The Hemp Connection [Search results for inflammation] 

I nagged you about fish oil a couple of days ago. Here's why.

One of the places where inflammation, the underlying cause for PCOS, does its worst damage, is the brain. It destroys neurons. Wondering where your motivation, your memory, your focus and concentration went? Out the door with inflammation.

Think about a piece of rusted out metal. That's the result of oxidation. Inflammation is the process that is trying to repair oxidation. But if you're burning through brain cells faster than you can repair them, you create holes. They've even shown it on brain scans. Where depression exists, (and depression is the result of so many brain cells being scavenged that the brain is literally moving in slow motion), there is inflammation.

There is one, and only one chemical known to man that can repair those holes. That chemical is docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), or one of the two things you get when you take fish oil. If you're vegan, you can get it in marine algae. If you've ever been vegan at any time in your life, or you hate or are allergic to fish, chances are it's a major factor in your PCOS. You can't repair your brain holes, and if you have holes in your brain, your brain can't regulate your hormones.

It is that simple. Really.

I had a client once who said to me,"This fish oil stuff works wonders. That is, when I remember to take it."

I don't care what you have to do — program your smart phone, post it note your computer monitor, ask your spouse to nag you — take fish oil.

The dose you're going to need is higher than what's recommended on the bottle. You're going to need 1000 mg, or 1 gram, of DHA per day. Not 1000 mg of total fish oil, of DHA. It's about 4 times what you see on many bottles.

Oh, and just so you know. That repairs the damage, but it doesn't protect you from new damage. For that part, you're going to have to change your eating and lifestyle. It really isn't going to work to take a ton of fish oil with the belief that it's cancelling out the damage done by that donut, by not working out, or not getting to bed on time.

I have clients who keep a rusty can next to their computer. It's a reminder. For some reason, when they hear that this PCOS thing is totally messing with their BRAINS — it gets their attention. If that's what you need to do, go find a rusty can. Yup, that could be your brain if you don't start getting that fish oil.

It's the first, most crucial step in the road to balancing your hormones. It's simple. And if you go to Costco, it's not really all that expensive.

Just do it. You'll be amazed at how quickly you start to notice little signs that inflammation is peeling away.

I have heard from friends who were at the recent American Dietetic Association Food and Nutrition Conference and Exposition in Boston, that a panel of four experts on fats, asserted that omega-6 fatty acids are not pro-inflammatory. This is in contradiction to what you will see on this blog and what we teach, so I wanted to address it.

My primary source of information regarding fats is the International Association for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids (ISSFAL). This organization is not sponsored by any commodities organizations with anything to gain or lose from the outcome of good, hard, science.

The American Dietetic Association, on the other hand, is heavily sponsored by commodities and food manufacturers. I actually went to a meeting sponsored by one of their special practice groups a few years ago, the major sponsor of which was Frito-Lay. Over the weekend, Twitter was a-flutter with dietitians aglow from the SWAG they were filling their suitcases with. So much so, that at one point I tweeted back, that for that meeting,"stuff we all get" should be called"food we all get".

This is an association that has backed itself into a huge corner with regards to the money it receives in order to pay its bills. Look hard, and you will find Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Hershey's…for starters. (Actually you don't have to look hard at all…they seem to be proud of these associations.) So you have to understand that if you attend their conferences, you're most likely to get information that is nice, and promotes the sale of the trade show floor of products simultaneously being exhibited in hopes of gaining"official" endorsement. ADA is not going to hurt its sponsors.

Look outside of the ADA and this is what you will see. The relationship between omega-6 fatty acid intake and inflammation is so strong, that Wake Forest University and Harvard University have teamed up to open up a Center for Botanical Lipids and Inflammatory Disease Prevention. Would they do that if they believed they'd be sending renowned scientists on a wild goose chase? I don't think so.

I have posted their mission statement, right off of their website, below.

I ask you to consider, why it is, that there is an international association devoted to research about omega-6's, omega-3's, and inflammation, and a center devoted to the study of these fats, both committed to studying fat, that says that omega-6's are inflammatory, while dietitians are hearing at their meeting that this isn't so? Apparently a little bit of FWAG buys you a whole lot of loyalty.

It doesn't seem to matter what the scientists are saying as long as product gets pushed on the front lines.

Research indicates poor diets, including high concentrations of saturated and omega-6 (ω6) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) but lacking omega-3 (ω3) PUFAs, can initiate and exacerbate underlying inflammation associated with cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke), metabolic syndrome, diabetes and asthma. Overwhelming evidence demonstrates that ω3 PUFAs naturally found in fatty fish and fish oil reduce cardiovascular diseases; however, US consumption of fish oils is low due to the taste, smell, and fear of contaminants. This proposal postulates that botanical-based oil supplements offer a potential solution to several of these challenging problems. The Wake Forest Center for Botanical Lipids and Inflammatory Disease Prevention brings together investigators from four internationally-recognized lipid groups and a world-renowned human genomics center to examine the cellular and molecular mechanisms and clinical potential of botanical fatty acids currently available as dietary supplements with a focus on enhancing wellness and preventing disease. Center projects will examine the health effects of adding medium chain botanical fatty acids that bypass the rate limiting Δ6-desaturase step of PUFA biosynthesis in humans. A central hypothesis of this proposal is that this approach markedly enhances conversion of botanical PUFAs to long chain beneficial PUFAs. Projects 1 and 3 examine the mechanisms behind the pleiotropic effects of botanical PUFAs with regard to macrophage/monocyte activation, inflammatory states and eicosanoid generation related to atherosclerosis and asthmatic inflammation, respectively. Project 2 examines differences in PUFA biosynthesis between African Americans and age- and sex- matched Caucasians within both healthy and metabolic syndrome populations to better understand who may be most responsive to fatty acid-based botanical supplements. These interactive and synergistic studies have a strong, contemporary and translational scientific basis and should allow this team of scientist to identify additional targets of prevention and therapy, and permit further refinement of dietary supplementation to maximize its effects on human wellness.

Numerous lines of scientific evidence indicate that poor diets including the ingestion of unhealthy concentrations and ratios of short, medium and long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have played a key role in the initiation and exacerbation of chronic inflammatory diseases including cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke), metabolic syndrome, diabetes and asthma over the past 40 years. The central objective of The Wake Forest Center for Botanical Lipids and Inflammatory Disease Prevention is to test several key hypotheses thatwill fill significant knowledge gaps regarding how fatty acid-based botanical supplements or supplement combinations work to prevent human disease. This information can then be employed to determine the best use and refinement of supplements to maximize their effectiveness for human wellness.

This post is interestingly timed, given what I wrote a few days ago about the importance of melatonin in maintaining fertility. The chemical pathways for both melatonin and niacin get their start with the amino acid L-tryptophan.

