important, than eating to be nutritionally complete.

Similarly, a lot of people in the business of giving nutrition and fitness advice, are health"evangelists". Their goal is to create a following for themselves, and most of the advice they are giving is about how you can be just like them. It may be good, it may not be good. Degrees and certifications do not separate out the good advice from the evangelists. I have seen some really horrible people with all kinds of degrees and certifications who I have felt did not deserve to be in business, and some of the best advice out there comes from people without all of the degrees.

When there are food choices in a person's lifestyle that do not have a scientific nutritional basis, dietitians often can jump to arguing about the validity of those beliefs. In the process, they alienate their clients before they have an opportunity to engage and help them.

I don't want to do that. I want to help you. The best way to do that is to empower you. If I know what your"food religion" is, I can live with that. All I care about is if you eat paleo, vegan, raw…that within the choices you make, you are getting enough vitamin A, protein, etc., and that the balance of all of the foods you eat, points you in an anti-inflammatory direction.

I mentioned canola and food religion in the same sentence because there are many people in the world who do not believe in eating canola oil. I respect that, and I can live with that. All I care about, is if you choose not to eat canola oil, that you know which oil alternatives are available to you to help reduce your overall omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. I did not want what I said to be interpreted by people who do not like canola oil, as a personal attack on their philosophy. The discussions that would have ensued would quite possibly have been counterproductive and I would have distracted them from learning some things about dietary fat that could have been beneficial within their world dietary view.

I have no need to have a tribe of people following me. I just share what I know and what I think, and for those who find it valuable, I am happy to have provided the service.

I hope that clarifies things!

Many of you are following the Low GI (Glycemic Index) diet, which sorts food based on their potential to raise blood glucose. The approach I hear many on this diet use, is very black and white; in other words, if a food has a high GI, it's not to be eaten. Unfortunately, this may be overly restrictive and not entirely reflective of how food acts in the body. The glycemic load of a food is far more important.

Glycemic index for a given food is calculated when a food is eaten all alone, without any other foods. We simply do not eat that way. We eat foods in combinations, and what really matters is how the combinations of foods affect our metabolism.

The glycemic load of a food takes into account the amount of a food consumed as well as the amount of glycemic sugars (net carbs) it contains. Nutritiondata.com has a nice explanation of the concept, and for each food in its database, the glycemic load is provided.

A really good example of the importance of looking at the whole food is to look at the glycemic loads for 4 ounces of fat free ice cream vs. 4 ounces of regular ice cream. Four ounces of fat-free vanilla ice cream, the option many people would think would be best…has a glycemic load of 16, and four ounces of regular vanilla ice cream has a glycemic load of 8. That is because the fat in the regular ice cream helps to slow down the rate at which the sugar in the ice cream is absorbed into the bloodstream.

If you were to assume that because the regular vanilla ice cream was a better choice, however, and overindulge, it would only take a double serving to erase the difference.

Bottom line:
--Variety in food choices is as important to your overall blood glucose as is types of foods
--Too much of any food will eventually affect your blood glucose…there is no such thing as healthy bingeing or low glycemic food comas!
--When you eat a food with a high"glycemic index", eat a small amount in conjunction with foods that make it harder to have an immediate opportunity to raise your blood sugar.
--I have also found that"high glycemic" foods are best tolerated if eaten earlier in the day, so they have a better opportunity to be used in conjunction with your physical activity, rather than late in the day, when you're just not burning as many calories.

Nutritiondata.com recommends that glycemic load for a day be kept below 100. I would add to that, that the more the total can be spread across the day, the better.

I've been working all week with a client who has been TKO'd by broccoli. She's a broccoli lover. And right now, there are a lot of other foods that don't get into the day because she's not quite sure they're safe. So, while we work on that, she's been leaning pretty heavily on broccoli as a food.

The last few weeks she's been complaining about feeling bloated, which is common when someone whose food choices have been limited starts to expand their menu.

The situation reached a break point the other day when she had back and gut pain so severe she was rolling on the floor. The symptoms sounded enough like developing appendicitis that we decided an urgent care visit was in order.

Turns out, the problem was twofold: excessive gas and constipation.

The gas is likely related to the broccoli consumption. It's just a food that produces gas. And gas won't go anywhere if there isn't anything propelling it through the system.

The constipation is likely due to such a long history of limiting food intake, and the intestines quite literally forgetting how to process food.

So when you overdo one food that really shouldn't be eaten if your intestines aren't healthy…when your intestines aren't healthy…you just might find yourself rolling on the floor wishing someone was there to drive you to Urgent Care.

The moral of the story is, there's no such thing as a good food. Even a good food, when eaten in excess, can be a bad food for your health and your comfort.

PCOS is one of those problems where you can develop significant food fears. Is this going to make me gain weight? Is this going to raise my blood sugar? Is this going to make my acne worse? Is this going to interfere with my fertility?

PCOS is also a syndrome which, for recovery, is completely dependent on ridding yourself of that mentality, that some foods are good and others bad. Your body will respond best to a variety of foods eaten in moderation.

Broccoli is probably ok 2 or 3 times a week, in 1/2 cup portions. But on those other days…why not carrots or beets or spinach or green peppers?

If you do this right, you should be gradually increasing your food repertoire, not narrowing it down to a handful of choices.

We just received an interesting question about beef jerky and whether or not it is safe to eat during pregnancy. And if not…what could be substituted?

Under any other conditions, I love beef jerky, as it is a convenient protein snack that is often overlooked as an option. However, pregnancy is a time when more than one life is exposed to our food choices and it's important to consider the effects of those choices on the person who's passively getting the exposure.

Most pregnancy experts advise against eating beef jerky during pregnancy because it increases the risk of developing a food-borne illness called listeria. Pregnant women seem to be more susceptible to listeria than other people. When exposed, this bacteria can attack the fetus and provoke a miscarriage, stillbirth, or blood infection during infancy. Our clients work waaaay too hard to become pregnant so we want to, to the best of our ability, steer them toward food choices that insure that these fates are not even options.