When a strong pro-inflammatory process is predominant, and the body wants to make more melatonin, it may do so at the expense of having enough ingredients to also make niacin…perhaps explaining why large doses of niacin have been found helpful to correct the lipid abnormalities associated with inflammation.

I've blogged before that people who eat more vegetables do sleep better and this may be one reason why. It gives your body what it needs to fight inflammation so that melatonin can be used to help you sleep!

For both vegans and omnivores, niacin is relatively easy to find. Mother Nature likely designed it that way because it's so important for fighting inflammation. The times you're most likely to get into trouble is if you're a chronic restrictive eater/dieter, or you're eating primarily processed carbohydrates.

See how you do with your niacin foods this week — it will be good for reducing inflammation, promoting sleep, and with the PCOS Diva's menus, pretty darn tasty!

liver, heart and kidney
chicken
beef
fish: tuna, salmon
milk
eggs

avocados
dates
tomatoes
leaf vegetables
broccoli
carrots
sweet potatoes
asparagus
nuts
whole grain products
legumes
saltbush seeds
mushrooms
brewer's yeast
Vegemite (from spent brewer's yeast)

Most of you know that your PCOS is an inflammatory disorder. But if someone asked you what that meant, would you be able to explain it? I've found that it's a pretty meaningless and misleading term to most people. So I like to use a visual. This visual has had such a profound impact on some of my clients that they've printed it out and they hang it on their computers or other prominent place to graphically remind them of the importance of making proactive choices.

Inflammation is a misleading term because most people, when they hear it, tend to think of swelling, as you might experience if you sprain your ankle. In the case of inflammatory disease, it's really more oxidation that we're talking about. (Hence the focus on antioxidants by the supplement industry).

But even then…what is oxidation? It is the metabolic effect of oxygen being broken down. Outside of your body, the easiest illustration I've come up with is rust. When metal reacts with oxygen, and an oxidative process occurs, rust is the result.

It's no different in your body. An inflammatory, or oxidative process, is essentially the rusting out and deterioration of your tissues. It happens when the balance between processes that oxidize outweigh those that do repair work.

One of the most important places where this oxidation has effect is in your brain and nervous system. Oxidative processes are known to destroy neurons! For example, depression, another inflammatory disorder and one which commonly co-exists with PCOS, is known to destroy neurons in the hippocampus, the brain's memory center. And as many of you know, loss of memory, concentration…brain fog…are common side effects of PCOS.

Take a look at this photo. If the balance in your own body is tipped toward inflammation, it's literally like your brain and nervous system are rusting out. Yes, this is your brain on inflammation.

Your job is to reverse that process.

And it can be reversed! Studies also show that the hippocampus rebuilds those lost neurons as an indication of resolving depression.

What to do?

1. Remember that the substance that the brain needs in order to rebuild neurons is DHA. It's not sugar, it's not flax, it's not a vitamin or mineral. It's DHA, the fish oil that is found in fish and marine algae. Dr. Artemis Simopolous, omega-3 expert, has written that treating depression with DHA requires a dose of about 1000 mg per day. That is about 4 times what is recommended on the bottles of most supplements, and eating fish a few times a week is far below that. If you really want to experience the benefits of omega-3's, you likely need to up your dose.

2. You need to remember to take your fish oil! I know, it sounds funny, that in order to improve your memory you need to remember to use the thing that improves your memory…but that's one of the biggest barriers I've seen to PCOS success…consistency. If you cannot put your fish oil next to your milk in the refrigerator, or remember to take it when brushing your teeth, program your computer or smart phone to remind you to do so. I cannot reinforce the importance of consistency.

3. Slow down the rusting out process. Anything that raises metabolism, speeds up the rusting out process. That means extra stress. Sleep deprivation. Diet excesses. Dietary deficiencies. Too much exercise.

4. Eat a variety of foods from a variety of food groups. There are so many antioxidants available to you, none of them is the be-all-end-all…you need to mix it up so you get the most opportunity to benefit from the entire palette.

My hope is that now that you've seen what inflammation is, you will understand why it is so important to take action and do the repair work, then rust-proof yourself against further damage.

Over the past few years, oxygen facials have gained popularity, particularly with celebrities, as the path to more youthful skin. In a nutshell, these facials entail forcing oxygen that contains skin-healthy nutrients using compressed air.

When I first heard of these facials, working so much in the area of antioxidants, free radicals, and inflammation, which all accelerate the aging process, I couldn't help but wonder what adding all of that oxygen might have the potential to do. (There is a reason oxygen and oxidize sound so similar…oxidation is the damage done to tissues when deteriorating oxygen molecules are allowed to run loose in the body.)

My concern with this procedure has always been that since oxygen is natural, and we need it to survive, that people would buy these facials not understanding that too much oxygen may actually be harmful.

My second thought was that the force of the compressed air, applied continuously over time, may actually do more damage to fragile facial tissue, than the potential help all of the compounds it delivers, might provide.

The procedure has not been FDA-tested, so no one really knows for sure. So because there is immediate effect, and no one is going to report negative effects of such a profitable procedure unless legally required to, it's a very popular service in high-end beauty salons.

These are not inexpensive treatments, either. One California salon, on its website, advertises this service at $250 a visit. And since the recommended protocol is once a week for 6 weeks, then once a month thereafter, the first year of facials is going to cost $3600 annually.

Turns out, I wasn't the only skeptic. Apparently, the"proven effective" clinical testing often used to market these procedures refers to hyperbaric oxygen treatment, which these treatments are not (even though their marketing often says they are.)

In the words of beautymagonline.com, "why would we want to force the oxygen past the lipid bi-layers under pressure to an area where we really need to control any oxidation? As mentioned previously, oxygen as an energy providing fuel is delivered to the dermal cells via the microcirculation along with other vital nutrients. It is a critical balance. The fact that other topical oxygen bearing applications (such as hydrogen peroxide and oxygenated purified water) have lost favour with skin professionals due to free radical issues makes one wonder why less knowledgeable aestheticians and therapists have not made the connection between the similarity of the two modalities."

The FDA actually has a warning on its website stating that dispensing oxygen in medical concentrations, without a prescription, is not in FDA compliance.

That's the bad news. The good news? There is a new product on the market that delivers some of the same nutrients in a much kindler, gentler way…and it comes in chocolate cinnamon, chai, and vanilla flavors.: )

Nightly beauty by Beauty Foods, a nutricosmetic, that you can drink just before bedtime, contains BioCell Collagen, a patented combination of collagen and hyaluronic acid that has GRAS status (FDA Generally Regarded As Safe) actually has been clinically tested, and has been proven effective for enhancing skin quality. And not just for better, younger looking skin…for arthritis too! And daily use of this supplement, over a year, costs about $800 plus shipping.

So switching from oxygen facials to Nightly Beauty, alone, would save you about $2800.

Well, that is, if you don't calculate in the potential $325 you'll not be spending on Methotrexate (which has the nasty side effect of interfering with skin cell regeneration!)

Oh! And if the Alpha Calming waves and l-theanine help you to pitch your Ambien prescription as well, that is an extra ~ $230 you'll be saving.

I'm not even going to try to calculate the potential for improved insulin resistance and weight management, which happens in people who control their inflammation and stress, get adequate sleep, and consume a little bit of protein at bedtime.

All I know is, when I used the product for a month, I loved what it did for my skin, my eyes, my sleep…and I've really hated the washout period (not taking any of the product to see if the changes reverse). They did reverse, and now that I'm done being a guinea pig I'm ready to get back on the program.

Of course, we have to be sure the attorneys reading this post know we're not advising you to stop taking medications you've been prescribed. But when you look at a simple nutritional answer to a bunch of inflammation-related problems that the drug company would have you thinking is far more complicated — if it can't hurt and it may actually help, physically, mentally, and financially, why not try it and see if your physician can be convinced to write a few less scripts with your name on them?

If you'd like to try Beauty Foods for yourself, we're now offering it in our eMarket, where until Labor Day, 100% of proceeds go to our research institute, where we eventually can work to scientifically evaluate products just like this.

You’ve heard it a thousand times, from every doctor, dietician, and well-meaning person you’ve ever encountered – you’ve got to lose weight, get out there and get some exercise, and change what you’re doing with your body when you’ve got PCOS. It’s important advice, to be sure, yet tedious to hear – and sometimes when we’re in the midst of trying to change our lifestyle and behaviors, we forget why we’re doing it.

All we hear is this pointed and difficult direction to improve things, and we fail to spend time linking it intellectually and emotionally to positive outcome, which helps drive motivation. It’s particularly frustrating with PCOS, because change occurs painfully slowly, and when you don’t see change, you lose motivation. Others can go on a diet and lose five pounds immediately, whereas that’s rarely the case for someone with PCOS.

Sometimes the changes are only visible when you get your lab results every few months, and the doctor congratulates you on lowering your cholesterol 20 points (personally, I don’t find that terribly exciting, although I know that it’s good) – in which case you might get it intellectually, but still be saying “yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s great, but where’s the weight loss?!” What we want is weight loss, pregnancy, a reduction in hirsutism, or some other visible proof that what we’re doing is working.

When you really understand the importance of exercise for both your body and your brain though it’s a little easier to stick with a program of self-improvement. In a 2011 study entitled Lifestyle Changes in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, researchers examined numerous studies, papers, and research projects and validated the benefits of lifestyle change. Women with PCOS who made positive dietary, exercise, and lifestyle changes (i.e., stress reduction, increased movement, lower glycemic diets) experienced reductions in weight, testosterone levels, waist circumference, and other meaningful markers of the syndrome.

To support not only weight loss and improvement in body composition, but also, from my perspective as a psychologist, the stress reduction and mental re-wiring that goes on as a result of exercise are spectacular. I particularly like the following forms of exercise:

Walking – the cross-lateral motion of walking oxygenates and re-synchs your brain, and leads to a literal feeling of “clearing out” – plus walking is an excellent low-impact exercise that leads to improved glucose control. Does it get any better than that?!

Yoga – numerous studies continue to validate the importance of yoga for stress reduction and pain management. A study entitled Stress, Inflammation, and Yoga Practice indicated that yoga practice, regardless of skill level, resulted in marked reductions in both stress level and, even more exciting to those with PCOS, inflammation! Many fertility improvement programs involve yoga and other forms of stress reduction. And, while you’re improving your physical balance, you might just be improving your mental balance as well.

Swimming – swimming in a pool, lake, river, or ocean can be soothing and meditative. We are made primarily of water, and it is a return to water, and to the center of our selves. The silence and internal nature of the echoes and ripples brings us back into alignment with our natural rhythmic movement patterns.

Dancing – improves coordination, synthesizes mind/body, and is a form of creative expression. Much emotion is stored in the body, and can be expressed through the body. Plus, dancing is fun, at least when you “dance as if nobody’s looking!”

Weight training – feeling a strong body is empowering, and increases confidence. Sure, it’s hard work, but it has profound mental benefit when you conquer that final set, and your lifting is finished. There’s a sense of accomplishment and pride that boosts your self-esteem for hours. You’ll move better in your body too, and perhaps respect it a little more, for its ability to become so strong. (By the way, this is one really positive aspect of PCOS – that androgen imbalance will allow you to develop muscles more quickly!)

The mind and body are inseparable. If you work on improving the mental (motivation, drive, commitment), you will improve the physical. If you work on the physical, you’ll achieve the psychological rewards of calming, anxiety reduction, and depression reduction. Additionally, you’ll have fun and also be doing the right thing to keep your self-improvement program going. That leads to increased confidence, self-esteem, and overall improvement in your sense of well-being.

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

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

References:

Kiecolt-Glaser JK, Christian L, Preston H, Houts CR, Malarkey WB, Emery CF, Glaser R. Stress, inflammation, and yoga practice. Published in final edited form as: Psychosom Med. 2010 February; 72(2): 113. Published online 2010 January 11. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0b013e3181cb9377.

Moran LJ, Hutchison SK, Norman RJ, Teede HJ. Lifestyle changes in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD007506. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD007506.pub2.Australia, 3168.

The term"anti-inflammatory" has been floating around Facebook, the blogosphere, and Twitter recently. It has, apparently, become the new buzzword. It's an important term, so before it overexposes itself out of your consciousness, I thought it would be good to tackle with regards to what it means to hormone balance.

What is inflammation? It is a condition that exists when the metabolic cost of what you are doing is not adequately balanced with activities that allow for adequate repair and maintenance.

A friend once bought a brand new car. It served her faithfully for a few years…and then, one day, in the deepest cold of winter, it just stopped. After visiting with the mechanic, she asked me what I knew about oil changes. I told her I had them once every 3,000 miles, just as the owner's manual recommended. Through her sheepish facial expression, she shared that she had never once changed or even checked the oil level. Her car died because it had run completely out of oil.

Just like your car, your body will give out on you if you do not balance normal life activities and stresses with repair and maintenance. You need to take time out of your day and spend money in order to keep your car…and yourself…running efficiently and to remain standing over time…but if you don't, the time, money, ad loss you potentially have to spend will be even more.

What are some pro-inflammatory (inflammation-promoting) activities to be aware of?

Any kind of activity that raises your metabolism is pro-inflammatory.