The website http://www.foodborneillness.com/ provides the following guidelines for reducing your exposure to listeria:

Thoroughly cook raw food from animal sources;
Keep uncooked meats separate from vegetables and from cooked and ready-to-eat foods
Avoid milk that is not pasteurized and sold raw or foods – such as cheese – made from milk that is not pasteurized;
Wash hands, knives, and cutting boards after handling uncooked foods
Wash raw vegetables thoroughly before eating
Consume perishable and ready-to-eat foods as soon as possible.
Do not eat hot dogs, luncheon, or deli meats, unless they are reheated until steaming hot.
Wash hands after handling those products.
Do not eat soft cheeses (such as feta, Brie, Camembert, blue-veined, or Mexican-style cheese), unless theyhave labels that clearly state they are made from pasteurized milk.
Do not eat meat spreads or smoked seafood from the refrigerated or deli section of the store (canned or shelf-stable products may be eaten).

I normally do not have a problem with raw diets or raw milk. During pregnancy however, it is especially important to thoroughly wash produce and consider holding off on raw milk until after your baby is born.
OK, now what to do if you have to give up beef jerky!

I found vegetarian jerkies made from two different sources, soy and seitan. Here are some links to some of the options available in the amazon.com store.

In moderation these should be ok. Remember, however, that soy contains estrogenic compounds and too much holds potential to affect your hormone balance.

The second option, made with seitan, looks good as well. If you are following a gluten-free diet, know that seitan is unadulterated gluten. This product is not for you.

Here is a recipe for seitan jerky if you are a kitchen adventurer.
http://veganepicurean.blogspot.com/2009/06/black-pepper-seitan-jerky.html

And there you have it, a somewhat long-winded answer, that hopefully answers questions you might have about listeria and pregnancy.

Most people I work with know that they need to eat vegetables. They even eat them when served. But when it comes to planning, shopping for, and actually cooking them…there is a huge disconnect. Whenever I do a grocery store tour, I notice the participant body language change when we enter the produce section. When I start discussions about"How would you see using this?" there is often an uncomfortable silence before someone tries to answer.

One option I've really enjoyed for myself is a food coop. Rather than making up menus ahead of time, or showing up at a farmer's market not knowing what's going to be there and having to decide what to bring home, or having to make decisions in a crowded store at the end of a long day, a food coop simply puts together a food basket that you pay for in advance and pick up at a pre-determined time.

The beauty of this is that many of the decisions have been made for you. Your job is, to figure out how to use the items you've been provided. But the likelihood is, that since the food is already in your home, you'll eat it.

Years ago here in Phoenix I belonged to a food coop. I absolutely loved it. I would get things in my box I probably never would have purchased on my own, and what I learned in the process of researching recipes was always engaging. I have learned to like fennel bulbs and arugula thanks to that food coop.

Bountiful Baskets is a popular food coop here in Phoenix that many of my friends belong to. I love seeing their Facebook posts of what they got for the week, and following the conversations about ideas for what to do with the food. The picture in today's post is a picture of a typical purchase from Bountiful Baskets. They also, I learned in researching this, they also serve Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

For the busy person, this can be a timesaver as well as encouraging better food choices.

Try a food coop and see for yourself!

If you follow this blog you know I have a pretty huge issue with the term"clean eating". I get what it's supposed to mean, but I really struggle with how many times I see it referred to with an air of superiority by the person who's talking about it. Eating isn't supposed to make you better than anyone else, it'supposed to nourish you regardless of what you think of others or vice versa.

Many women we work with at inCYST also have trouble with feeling as if there is something inherently"wrong" with them, or that they're broken and in need of fixing. The word"clean", which is the opposite of"dirty" completely plays into a mindset we're trying to undo.

And finally it's still based on rules, and when you're following someone else's rules, you're not entirely in control of your food choices.

I finally came up with something that describes what I wish for all of you. That is, that your eating is EMPOWERED.

Easy to procure and prepare
Marketers would have you think it has to come from someplace exotic and be put through some convoluted manufacturing process to be good for you. Not all antioxidants come from the rainforest and not all foods with health benefit have some other labeling halo like raw, gluten-free, or vegan.

If you live in a small town, or have a tight budget, or have never taken a cooking class, you can still eat well. In fact, some of the unhealthiest eaters I know make many false assumptions about their food religion of choice. There are healthy and unhealthy choices within all food religions. It's how you choose within your belief system that matters.

Mindfully eaten

My friend and I were recently at the Mar Vista Farmer's Market in Los Angeles enjoying an impromptu chocolate tasting by Patricia Tsai, owner of Choco Vivo. She proudly makes stone ground chocolate, flavored in layers that unfold as you let it sit on your tongue. As we were enjoying her lesson, two women came up, grabbed a few pieces of chocolate, downed them without chewing, and walked off. Patricia's disappointment was so evident in her face. She'd put so much time into her product…I was insulted for her as I watched these mindless chocolate eaters.

If you're eating something because you think you're addicted to it and have no control over it, or you overcontrol it because it's high-glycemic or a carbohydrate, or you're thinking more about the calories and whether or not what you've served yourself is going to be enough, or you're eating what a dietitian told you to eat even though you don't like it…you're eating mindlessly. It's only when you're fully present with your food and savoring all, not resenting it or it has to offer that you can truly be full. Until you can do this, you will struggle with eating well. Even if everything on your plate is"clean" or"healthy".

Provides adequate nutrients
As I've said before, I don't have to tell you that a carrot provides more nutritional value than a donut. Your problem is not that you don't know what your best choices are. Rather, it is the barriers that keep you from making them.

Organic when possible

Pesticides have been shown to be linked to hormone problems. Best to minimize your exposure to them. And be sure to thoroughly wash all produce, organic or not, before eating it.

Whole and wholesome
The fewer steps between the vine, the tree, the ground and you…the more value it has to you.

Energy providing and sustaining
A good balance of carbohydrate, protein, and healthy fat will help to keep your energy stablized and enduring. This blog is about helping you learn to confidently eat in that fashion.

Reasonably priced
It shouldn't break your bank to eat well. In fact, if you're finally going to kick the binge eating habit, you may end up saving a lot more money than you think. Extra lattes, vending machine snacks, rack up the money. Eating basic whole foods, in season, is not only bood for YOU, it's good for your wallet.

Ecologically sustainable
If it's good for the planet, it's good for you. Did you know it's not just humans having trouble with fertility? Many other species are not reproducing the way they should. We're all falling victim to the same problem, our planet is out of balance. Putting it back together is one of the most important things we can do.

Bingeing, eating food out of season, overeating a certain food as a culture to the point of depletion, not prioritizing local eating and purchasing…are all out-of-balance practices that when addressed, will have a net effect of enhancing your health.

Delicious

I can't believe I even have to include this, but it is the most overlooked factor in choosing food. If you're not going to like it…do you really think you're going to eat it for the rest of your life?

Didn't think so.

I hope you like the concept of empoered eating vs. clean eating. It's designed to make sure the one in charge of your health…is ultimately YOU.

A few years ago I stumbled on a website that is a great resource for people wanting to learn about the relative health benefits of individual foods.

This website, www.nutritiondata.com, provides some PCOS-pertinent information in addition to the the traditional calories/carbs/vitamin content most other websites provide:

1. Fullness Factor: An indication of how physiologically full a food is likely to leave you feeling. For those of you who are trying to lose weight, the closer to the upper right hand corner you get, the more supportive of your weight loss goal that food is likely to be.

2. Caloric Ratio Pyramid: If you've been advised to eat a certain percentage of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, this section will tell you how closely you are meeting that goal.

3. Estimated Glycemic Load: Gives you an idea how your food choices are promoting…or discouraging…good insulin function.

4. Inflammation Factor: Since PCOS is a disease of inflammation, your goal is to have as anti-inflammatory of an eating pattern as possible.

You can keep your food diary here and see how a daily total adds up.

It's important to remember when using a tool such as this, there is no perfect way of eating, and no good or bad food. A food that is more inflammatory or less filling isn't bad, it's just one that needs to be eaten in smaller quantities in order to not throw your daily nutritional value in the pro-inflammatory direction.

I italicized the word physiological above because this tool does not work with emotional hunger. If you're using food to cope with depression, in response to negative pregnancy tests, or as an outlet for feelings you may have about PCOS-induced appearance issues…it's important to ask for help in learning outlets with less potential to be self-destructive.

Our"Food of the Week" feature is designed to help encourage a variety of foods, since many women dealing with PCOS have been on so many restrictive diets and yo-yoed back to an even higher weight, they often find themselves in a place where they don't even know how to get started on truly healthy eating. We can't possibly tell you every single food that will work, but we can trigger some ideas. With a tool such as this website, you can hopefully take the information you've learned here and apply it to your entire daily intake.

Have a great week!

I'm hearing more and more that many of you are switching to raw eating, and you're asking me if it's good for PCOS. It's not something that has been formally researched, so my answer is pulled together using what I do know about nutrition.

"Raw" refers to whether or not a food's temperature has exceeded a certain temperature during preparation. I actually tried to write a blog post about this several years ago and at the time could not find a specified temperature defining"raw" for a long time. I finally found something that suggested if it stayed below 124 degrees it would be considered raw. Then, last year, I ate lunch at the Whole Foods Venice, and decided to try a raw lunch for myself. The name of the restaurant that prepared my food was"118 Degrees," referring to the threshold raw temperature. This week, when researching it again, found everything from 104 to 118 degrees listed, without any scientific references for any of those values. It's one reason the diet can't be studied easily — those who follow it have yet to consistently define it.

One of the issues I have with any of those temperatures is that some of the foods popular in the raw community, by virtue of the fact that they grow in tropical climates, are regularly exposed to temperatures exceeding even the highest threshold. The mesquite trees growing in my backyard, yesterday alone, were exposed to an ambient temperature of 118 degrees the entire afternoon. The mesquite beans are dark, meaning they absorb heat and get even hotter. The flour made from them would not technically be raw, though mesquite flour is valued by the raw community. Coconuts, rice…both grow in tropical climates and therefore cannot be guaranteed to be"raw" if the benchmark is the definition above.

I'm assuming for the average person, for whom food is sustenance and not a religion,"raw" more likely means food that was not formally heated during preparation, and for the rest of this article that is the definition I will use.

Though raw eating has not been studied with regards to PCOS, it has been studied. It has been found to have both risks and benefits. The very first study of a raw food diet, published in 1985, found that after 7 months, subjects following this diet dropped their blood pressure, lost weight, and tended to spontaneously give up smoking and drinking.

One study found that raw foodists have lower cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations. However, a couple of other cardiovascular risk factors, serum homocysteine and HDL, were elevated, likely because a raw diet tends to be low in vitamin B12. It would be wise to take a multi-vitamin just to be safe.

Another study reported more dental caries in raw foodists. I'm assuming this is related to the increased carbohydrate and simple sugar content of the diet. So don't forget to brush and floss!

Here's what all you readers really need to pay attention to. One study specifically looked at menstrual function and raw food. It found that about 30% of women studied who were under 45 years of age had partial to complete amenorrhea, with subjects eating high amounts of raw food (>90%) being more affected than moderate raw food dieters. Ouch, ouch, OUCH.

A raw diet is also low in DHA and EPA, the omega-3 fatty acids primarily found in fish. If you're a raw foodist and also vegan, consider taking an omega-3 supplement derived from marine algae.

One benefit to a raw diet is that most people who consume it eat far more fruits and dark green leafy vegetables than they used to. Yay for antioxidants! Interestingly, however, one study found that though raw foodists had higher beta-carotene levels than average, their serum lycopene levels were low. Since lycopene is found in easily found fresh fruits and vegetables like tomatoes and watermelon, this suggests that even when eating raw, it's important to make conscious choices and not limit yourself to a few favorites. It can't just be about carrot juice!

The flip side of all those fruits and vegetables, however, is that protein is a difficult nutrient to get with this diet without soaking and sprouting legumes, in adequate quantities to balance out all of that carbohydrate. It may aggravate your insulin resistance. Be sure to add some protein powder to your cooking to prevent that from happening. Growing Naturals organic brown rice protein isolate powder has designed its product to be raw-compatible; be sure to check them out!

Another natural consequence of cutting out so much protein is that the fat content of the diet naturally increases. And even if it's raw fat, and good fat, it still has calories. I would recommend working out some menus on paper or running them through http://www.fitday.com/ just to be sure the diet doesn't push you in the wrong direction.

How your diet affects your health appears to be more determined by the proportions of carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that your diet contains. If you want to do that with raw foods, just be sure you do it right.