**If you're stressed and not addressing that stress to reduce its influence, you're pro-inflammatory.
**If you're not sleeping, which allows your body's metabolism to slow down for a few hours, you're pro-inflammatory.
**If you're dealing with a chronic medical condition, THAT can be pro-inflammatory. And that can be a double-whammy if the reason you're sick to begin with, is that your body has started to give out from your not making good self-care choices.
**If you're eating a high-carbohydrate diet, or bingeing on sweets, that is pro-inflammatory. Carbohydrates need more of your body's oxygen to be metabolized than do other calorie sources.
**If you're using stimulants, legal or otherwise, to compensate for not sleeping well, that is pro-inflammatory.

Believe it or not, exercise is pro-inflammatory! The trick to using it to your benefit is to use it with respect.
**If you exercise every single day without taking a day off, or if you do the same exercise every time instead of changing it up and resting different muscle groups, it becomes pro-inflammatory.
**If you do not eat enough to fuel the exercise you are doing, that is pro-inflammatory.
**If you exercise so much that you cannot sleep adequately, that is pro-inflammatory.
**If you cut your sleep short in order to get to the gym, that is pro-inflammatory.

If your exercise helps you to manage your stress (provided it is not your ONLY outlet for stress), helps you to sleep, is countered with downtime, and is fueled with an adequate, varied diet, it can be anti-inflammatory. It is HOW you use exercise that matters.

If you are binge eating, not eating, swinging back and forth between the two, eating a limited variety of foods, your nutrition program is pro-inflammatory. It's not just about omega-3's, blueberries, and supplements. It's how everything you eat fits into the big picture that counts.

I think the guys in today's photos are saying it best. It's as much about what you DON'T do…as what you DO do.

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 recently started to tell a good friend about the antioxidant power of turmeric. He stopped me midsentence.

"What is it with all this antioxidant stuff? First it was pomegranates. Then it was Mongolian gojis. It's something different every day."

(Insert big sigh and eye roll here.)

"Can you even tell me what an antioxidant looks like?"

My friend's reaction verified something I've sensed for awhile now. In our quest to show how much we know about antioxidants, we've thrown long words and catch phrases at the public, to the point where the concept has become nothing more than hype.

It's not long after any concept hits"hype mode" that it becomes passe. And being passe is absolutely not what the average antioxidant should be, to ANYONE.

So, I'd like to answer my friend's question. My answer is somewhat long, but I will do my best to encourage him--and you--to see past the hype that's been flung at all those innocent pomegranates and beets and Indian curries!

Here are ten important things to know about antioxidants.

1. AN ANTIOXIDANT IS LIKE RUSTPROOF FOR YOUR BODY. Oxidation is the natural process of something breaking down over time. On your car, oxidation looks like rust. Oxidation in humans isn't much different; it's somewhat of a biological rusting out process. So an antioxidant, really, is human rustproofing.

2. AN ANTIOXIDANT SLOWS DOWN AGING. This is primarily a blog for women with PCOS. What does aging have to do with that? PCOS is a disease of inflammation, and inflammation is an aging process. If you stand back and look at the big picture, a lot of the symptoms of PCOS are actually indications of an accelerated aging process--arthritis, forgetfulness, poor sleep, diabetes at an early age, premature menopause--I am struck at how many of my clients really present as old people in young peoples' bodies. Just as there really is no cure for the wear and tear on the body of a car that works better than prevention, PCOS needs preventive action. It's about choosing food, activity and lifestyle behaviors that make it easier for your body to stay young. It IS possible to reverse some aging, but it's a whole lot easier to prevent aging before it happens. Making good antioxidant choices every day is an important part of your personal rustproofing plan (PRP).

3. DON'T JUDGE AN ANTIOXIDANT BY ITS SCRABBLE SCORE. This one drives me nuts. Nutritionists tend to be extremely detail oriented, and they seem to have adopted this compulsion to throw dozens of new long words at the public. I am equally as nerdy when it comes to biochemistry, but there is a place for those words. If seeing them in an article isn't inspiring you to put some new and different foods on your shopping list, what's the point?

I don't believe in dumbing down the public, but I have to admit, much of what I read has MY eyes glazing over because how the word was spelled or pronounced was apparently more important to the author than what's in it for me to care.

If you're adding a few beets at the salad bar or learning to cook Indian curries, that's what matters. The chemicals will help you to be healthier, whether or not you can spell or pronounce them.

4. THE BEST ANTIOXIDANTS ARE FOUND IN THEIR ORIGINAL PACKAGING. I graduated from college in 1982, and there were only a handful of antioxidants to learn about at the most. Back then (I guess you could say the nutritional dark ages!) we learned mostly about vitamins and minerals. Many of the compounds we knew about, were extracted and sold as"complete nutritional replacements". Of course, the definition of"complete" was based on our limited knowledge of what food actually contains. They weren't really complete because they did not contain the antioxidant compounds we didn't even know about!

That, for me, was a huge lesson learned, about how much of an expert I can truly be in this field. There will always be things I don't know, and need to know, and my responsibility as a health educator is to be as complete in talking about what I don't know as I do about what I do know.

Therefore, my advice when it comes to antioxidants and supplements, is not to focus on what the most important, most perfect antioxidant might be, then to extract it and consume it in large quantities. Rather, look for opportunities to eat whole foods that are as close to the ground and/or tree when you consume them. The more something is sliced, diced, extracted, powdered, concentrated, the less like nature it is.

Remember, whole is best. There may be important nutritional compounds we have yet to learn about that aren't in those expensive antioxidant supplements.

5. ANTIOXIDANTS ARE COLORFUL CHARACTERS. Your plate needs a variety of colors if it's also going to contain antioxidants. I created this graphic last summer to illustrate the concept. If you're eating lots of reds and blues, and are judicious about which white foods you choose, that's a good start. But remember the greens, yellows, and oranges, too! It's really not that hard to choose colorfully. A plate of food that contains a lot of colors is also attractive. Would you rather have a plate of white fish, cauliflower, and mashed potatoes, or a chicken salad packed with apples, walnuts, and spinach?

Eat patriotically--doesn't matter what country--if you put color on your plate, you can't go wrong.

6. ANTIOXIDANTS LOVE A GOOD PARTY! Antioxidants tend to be more effective in the presence of other antioxidants. In other words, you'll get more bang for your buck out of Compound A if you are also eating Compound B. That's why there is no such thing as the ultimate antioxidant. Just like you have less fun at a party if you act like a wallflower, your"health party" will be a whole lot more worthwhile if you introduce and mingle different compounds.

7. ANTIOXIDANTS LOVE THE GYM. Antioxidants have an interesting relationship with exercise. Exercise, because it raises metabolism, is actually an oxidative activity. However…when you exercise regularly, your body becomes more efficient at storing antioxidants for future use, and then mobilizing them to areas where exercise has raised your metabolism. To get the best advantage out of exercise, it's important to (1) not overexercise, but (2) exercise regularly, and (3) be sure the diet you eat on a regular basis is full of colorful foods.