Douglass JM, Rasgon IM, Fleiss PM, Schmidt RD, Peters SN, Abelmann EA. Effects of a raw food diet on hypertension and obesity. South Med J. 1985 Jul;78(7):841-4.

Koebnick C, Garcia AL, Dagnelie PC, Strassner C, Lindemans J, Katz N, Leitzmann C, Hoffmann I. Long-term consumption of a raw food diet is associated with favorable serum LDL cholesterol and triglycerides but also with elevated plasma homocysteine and low serum HDL cholesterol in humans. J Nutr. 2005 Oct;135(10):2372-8.

Ganss C, Schlechtriemen M, Klimek J. Dental erosions in subjects living on a raw food diet. Caries Res. 1999;33(1):74-80.

Koebnick C, Strassner C, Hoffmann I, Leitzmann C. Consequences of a long-term raw food diet on body weight and menstruation: results of a questionnaire survey. Ann Nutr Metab. 1999;43(2):69-79.

Garcia AL, Koebnick C, Dagnelie PC, Strassner C, Elmadfa I, Katz N, Leitzmann C, Hoffmann I. Long-term strict raw food diet is associated with favourable plasma beta-carotene and low plasma lycopene concentrations in Germans. Br J Nutr. 2008 Jun;99(6):1293-300. Epub 2007 Nov 21.

Clean Eating. It's the new buzzword in diet world. I know its users are well-intended, but I get concerned about some of the judgmental ways in which I see it being used. After all, in 30 years of doing this work, most of the people I've worked with have felt badly about themselves because of their weight, and they have a tendency to use their food language as a code for expressing that.

Got a news flash for you.

What you eat is what you eat. It's nothing more, nothing less.

Of course, the type of food that"clean eating" promotes is something I'm on board with. I'm just becoming concerned about how this term is taking on meanings about character and self-worth that it does not and will never deserve.

--It doesn't earn you brownie points in heaven.
--It doesn't make you a better person than your neighbor or coworker.
--It doesn't guarantee freedom from illness.
--If it's not what you think you should be eating, and you eat it anyway, it doesn't earn you the right to a binge to punish yourself for the bad act you just committed.

You know what they say about porn, even if you can't specifically define it…you know it when you see it. Food that supports your best possible self is pretty obviously just that. Food that isn't, well, you know it when you see it. You don't even need me to write about it, really. What you mostly want here, is either for me to validate your choices or to inspire you to make different ones.

This blog is not about telling you what you should eat. It's about introducing you to foods you may have become afraid to eat because you've been told they're high-glycemic. Or too high in carbs (like those strawberries I wrote about the other day.) Or"unclean". Most of you have problems with your diets because they're not varied enough. Or because you're undoing the imbalances that too much restricting from some previous diet brought on.

I don't allow my clients to use words like"clean","good","right"…when describing their eating. It's counterproductive. It's really important for them to understand that as they are when they walk in the door, I enjoy their presence. There is nothing they are going to do to change that. If they didn't need help with their eating they wouldn't be coming to me in the first place, so there's no point in pretending to be perfect so I'll like them. I already like them.

I challenge you to start becoming aware of how many halos you attempt to hang over your head with your food language. When you stop focusing on using food to be acceptable, what is left? What is focusing on food allowing you to avoid? When we can figure that out…that's when the real changes can begin.

For a day, just a day, be aware of what kind of language you use to describe your food habits. Do your words suggest that you have more worth or value as a person because of what is on your plate? Or that you are a better person than someone else based on what they brought to work for lunch? If eating a certain way makes you feel better (more energy, mood stability, etc.), that's one thing. But if how you're eating makes you feel better or worse about yourself in general, it's time to take a look at why.

And we'd love your feedback. I gave PCOS Diva and soon-to-be inCYST Network member Amy Medling a heads up that this blog post was coming out. She's a big proponent of clean eating and I didn't want her to think I was singling her out in any way. Her immediate response was that maybe we should come up with a better way to describe it. So here's your chance. How can we describe eating that supports healthy metabolism that doesn't easily become a judgmental way to talk about your personal character? Any and all ideas are welcome.

And while you're figuring it out…take a moment and savor the lyrics of this song. It's really, really true. Even if your breakfast was an Egg McMuffin and not oatmeal, or you snacked on red vines instead of hummous and veggies.: )

I just helped a journalist friend out, who was writing an article about how to develop healthier summer eating habits for kids. Much of what I emphasized was being sure that the foods you WANT your kids to eat, are the foods you make it easy for them to eat. And the sodas, chips, ice cream, etc.? They just don't come home from the grocery store.

On that theme, here's my question I pose to you.

If you know that ice cream is your trigger food, and you bring it home, what you are essentially saying, to yourself, is that you intend to binge. You are planning to do it. I don't care what your rationale is in the moment--my husband wants it, this time I'm going to eat it without bingeing, etc…if you bring it home from the store, you intend to eat it yourself in counterproductive quantities.

That may feel uncomfortable to hear, but it needs to come into your consciousness and make you uncomfortable in order for you to think about how to handle your trigger food differently.

I love ice cream. And I eat it when I want it. But I don't keep it in the house. My reasoning is that if I'm willing to get off the sofa, put my shoes on, get in the car, and drive to the store, I've thought an awful lot about that choice and it's probably ok to have it. But if all I have to do is walk in the kitchen and grab the spoon and the container…well…we all know where that goes.

Several years ago I had a client who was pushed to tears during a session over a tub of cookies she'd purchased at Costco, then proceeded to binge completely through. As we processed the incident, she said,"But I should be able to bring that tub of cookies home and not binge on it."

I shared with her that I would never bring that tub home, because it would be too easy to indulge instead of making healthier choices. It was a set up, and Costco likely preferred it that way, because your buying into the belief that you can eat one or two and not eat the entire tub, drives the need for you to go back and buy more!

She looked at me, incredulous, and said,"You mean you don't bring that stuff home?" I said no, I have lots of fruits and vegetables and hummous, things I can eat more often that I enjoy but don't eat mindlessly or binge on.

She thought for a minute and said,"You know, my husband says the same thing. Just don't bring it home."

It never occurred to her that she was setting herself up to fail instead of to succeed. It wasn't just her behavior with food that was distorted, her expectations of her self were distorted to the point of being superhuman.

I encourage all of you to take a mindful moment before you stand in line at the grocery store, look at your cart, and ask yourself,"Why am I bringing these foods home?" Any food you cannot honestly say, is being purchased with intent to nourish, should be removed from the cart. Drive out to Dairy Queen if you must, but don't set yourself up by bringing it home.

If you cannot remember to do that, and I do believe women with food issues get into such a"zone" in the store that they may not remember, I encourage you to shop with an accountability buddy. Someone who will get in your face when you make counterproductive choices, who will keep you from letting those choices slide through checkout, into your bag, and into your kitchen. Not someone you can schmooze into allowing you to sabotage the outing, perhaps because she feels most connected to you when you're not succeeding with changing your behavior.

It's a simple question, but one well worth asking.

Why are you even bringing it home?

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

What a find! I have a thing for thrift stores, dollar stores, etc., and on a recent cruise through the local 99 Cent Store, I found these salmon cups. They're perfectly portable to work, the gym, on a business trip…and they're cheap and yummy!

I happened to try the salmon/mandarin orange variety, but as you can see by the photo, there are also tuna varieties including cajun and teriyaki.

One of my biggest mantras when teaching healthy eating is to break your rules--about what defines breakfast, snacks, etc. You can eat"lunch" food for a snack, and"dinner" food at breakfast, if that suits you better. (I happen to love leftover Chinese food for breakfast!)

Besides the point that this is a wonderful option for a meal you need to pack, I also wanted to reinforce that better food choices do not have to be expensive. Check out your own 99 Cent Store and see what great bargains can get you started on your own journey of better eating.

Three different clients in the last two weeks have expressed the same inspiration independently of each other, so I figured I'd let them inspire me on this blog topic.

Each of these women expressed that once they stopped mentally fighting with themselves over their diagnosis, stopped focusing on how badly they're feeling, and started prioritizing their self-care, they began to lose weight and feel better.

Up until the point that they had this moment of inspiration, they were fighting against the disease, feeling sad and angry because of the diagnosis, and much of the time, interfering with their own potential to succeed at feeling better.

Here's the deal.

1. Your PCOS is not going to go away. You can fight with it for the rest of your life. You can draft an encyclopedia's worth of reasons why you shouldn't have to be asked to make different food choices, get out and walk on your lunch break, go to bed a little earlier, set boundaries with your husband. You can even complain about the dozen doctors who don't get it. But the whole time, you'll be stuck in a body that is even more tired, frustrated, and depressed than it already is. Unfortunately, you can't just go jump into a newer, upgraded model. The model you have to learn to work with…is the one that you were given.

2. Accepting that you have PCOS is ABSOLUTELY NOT accepting defeat. I hear in a lot of comments that many of you feel that by accepting your diagnosis, you're failing, that somehow being stubborn and fighting back, and demanding more money be devoted to research and the development of a cure…is the most productive path you can take. Have you considered the psychology of this argument? That until a cure is found, you've committed yourself to not taking care of yourself and unloading choices that make it even harder for you to function normally and enjoy TODAY? It seems to me that now that you've discovered you have PCOS, you have an extra special reason to be treating yourself a little more proactively, so that if and when that day of a cure does arrive, your body is in the absolute best condition it can be in, ready to respond to this new treatment.

Acceptance is actually a stage in the grieving process. If you've ever lost a loved one, you likely know how sometimes you fight to keep the memory of that loved one in your presence out of fear that if you stop fighting, stop feeling sad, stop wrapping your day around the sad thoughts, you've let go and lost the person forever. It's not really that way. When you accept the loss, you just put them in a place in your heart and spirit where they still have your love, but you have room for new and different experiences that they do not share with you.

Accepting that you have PCOS is a lot like learning that if you have curly hair, you need a different kind of hair conditioner than someone with straight hair. Now that you know how your body works, what makes it feel badly, what helps it to feel better, you have an opportunity to make choices that drive you more often toward feeling better.

You can still be a PCOS advocate, you can still fight for more and better research, you can still research your disease. Only you're feeling a whole lot more energetic in the process.

Oh, by the way, I'm willling to bet…even if a cure is found, it's not going to be any kind of vaccination that allows you to eat Fritos and Twinkies ad lib without consequence. You're still going to have to prioritize self-care in order to see progress. Just sayin': )

I encourage you to think about whether or not fighting against yourself and pushing away all of the possible choices that could help you to feel better isn't part of why you're not feeling better?

It's ok to accept. A diagnosis. Help. Support.

Thanks for coming and using this blog as a part of your personal PCOS acceptance plan.

We get many questions about hemp, and its value as a protein and omega-3 source. Time to learn some more.

Here are the basic nutrition facts about hemp, calculated for a 1 tbsp serving.

Calories: 80
Fat: 5 grams
Carbohydrate: 3.5 grams
Protein 5.5 grams

POSITIVE: To put that into perspective, a tablespoon of hemp seed has about the same amount of fat as a teaspoon of butter or oil, plus slightly less protein than an ounce of meat. So as far as fat choices, it's going to give you more nutritional bang for your buck than a pure fat source. That protein is also a complete protein, too!

WARNING: Beware of those calories, though! Someone who commented on the Livestrong.com website where I got this information shared that he puts 3 tablespoons of hemp seeds on his cereal every morning. That is 240 calories, which if not removed from elsewhere in the diet, is the equivalent, over a year, of 25 pounds' worth of calories. If you ADD hemp to your diet, be sure you've accounted for it by REMOVING less calorically dense/nutritious food choices.

POSITIVE: With respect to fatty acid profile, the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio of hemp averages 3:1. This is favorable, as it is lower than the recommended total dietary ratio of 4:1.

WARNING: As hemp is a vegetarian source of omega-3, it provides ALA. It does not contain EPA or DHA, which are primarily found in seafood. Some of the ALA found in hemp will be converted into EPA and DHA, but not in the quantities we have found to be of therapeutic value for PCOS. If you want to use hemp in your diet, it is certainly beneficial, but it does not replace the need for the other omega-3's.

POSITIVE: Hemp contains gamma-linoleic acid (GLA), which can be helpful for some skin conditions, including atopic dermatitis.