8. ANTIOXIDANTS ARE HOMEBODIES. When fruits are picked early so they can be shipped to distant markets, they're not allowed to ripen and develop their fullest antioxidant potential. When fruits are processed so they can be stored and consumed through off-seasons, they lose antioxidant power. So while I love blueberries and I appreciate their antioxidant power, they are more of a summer treat for me. Since I live in Arizona, I try to eat lots of citrus in the winter, watermelon in the summer, and to use foods from other areas as occasional treats. Every locality has its specialties. Become familiar with what's in season in your area, and if you travel, experiment with local specialties. A Goji berry is definitely a powerful antioxidant tool, but you can be antioxidant friendly even if your plate was not partially picked by distant farmers on exotic hillsides. Some of your greatest antioxidant friends may be lurking just down the road at your local organic farm.

9. ANTIOXIDANTS SHOULD NOT BREAK YOUR BUDGET. When you eat seasonally, you should also save money. In fact, one of the easy way to know what fruits and vegetables are in season is to look for what is cheap! If you frequent your local farmer's market, what you see at the majority of the stands is likely the local seasonal offering. I like eating seasonally because foods move in and out of my menu and I don't get bored because I'm eating the same thing over and over again. Get to know how seasons affect food availability in your area, and plan menus around that. It is fun, not to mention tasty!

10. THE BEST ANTIOXIDANT OF ALL--IS A PROACTIVE LIFESTYLE. OK, here's a picture of an antioxidant. (A face only a molecule mother could love…) What it looks like isn't as important as what it does. An antioxidant keeps you healthy and young! Any choice you make that creates an imbalance--too much exercise and not enough rest, not enough sleep, an imbalanced diet, poor stress management--puts you at risk of antioxidant deficiency. If you're not making good lifestyle choices and assuming a supplement will absorb the imbalance, you're putting yourself at even greater risk. Be sure your diet has a lot of variety and color.

Even better, apply that mentality to the rest of your life.
--Create a social support network with a variety of personalities that encourage the best in you to come out, and who accept you for who you are without unrealistic expectations.
--Participate in a few different physical activities that allow muscles to rest while others work.
--Do things that make you laugh! (Yes, in a way, your favorite corny movie is an antioxidant!)
--Do something creative.

There are many kinds of antioxidants that have nothing to do with nutrition. Be sure your choices add up to move you in the direction of capitalizing on them, rather than putting you in a position where you need to supplement to reverse damage that didn't need to be done.

OK, good friend, I hope I answered your question and you made it to the end of this blog post without rolling those eyes again!

I recently started to tell a good friend about the antioxidant power of turmeric. He stopped me midsentence.

"What is it with all this antioxidant stuff? First it was pomegranates. Then it was Mongolian gojis. It's something different every day."

(Insert big sigh and eye roll here.)

"Can you even tell me what an antioxidant looks like?"

My friend's reaction verified something I've sensed for awhile now. In our quest to show how much we know about antioxidants, we've thrown long words and catch phrases at the public, to the point where the concept has become nothing more than hype.

It's not long after any concept hits"hype mode" that it becomes passe. And being passe is absolutely not what the average antioxidant should be, to ANYONE.

So, I'd like to answer my friend's question. My answer is somewhat long, but I will do my best to encourage him--and you--to see past the hype that's been flung at all those innocent pomegranates and beets and Indian curries!

Here are ten important things to know about antioxidants.

1. AN ANTIOXIDANT IS LIKE RUSTPROOF FOR YOUR BODY. Oxidation is the natural process of something breaking down over time. On your car, oxidation looks like rust. Oxidation in humans isn't much different; it's somewhat of a biological rusting out process. So an antioxidant, really, is human rustproofing.

2. AN ANTIOXIDANT SLOWS DOWN AGING. This is primarily a blog for women with PCOS. What does aging have to do with that? PCOS is a disease of inflammation, and inflammation is an aging process. If you stand back and look at the big picture, a lot of the symptoms of PCOS are actually indications of an accelerated aging process--arthritis, forgetfulness, poor sleep, diabetes at an early age, premature menopause--I am struck at how many of my clients really present as old people in young peoples' bodies. Just as there really is no cure for the wear and tear on the body of a car that works better than prevention, PCOS needs preventive action. It's about choosing food, activity and lifestyle behaviors that make it easier for your body to stay young. It IS possible to reverse some aging, but it's a whole lot easier to prevent aging before it happens. Making good antioxidant choices every day is an important part of your personal rustproofing plan (PRP).

3. DON'T JUDGE AN ANTIOXIDANT BY ITS SCRABBLE SCORE. This one drives me nuts. Nutritionists tend to be extremely detail oriented, and they seem to have adopted this compulsion to throw dozens of new long words at the public. I am equally as nerdy when it comes to biochemistry, but there is a place for those words. If seeing them in an article isn't inspiring you to put some new and different foods on your shopping list, what's the point?

I don't believe in dumbing down the public, but I have to admit, much of what I read has MY eyes glazing over because how the word was spelled or pronounced was apparently more important to the author than what's in it for me to care.

If you're adding a few beets at the salad bar or learning to cook Indian curries, that's what matters. The chemicals will help you to be healthier, whether or not you can spell or pronounce them.

4. THE BEST ANTIOXIDANTS ARE FOUND IN THEIR ORIGINAL PACKAGING. I graduated from college in 1982, and there were only a handful of antioxidants to learn about at the most. Back then (I guess you could say the nutritional dark ages!) we learned mostly about vitamins and minerals. Many of the compounds we knew about, were extracted and sold as"complete nutritional replacements". Of course, the definition of"complete" was based on our limited knowledge of what food actually contains. They weren't really complete because they did not contain the antioxidant compounds we didn't even know about!

That, for me, was a huge lesson learned, about how much of an expert I can truly be in this field. There will always be things I don't know, and need to know, and my responsibility as a health educator is to be as complete in talking about what I don't know as I do about what I do know.

Therefore, my advice when it comes to antioxidants and supplements, is not to focus on what the most important, most perfect antioxidant might be, then to extract it and consume it in large quantities. Rather, look for opportunities to eat whole foods that are as close to the ground and/or tree when you consume them. The more something is sliced, diced, extracted, powdered, concentrated, the less like nature it is.

Remember, whole is best. There may be important nutritional compounds we have yet to learn about that aren't in those expensive antioxidant supplements.

5. ANTIOXIDANTS ARE COLORFUL CHARACTERS. Your plate needs a variety of colors if it's also going to contain antioxidants. I created this graphic last summer to illustrate the concept. If you're eating lots of reds and blues, and are judicious about which white foods you choose, that's a good start. But remember the greens, yellows, and oranges, too! It's really not that hard to choose colorfully. A plate of food that contains a lot of colors is also attractive. Would you rather have a plate of white fish, cauliflower, and mashed potatoes, or a chicken salad packed with apples, walnuts, and spinach?