WARNING: GLA tends to work best when it is not overwhelmed with omega-6 fatty acids. In other words, if you have a skin condition, and you want to try GLA as a remedy, you are most likely to achieve good results if you cut back on your total omega-6 fatty acid intake (safflower, sunflower, soybean, sesame, corn, and cottonseed oil).

You could say the bottom line with hemp, as with any other food, is that if it is used judiciously and respectfully and not layered onto an unhealthy diet that needs some tuning up, it can be a tool toward better hormone balance.

But it is not a miracle food that will allow you to continue with unhealthy dietary indiscretions without consequence.

For those who are concerned about the THC content of hemp: in order to ingest enough industrial hemp to get 'a buzz', you would have to consume the the equivalent of 2-3 doses of a high-fiber laxative. Thanks to the North American Industrial Hemp Council for that little tidbit!

For starters, here is a recipe for hemp pancakes. As you can see, the oil has been removed and replaced with hemp seed. That is the way hemp should be used; as a fat alternative, not as an additional fat. It could probably be used in many recipes where you are using ground flax seed, with similar results.

Here are some sample hemp food products available at amazon.com

For more information about the history, politics, and nutritional analysis of hemp, beyond the direct pertinence of hemp to PCOS, try this article on Dr. Bronner's website.

We all throw the word"fat" around as if we really know what it is. If I were to stand at the mall and take a survey, I'd likely get the following answers to the question,"What is fat?"

"Gross"

"Something I have too much of."

"Saturated and unsaturated."

"Something that unfortunately makes food taste good."

Have you ever thought about why we even make and store fat in the first place? Just a few decades ago, nutrition students like me were taught that the primary source of fat was as a storage tissue for excessive calories eaten. Oh! And it helps to insulate you and keep you warm. That was that.

That paradigm is what the vast majority of nutrition advice is based on…that fat is an inactive mass that has little value, really, so when we have too much of it we should do whatever it takes to get rid of it. Diet. Exercise. Liposuction. Bariatric surgery.

In recent years, scientists have been studying fat and learning some really interesting things. Fat is actually an endocrine organ! Just like the pancreas and the liver, our fat tissue manufactures and secretes hormones and chemicals of communication that are used by other parts of the body in other locations. Fat tissue can make estrogen, and it can also even make cortisol! Other hormones that fat tissue can make include leptin, resistin, and adiponectin.

The fact that fat has functions suggests that we should be much more respectful of its existence. Apparently it is created when we need what it does. Simply removing it, without figuring out what conditions triggered it to appear in the first place, is likely why drastic, imbalanced methods of reducing fat don't have long-term success.

I read long ago that insulin has a mild-antidepressant activity. It occurred to me, that when a person is not living their life in balance, and the nervous system is having a hard time doing its job, that we may have been programmed to have back up plans to ensure our survival. Such as not allowing insulin to be used by muscle and fat, rather rendered available to be used by the brain to keep doing what it does. After all, if our brains aren't working, we aren't working…right?

So instead of thinking we are depressed because we are fat…maybe we should consider that we are fat becasue we are depressed.

The type of fat that is found in our abdomens is commonly written about as dangerous to have. Yes, it is associated with a lot of expensive and deadly illnesses. However, it is also where a lot of omega-3 fatty acids are stored. So if we're eating the kind of fat that overpowers the ability of the body to do its job, and not eating enough omega-3 fatty acids in the first place, it's actually pretty amazing, if you think about it, that our bodies have a way to make sure that despite these somewhat self-destructive choices, the fats our brains desperately need, stay in the body and get to where they are most needed?

I stopped thinking of fat as a bad thing a long time ago. When I see someone whose adipose organ is overdeveloped, it makes me stop and think about how far out of balance they must be. If you exercise and train and work your muscles routinely over time, they become big and strong, right? If your life is imbalanced, your fat tissue will be worked out in similar fashion. If you don't need the fat, it is not likely to stick around.

When I see someone with an overdeveloped fat organ, my very first thought is,"That body is having to work sooo hard to stay in balance. That must be an exhausting job."

When you are diligent with self-care, that is you make food choices that promote better balance, you move your body regularly, you don't take on unnecessary stress, and you practice good sleep hygiene, your body won't have to be so dependent on its fat tissue to do all that work. The responsibility is better divided between other body parts.

It's a bit of a shift to wrap your brain around, I know…but I encourage you to think about it. The very fact that you're able to make fat may have been lifesaving, up to this point. But since extra fat was more designed as a backup plan, and not the primary way to stay in balance, perhaps you can think of your choices from this point forward as ways to give that organ a break and not wear it out…not wear YOU out…before your time.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15195692

If you've ever heard me speak about PCOS, you know I make a big point about a very positive thing I've noticed about women who have the diagnosis…they're all very creative.

I don't have PCOS, but I am a creative type, and I often see much of myself in the women my work has brought into my life.

I have a small business, and the thought processes and anxieties I see cysters experience and share, feel very similar to what my personal endeavor brings into my own head.

**I don't have any guarantee that I have a paycheck. It can be very easy to focus on the outcome--sales and event registrations--to the point where it's challenging to take action in ways that can make that happen.

**When I need to focus on an important task, my brain has a way of wanting to embrace anything, anything at all…but the thing I need to do.

**I have a short attention span, I'm a better"ideas" person than I am a person who can follow through on those ideas.

I have to work hard, some days, extremely hard, at not letting those tendencies get in the way of my own success! Mindfulness exercises are one of the most important things I do to quiet my mind and channel all of my energy in the direction it needs to go.

One of the problems I see with a lot of mindfulness writing with regard to health, is that it tends to focus on mindfulness surrounding food. It ignores the fact that people who have trouble with food-based mindfulness, have trouble with mindfulness in all aspects of their lives. And so if you jump into working on mindfulness, and you try to attack the most difficult place to be mindful, in the presence of food…chances are you're not going to succeed with it. And then, you're at risk of jumping to the conclusion that you're a failure with food.

I thought I'd share one of my favorite personal mindfulness exercises. I do this when I catch myself doing any of the above. I challenge you to try it. It might help you to understand the struggles you're having with food and exercise choices, are about the way your brain processes ALL information, not just the PCOS stuff. If you can step outside of that very narrow food/exercise world and start to understand that this is just how you think, you may be less likely to negatively judge yourself, maybe even laugh at yourself, and start to attack the problem from some completely different angles.