Eat patriotically--doesn't matter what country--if you put color on your plate, you can't go wrong.

6. ANTIOXIDANTS LOVE A GOOD PARTY! Antioxidants tend to be more effective in the presence of other antioxidants. In other words, you'll get more bang for your buck out of Compound A if you are also eating Compound B. That's why there is no such thing as the ultimate antioxidant. Just like you have less fun at a party if you act like a wallflower, your"health party" will be a whole lot more worthwhile if you introduce and mingle different compounds.

7. ANTIOXIDANTS LOVE THE GYM. Antioxidants have an interesting relationship with exercise. Exercise, because it raises metabolism, is actually an oxidative activity. However…when you exercise regularly, your body becomes more efficient at storing antioxidants for future use, and then mobilizing them to areas where exercise has raised your metabolism. To get the best advantage out of exercise, it's important to (1) not overexercise, but (2) exercise regularly, and (3) be sure the diet you eat on a regular basis is full of colorful foods.

8. ANTIOXIDANTS ARE HOMEBODIES. When fruits are picked early so they can be shipped to distant markets, they're not allowed to ripen and develop their fullest antioxidant potential. When fruits are processed so they can be stored and consumed through off-seasons, they lose antioxidant power. So while I love blueberries and I appreciate their antioxidant power, they are more of a summer treat for me. Since I live in Arizona, I try to eat lots of citrus in the winter, watermelon in the summer, and to use foods from other areas as occasional treats. Every locality has its specialties. Become familiar with what's in season in your area, and if you travel, experiment with local specialties. A Goji berry is definitely a powerful antioxidant tool, but you can be antioxidant friendly even if your plate was not partially picked by distant farmers on exotic hillsides. Some of your greatest antioxidant friends may be lurking just down the road at your local organic farm.

9. ANTIOXIDANTS SHOULD NOT BREAK YOUR BUDGET. When you eat seasonally, you should also save money. In fact, one of the easy way to know what fruits and vegetables are in season is to look for what is cheap! If you frequent your local farmer's market, what you see at the majority of the stands is likely the local seasonal offering. I like eating seasonally because foods move in and out of my menu and I don't get bored because I'm eating the same thing over and over again. Get to know how seasons affect food availability in your area, and plan menus around that. It is fun, not to mention tasty!

10. THE BEST ANTIOXIDANT OF ALL--IS A PROACTIVE LIFESTYLE. OK, here's a picture of an antioxidant. (A face only a molecule mother could love…) What it looks like isn't as important as what it does. An antioxidant keeps you healthy and young! Any choice you make that creates an imbalance--too much exercise and not enough rest, not enough sleep, an imbalanced diet, poor stress management--puts you at risk of antioxidant deficiency. If you're not making good lifestyle choices and assuming a supplement will absorb the imbalance, you're putting yourself at even greater risk. Be sure your diet has a lot of variety and color.

Even better, apply that mentality to the rest of your life.
--Create a social support network with a variety of personalities that encourage the best in you to come out, and who accept you for who you are without unrealistic expectations.
--Participate in a few different physical activities that allow muscles to rest while others work.
--Do things that make you laugh! (Yes, in a way, your favorite corny movie is an antioxidant!)
--Do something creative.

There are many kinds of antioxidants that have nothing to do with nutrition. Be sure your choices add up to move you in the direction of capitalizing on them, rather than putting you in a position where you need to supplement to reverse damage that didn't need to be done.

OK, good friend, I hope I answered your question and you made it to the end of this blog post without rolling those eyes again!

Yesterday I introduced you to Nightly Beauty by Beauty Foods, a nutricosmetic primarily designed for improving skin health and appearance. I shared my own experience with this product while investigating its potential for PCOS. Hopefully my photos got your attention enough to want to read more! Today I'd like to share some of the science behind my thoughts.

Women with PCOS are struggling with inflammation. It hits everywhere, not just the ovaries. It causes diabetes, heart disease, depression. That much you know. It also ages skin more quickly than it should be aging. So other body tissues break down and aren't readily replaced. Your most important strategy, of course, is to reduce the inflammatory process with the kinds of choices we encourage here on this blog.

Nightly Beauty enhances that process with a few additional ingredients, BioCollagen and hyaluronic acid that aren't easy to correct with simple dietary changes.

Collagen

Collagen is one of the major components of skin. It's only been recently that it's been confirmed through research that supplementing the diet with collagen actually helps skin collagen. Right as we were preparing to post these blog entries, BioCell Technology, maker of the collagen in Nightly Beauty, distributed a press release announcing that the first human study of their collagen supplement confirmed that it actually does increase collagen levels in skin (types I and III). In their words,"results of the study showed that a majority of the participants experienced a remarkable improvement in skin texture, together with hydration, reduced scaling, and improved blood microcirculation".

Of course, since I've had the opportunity to experience this myself as I reported yesterday, I love this! However, this is just the wonderful side effect. There's something even more important for PCOS. Another inflammatory disorder many of you struggle with is arthritis. And when your joints hurt, you can't exercise. BioCell Collagen supplementation has also been proven to increase collagen type II, which is the type of collagen found in joints. They report that joint discomfort and stiffness in research subjects reduced by as much as 40% in 8 weeks.

Your faces are precious, but your quality of life matters more to me. If you can move, you can help your PCOS. If you can help your PCOS, you're more likely to feel better about yourself. This is the main reason I picked up the phone and called Jacque in the first place, I saw its potential for all of you writing and telling me that your joints hurt and no one was connecting it to your primary problem — inflammation.

Hyaluronic Acid

Hyaluronic acid, or HA, is known in the beauty world as the plumper. Many women take HA supplements to plump their lips. It also pulls water into skin, helping to plump and hydrate.

But did you know, HA is also a major component of the gelatinous fluid in your eyes? It's what helps to hold fluid in the eyeball. I didn't, until I started researching Nightly Beauty. Several months prior, I'd noticed my eyes were feeling dry, despite my faithful use of fish oils and upping my fluid intake. It didn't hit me until I started reading about HA and eyes that not long after I started taking this product my dry eyes started improving. Considerably. So I started reading more. Women with PCOS actually do experience more dry eye syndrome than women who don't.

There is considerable research into ways to deliver more hyaluronic acid to eyes, including eye drops and even controlled-release contact lenses. I'm having trouble finding any research either supporting or negating hyaluronic acid supplementation as a potential route of administration…but I'm not surprised. Nutrition is often an afterthought in research problem solving.

This product has not been researched specifically for dry eyes or for PCOS, but for women who are interested in trying something that has documented benefit for other PCOS-related symptoms and who also have dry eyes, it couldn't hurt to try it. I must state that Beauty Foods is NOT making health claims about this product. I am, in this blog post, reporting my personal experience and connecting research relevant to the product for my specific intended audience, independently of them.

If you do choose to try it, and you experience benefits, please let me know. I'd like to keep a running total of results and perhaps…include it as something we research at our new institute.

If you'd like to try Nightly Beauty for yourself, it's on sale this week at http://www.jpselects.com/. It's also available at http://www.beautyfoods.com/.

Let us know what you think!

Collagen-containing nutricosmetic shown to combat aging. http://www.cosmeticsdesign-europe.com/ http://www.cosmeticsdesign-europe.com/Formulation-Science/Collagen-containing-nutricosmetic-shown-to-combat-aging

Bonini S, Mantelli F, Moretti C, Lambiase A, Bonini S, Micera A. Itchy-dry eye associated with polycystic ovary syndrome. Am J Ophthalmol. 2007 May;143(5):763-771. Epub 2007 Mar 23.

Coksuer H, Ozcura F, Oghan F, Haliloglu B, Karatas S. Effects of hyperandrogenism on tear function and tear drainage in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome. J Reprod Med. 2011 Jan-Feb;56(1-2):65-70.

Ali M, Byrne ME. Controlled release of high molecular weight hyaluronic Acid from molecularly imprinted hydrogel contact lenses. Pharm Res. 2009 Mar;26(3):714-26. Epub 2009 Jan 21.

Liu L, Tiffany J, Dang Z, Dart JK, Watson SL, Daniels JT, Geerling G. Nourish and nurture: development of a nutrient ocular lubricant. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2009 Jun;50(6):2932-9. Epub 2008 Dec 13.

I'd venture to guess that the majority of you readers, at some point in your life, if not now, have had a love-hate relationship with cottage cheese. It's the dieter's food, and you have likely had more than your fair share. This week I've been hearing a lot about ricotta cheese on television, so it seemed like a natural choice for this feature.

I found a great little piece on the Organic Valley website about ricotta cheese:

Ricotta is a creamy white, mild, fresh cheese with a soft texture and a slightly sweet flavor. Traditional Italian cheese-makers originally produced Ricotta from whey left behind in the making of Mozzarella and Provolone (Ricotta translates to"re-cooked"). Organic Valley's Ricotta is made by heating whole and non-fat milk to a high temperature before we add organic vinegar and a touch of salt to form the curd. Good Ricotta is firm but not solid, and consists of a mass of fine, moist, delicate granules. Ounce for ounce, Ricotta has five times more calcium than the cottage cheese it closely resembles. Organic Valley Ricotta is the first organic Ricotta in nationwide distribution. Ricotta is like a fine-textured cottage cheese and can be eaten as is with a little salt, pepper and fresh herbs, although it is more commonly used in Italian pasta dishes and desserts. It is delicious in salads, dips, or with Prosciutto and melon. Ricotta is a favorite in Lasagne, Cannelloni, Manicotti, and in all filled pastas such as Ravioli and Tortellini. As a dessert cheese, Ricotta works well with honey, flavoring, fruit, or chocolate as in Cannoli, and makes an excellent low-fat addition to cheesecake recipes. Excellent accompaniments for Ricotta include berries, tangerines, melon, bagels, sweet rolls, and crusty Italian bread, and light crisp white wines such as Sauvignon Blanc or Chenin Blanc.

This above italicized paragraph is really the nerdy food scientist's way of reciting Little Miss Muffet! When milk is heated and separated, one part becomes the curds (cottage cheese) and the other becomes the whey (ricotta).

Does whey protein sound familiar? It's big with body builders and athletes. But they all tend to do whey protein powder. I'm ok with that, but it seems like most options are flavored and sweetened, and I get bored with that.

The reason whey is so popular is because it seems to help stabilize blood sugar. It also may be one of those foods that helps reduce inflammation. And remember, PCOS is the four letter word for inflammation.

In addition to the ideas Organic Valley provides, consider that if you want pasta, a whole-grain or high protein version used to make cannelloni with ricotta cheese…may not really be all that bad for you. It's a way to tweak an old favorite to your benefit.

Ricotta cheese is usually right near the cottage cheese in the dairy case. If you don't see it, ask for it!

As a skin care therapist I would often be the first one to recognize a serious hormonal imbalance based on the acne that a client might be struggling with. As nutritionist it’s clear that it’s an “inside-out” problem.

Women with PCOS often have elevated levels of free-testosterone, which is one of the markers of PCOS. When the body breaks down the testosterone, one of the by-products that can occur is DHT (Dihydrotestosterone). There are areas on our bodies that are particularly sensitive to the signals from DHT which are the face, neck, chest and back. The message is “make more oil!”.

We do need some oil on the skin in order to keep it protected and supple, but when it goes on overdrive, it literally backs up in the pore. The oil (sebum) we produce is very sticky so it doesn’t allow the dead skin cells to exfoliate easily so it becomes like have a tight lid on a pressure cooker.

The naturally occurring bacteria on the skin, along with dead skin cells and the oil end up creating a pretty nasty “stew” resulting in reddened, painful and pustular acne. If this material cannot get out of the skin, it can break the pore wall underneath the skin causing more acne (you might notice a little “family” of breakouts that always groups together). Most people, (men get it too for the same reason), focus only on trying to treat the skin externally — but the goal is to get the body back in balance.

Some basic strategies are as follows:

1. Try to eat organic and hormone free as much as possible, especially when it comes to dairy products. The hormones that the cows receive to keep them lactating as long as possible go right into the milk and it’s by-products (cheese, ice-cream etc.) which go right into you — creating a further hormonal imbalance.

2. Stress is a huge trigger for increasing DHT — it is critical to create your own menu of"stress-busters" that can be used throughout the day and work for you! A simple one is to just stop for one to two minutes and do deep breathing. This short-circuits the stress hormone release response.

3. Acne in all forms is primarily an inflammatory disease. Fish oils, which are also beneficial for neurotransmitter balance, do double duty since they help tremendously with inflammation.

4. Eat inflammation quenching foods, rich in antioxidants — fruits and vegetables. Remember when fried foods were believed to cause acne? They may not do it directly, but indirectly they are highly inflammatory.

5. Getting hormones especially your estrogen to testosterone ratio back in balance is the key to getting to the source of the problem. Work closely with your In-Cyst trained expert toward this goal.

Next blog I’ll share information on strategies for dealing with the skin from the outside in.

Carmina McGee, MS, RD, LE
Registered Dietitian/ Licensed Esthetician
805.816-1629 / Ventura, California
www.CarminaMcGee.com
Carmina@CarminaMcGee.com

I just love cherries. When I was a little girl, we took a vacation to my mother's homeland, Germany. We visited her Onkel Gustav, who one afternoon took us to a part of his farm where he had some cherry trees, buckling under the pressure of the season's ripeness.