What I do, is grab my camera and go for a walk. On that walk, I give myself a photography assignment. My favorite one, is to pick a letter of the alphabet and see how many examples of that letter I see in the world around me. Today I worked on the letter A.

Here are some of the things my brain did while I was trying to do this assignment. Does any of it sound familiar in your own thinking?: )

1. In the beginning of the exercise, my A's were very concrete and obvious. I was very rigid and structured with how I proceeded. They became a little more abstract as the walk went along.

2. I was looking for A's in everything! And I couldn't find them. Eventually I got bored with that, stopped paying attention to the exercise, and suddenly A's were coming at me from everywhere.

3. I saw a great M, and a really cool S, and my right (that is, obsessive) brain wanted me to take the photos and save them for future M and S days. My left brain took over and only allowed me to take photos of A's, I reminded myself that this exercise was about reducing destractibility, and there would be plenty of M's and S's on the days I did that exercise.

4. I became more relaxed as I focused my brain on something new and different, and allowed the other pervasive thoughts about my business to fade into the background. And in the process, as I came to the end of my walk, I had a bunch of great photos, some new business ideas that somehow just appeared, and better insight into barriers my thinking style creates for me. I was reminded, once again, that just because I'm not consciously obsessing about a problem, doesn't mean my brain isn't working on it. In fact, it tends to work more creatively when I don't try to force it to do its job.

If you're working on New Year's resolutions, consider your own thinking style. Consider how it works against you, and in what circumstances it works with the best of focus. It could be the creative in you, that's bringing out both. Work to enhance the one, and decrease the influence of the other. In doing so, successful change may be closer and more real than you perceive.

Enjoy the A's!

Hey, wait a minute! This is supposed to be a healthy blog…Girl Scout Cookies!?!?!

Let's start at the beginning. I have a pretty active group of Facebook friends, and many of them are Girl Scout moms. I started seeing status reports about what to do with the temptation of all those cookies sitting in the garage…coming in from points North, South, East, and West.

As a joke, I mentioned that I was going to start a support group especially for these moms.

At which point my college pal and wine aficionado Hank Zona chimed in, and we discussed which wines might go with which cookies. Hank is one of those guys who, I can honestly say, I've never seen without a smile on his face, and who finds fun in everything from food and wine to music, to the little things in life that he can pair with them. I found myself wishing I could replace the fear and anxiety in all those Girl Scout moms with some joie de Hank…and thought perhaps a blog post on the topic might be a start in that direction.

So here's the deal. I am a First Class Girl Scout and I strongly support their work with girls. But…I do not think Girl Scout cookies are a health food, and suffered a severe breakout once myself from eating an entire box of Samoas in a single sitting. I think the Girl Scouts would best consider a healthier fundraiser…but the reality is, they're part of our food world. Rather than let that fact control me and how I feel about food and myself…I want to share some ways we all might include Girl Scout cookies in our lives that have nothing to do with bingeing and everything to do with being a"little more Hank".

1. Eat a couple of cookies as part of a meal, at the end of the meal. By combining a small, moderate amount of them with other foods that have helped to fill you up first, you will (1) be less likely to binge and (2) help temper the blood sugar fluctuations they are sure to produce if eaten on their own.

2. Eat the cookies at your dinner table, not standing in the kitchen, driving in the car, sitting at your work desk, or any other place where you might easily lose track of what and how much you are eating. Better yet, eat them in the presence of others so you are accountable for what you do.

3. Challenge yourself to see how long it takes you to eat one cookie. Contrary to popular practice, Girl Scout cookies were not intended to be consumed by the sleeve or the box. Chances are, if you're gobbling them down, you're not even tasting them and you're already stressing about the future consequences of what you're doing right now. You may actually find, as many people do, when you allow yourself to eat something sweet, and take the time to taste it, a bite or two is all you really need.

4. Try a Girl Scout cookie smoothie! Put some Greek yogurt, a banana, and a couple of cookies in your blender for a tasty treat with healthier influences.

5. Again, I'm not saying wine and cookies are the ultimate health food combination, but there's an energy that goes with savoring a glass of wine and a sweet treat, in moderation, that could be used with all foods, in order to have healthier attitudes about those foods. Hank's wine pairings will be shared in Part Two of this topic.

6. Finally, if the combination of you in the house and boatloads of cookies in the garage is not working for you…then don't freaking do it!!! You're still a good mom, and you're still a Girl Scout supporter if you do not turn your garage into a glucose surplus warehouse for 6 weeks each year. Donate money…donate your time…the Girl Scouts will exist whether or not you eat, sell, or support their cookie fundraiser.

Finally, here's your litmus test. If you're squirming about my suggestions, looking for ways to interpret the wording for permission to eat more than one or two at a time…or even left this post mid-blog to go get a few cookies to munch while you read…be honest with yourself. Are you using Girl Scout cookies to augment a healthy diet? Or are you hoping that somehow, some way, you are going to discover a magical piece of advice that gives you permission to just read about, not act on, healther choices that you don't really have to enact?

If you truly try these suggestions and they didn't work…that's where inCYST can help. Our providers are trained in this very dilemma and have many great ideas for ways to de-slave yourself from trigger foods. Look to the side here, and find someone who can help you.

I've been writing this blog long enough to know that as soon as I recommend a supplement, the post is circulated, reposted, retweeted, ad nauseum. If I talk about changing food choices, it sits there like a bump on a log.

I posted the information about myoinositol supplementation because I knew that many of you are having such a hard time with the side effects of metformin, that it might be helpful to try this compound as an adjunct.

In the process of researching the topic, however, I came to understand that part of the reason many of you have a problem with your myoinositol levels in the first place…is that your dietary choices may have backed you into a corner.

Myoinositol isn't new news, really. Back in 1980 a physician and a dietitian wrote a very nice review article and developed some recommendations for increasing dietary inositol that I'm going to summarize here. In a nutshell, it's a dietary intermediate that is found in high quantities in nerve cells. If your nerves are working harder than they were designed to, as is the case when you don't manage your stress, don't attend to good sleep hygiene, overexercise, and eat a poorly varied diet, there is a really good chance you're going to deplete your myoinositol levels more quickly than you can replete them. That is a consequence for ANYONE not taking good care of themselves, it's not a unique feature of PCOS.

For anyone struggling with medical issues related to hyperexcitable brains, including migraines, epilepsy, anxiety disorder, OCD, PTSD, bipolar disorder, etc., it's highly possible that your daily myoinositol needs are simply higher than average. Everything you see us write about on this blog, from omega-3's to antioxidants, is designed to reduce that hyperexcitability and make it easier for your brain to function as it should. It certainly is not going to hurt to take a supplement, and if you've been asking your brain to run on nutritional empty for a long time, or if you've been working hard to turn your PCOS around with good habits and just don't seem to be getting over the hump with it, supplementing may be a great tool to add to your already good habits.

There is some thought that people with insulin function problems may have alterations in myoinositol function, which could also increase the daily needed dose.

I must iterate, however, that a myoinositol supplement is NOT a substitute for a healthy diet. There is no such thing as a donut for breakfast, a Snickers for lunch, and a binge for dinner…cancelled out by a few pills in a bottle. So my guess is that those of you who are making good changes diet and stress management-wise in conjunction with the supplement are the most likely to achieve the benefit of the supplement. That is just how biochemistry works!

The study I recently quoted (focusing on neuropathy, not ovulation) used a myoinositol dose of 4 grams. The study I quote today found an effective response from a highest dose of 1,500 mg. It doesn't mean that these are the doses recommended for each particular diagnosis, or type of inositol, pill or food…it simply means those are the doses the reseachers decided to study.

However, since that is the dose reported in the ovulation study, and more of you reading this are interested in conception than nerve pain, I'll post the values of the highest myoinositol containing foods and let you figure out what your best food/supplement combination is to achieve that dose (4000 mg or 4 g daily).

I'm going to tell you, what I was thinking as I compiled this list was that if you're only concentrating on carb/protein/fat content, you're cutting out all your myoinositol sources. It looks like Mother Nature makes sure that when we eat carbohydrate as it appears in nature, that it comes packaged with a nutrient important for metabolizing it. It's when we refine that sugar and eat it out of context, as with sodas, candy, baked goods, etc…that we dig a hole for our nervous systems.

We just can't outsmart her, can we?

The complete list can be found at this link.

Myoinositol Containing Foods with more than 100 mg/serving
1/2 cup grapefruit juice 456 1/2 cup canned great northern beans 440 1/4 fresh cantelope 355 1 fresh orange 307 1 slice stone ground wheat bread 288 1/2 cup rutabaga 252 1/2 cup kidney beans 249 1/2 cup orange juice 245 1/2 cup canned oranges 240 1/2 cup canned peas 235 1/2 fresh grapefruit 199 1 fresh lime 194 1/2 cup canned blackberries 173 1/2 cup mandarin oranges 149 1/2 cup canned lima beans 146 1/2 cup kiwi fruit 136 1 cup split peas 128 2 T. creamy peanut butter 122 1 fresh nectarine 118 1/2 cup canned black-eyed peas 117 1/2 cup grapefruit sections, canned 117
Rex S. Clements, Jr., M.D. and Betty Darnell, M.S., RD. Myo-inositol content of common foods:
development of a high-myo-inositol diet. Am J Clin Nutr September 1980 vol. 33 no. 9, 1954-1967.

Almost as soon as I became a dietitian, I developed a habit, when out socializing, of lying about what I did for a living. My friend finally asked me,"Why, when you worked so hard to earn your degree, and when you love what you do as much as you do…do you lie about it?"

I explained that I needed downtime too, and that most casual conversations I had with people were more about me wanting to validate their choices than it was really knowing what I had to say. People have a lot of ideas about food that aren't exactly science, but lie close to their identities. I've learned to respect those and not try and counter a person's food religion with nutrition science.

Over the years, I've come to see that there are many ways to be healthy. You can eat vegan. You can eat less carbs. You can be a raw foodist. You can take a gazillion supplements harvested while jumping out of an anaconda's way in the Amazon, or handpicked by deaf monks in Mongolia. I've seen a million ways for people to be healthy.

You can do it with an Atkins diet, a modified Atkins diet, a South Beach diet, or a Biblical diet. If you couldn't, there wouldn't be a couple dozen of my own registered dietitian colleagues out there with their own versions of being healthy.

Diets aren't about what you need to eat to be healthy. They are about who you choose as your guru and what rules they tell you to follow in order to be like THEM, to be healthy THEIR way.

I don't think you need a guru. I don't really want to tell you how to eat. In fact, I'm betting you already do, you just want to be validated for it. I'd rather you felt empowered to eat what felt right for YOU and felt supported in that decision.

So whether you're eating raw, or vegan, or Paleo, or Eskimo…if you ask me what I think, I'll ask you to run your menu through a diet analysis program and see how it measures up. If it's short, I'll ask you to add the foods that fill in the blanks. I'll help you to make sure your personal nutrition religion and dietary goals are compatible.

I'm going through the trouble of sharing this, because tomorrow I'm going to share a recipe that comes from a popular diet book, and it's a decent recipe, shared by one of our readers who likes how it keeps her full. Out of respect for this person's original work, I will be crediting it. However, people often jump from a comment about a recipe to assuming that using that one recipe constitutes endorsing that one guru's diet. It's not what's going to happen tomorrow.
I reserve the right, as you do, to pick a recipe here, pick a recipe there, put something together that works for ME without it meaning I or you have converted to another food religion.

I hope, in following our blog, you eventually learn that you can do the same thing. You don't have to eat like anyone else. You can figure out for yourself, within reason, what works for you, and have the confidence to do it.

When everyone reading this blog actually does that, I'll be out of work, I know…but I'm kind of gunning for that. I've been taking a little bit of a computer vacay this week and it's been pretty nice. I've been thinking about a lot of things I could be doing if people didn't want this nutrition information.

For now, know that I respect whatever food religion you've chosen, whatever guru you feel comfortable with, if you're looking to be validated by a guru…I only encourage you to do the scientific double check and be sure what you've chosen is actually helping you to get where you wish to go and isn't creating more problems than it's solving.

Oh…and by the way…if you're ever at a party and you meet a nice lady who swears up and down she parks planes at the airport…introduce yourself.: )