My mother looked at me and my brother and said,"Onkel Gustav says to eat as much as you want!" For a kid from Arizona who usually only got to eat cherries one week every summer when they were cheap, this was Cherry Nirvana.

We ate, and ate, and ate. We hung them over our ears like they were earrings. We threw them at each other. We ate some more. Our lips turned red, our shirts got stained. And we ate even more cherries. Eventually we had to get on a ladder to reach more cherries, because we'd eaten everything at the bottom of the tree.

Eventually, our pace slowed down and our bellies felt as though they were going to bust. So we sat down and relaxed for a little bit until Onkel Gustav said to us,"So, are you all ready for some lunch?"

My parents recently converted old family movies into video, so I can sit down and relive that wonderful memory any time I want. But this time of year, I'd rather relive that memory real-time by splurging on a bag of fresh cherries. Which is what I did this week.

Did you know that cherries contain anthocyanins? That's the chemical that makes blueberries so famous for being brain food. Anthocyanins are an antioxidant that can help to regulate pain and reduce inflammation. (Remember, PCOS is a disease of inflammation.)

Cherries have also been found to be high in melatonin. Melatonin is also a potent anti-oxidant. I like to call it the brain's"scrubbing bubble", because while we're sleeping it is actively scouring out oxidative damage from the day and keeping our brains safe from free radicals.

According to the California Cherry Advisory Board, cherries also have a nice boron content, which may help to strengthen bones. Many of you reading this blog are on psychotropic medications, some of which have been found to work against good bone integrity. For you, cherries are an excellent dietary choice!

If you happen to live in cherry country, now is the time to stock up and freeze some cherries to use throughout the year. You can also find cherry juice in many health food stores, which is great to add to a smoothie or to another juice you might be drinking.

One last note, which I do want to include, knowing how many cherries I can eat before realizing how many cherries I've eaten, is that 20 cherries equals about 80-90 calories. I'm usually an intuitive eater, but when it comes to cherries, I've learned that this is one food I do better with when I count them out ahead of time.

For those of you who need to watch your blood glucose and carbohydrates, you might do better eating cherries at mealtime, when the effect of their sugar content can be tempered with any protein you might be eating.

So…enjoy!

http://www.calcherry.com/
http://www.uga.edu/fruit/cherry.html

I've been reading a lot about inflammation recently, and thought the next few posts I would focus on foods that can reduce inflammation, which is the driving process behind PCOS. One of the most important nutrients you can get in your diet is magnesium. I thought for the next few weeks I'd highlight a food high in magnesium to help drive home the fact that these foods are crucial for everything from preserving fertility to keeping cholesterol low to protecting your mental health.

Several of my Facebook friends mentioned in their status reports that they were cooking pumpkin seeds from their Halloween pumpkins, so I thought I would take advantage of the fact that this food is a little plentiful in some households, and perhaps I can convince some of you procrastinators to not pitch a wonderful nutrient into the garbage! (Here you see my friend Tracey's daughter Reese creating her own stash.)

One-quarter cup of pumpkins seeds (AKA pepitas) contains almost half of your daily magnesium requirement. That's not shabby. Except…how the heck are you going to include that much on a regular basis? Here are some ideas:

1. Make your own trail mix for snacks and include them.
2. Sprinkle them on a sandwich.
3. Sprinkle them on salads.
4. If you're ever breading meat, grind some and add them to the flour.
5. Add them to your baking.
6. Buy them already shelled so they're handy for snacking.
7. Go to this website and look at some of their tasty recipes.

That should get you started!

This study was making the Twitter rounds today, and since a lot of articles seem to be tweeted based on their title without actually being read, I thought this would be one important to examine in a little depth.

According to the article published by MSNBC, a group of Dutch researchers reported that omega-3 fats given to heart patients"provided no additional benefit when they were already getting good care".

This is what I say to MSNBC and the Dutch researchers.

1. The time to intervene with omega-3 fatty acids is not AFTER the damage is done, it's long before. The reason you would want to insure adequate omega-3 fatty acid intake is to PREVENT the need for expensive care, not wait till you are sick and hope a supplement can undo the damage!

2. It's not clear what that"margarine with omega-3 fatty acids" was made of? If it happened to have a high omega-6 containing oil, then the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio may not have been beneficial enough to get the results you might expect to see. In fact, it may have RAISED the ratio, PROMOTING inflammation, rather than lower it.

3. The omega-6 to omega-3 ratio of the entire diet in the study was not reported. If that was not controlled or, it could have interfered with the results of the study.

4. All due respect to the nutrition expert quoted in the study, there are many other experts who understand omega-3 chemistry a whole lot better, who could have provided better insight. They're pretty easy to find on the Internet, with a few seconds of Googling.

Yes, I'm frustrated. This study suggests that heart patients have two choices for treatment: Nutrition or medicine. I thought responsible nutrition education was an essential part of the very best medicine. To present it as an either--or--is good for no one's heart.

Simopoulos AP. The importance of the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 essential fatty acids. Biomed Pharmacother. 2002 Oct;56(8):365-79.

Source: Uploaded by user via Monika on Pinterest

Last week I was at the farmer's market, admiring a beautiful box of greens. I noticed a woman looking longingly at the same box. So I asked her if she liked kale.

"Oh, I do!" she answered."But I had to give it up when my husband went on Coumadin."

Coumadin is a blood-thinning agent that is being prescribed more frequently than it used to be, as blood that clots too easily is one consequence of inflammation. Since leafy greens are high in vitamin K, a nutrient that promotes blood clotting, patients prescribed Coumadin are advised to limit their intake to a level they can consistently commit to eating. That commitment factor intimidates many people out of eating them at all.

What is ironic about the Coumadin dilemma, is that leafy greens are packed with omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants, both of which hold potential to fight the very inflammatory process that is likely creating the need for Coumadin in the first place.

So how does one back themselves out of this corner once their previous lifestyle has backed them into it?

Here are a few things to try. Note, Coumadin is NOT a drug to mess with, so if you choose to make these suggested changes, it is essential that you communicate with the physician in charge of managing your blood clotting issues. If your condition is improving, medications will have to be adjusted to maintain clotting balance. It is best to make these shifts one at a time and wait 6 to 8 weeks to see how your body responds, rather than make too many changes at once, which can make it challenging for your physician to keep up with what is happening.

1. Shift your fat consumption, as much as possible, away from omega-6 fatty acid-dominant fats. They are easy to remember, they primarily begin with the letters"s" and"c"--soybean, safflower, sunflower, sesame, corn, and cottonseed. (Canola is the exception to this rule). They are primarily found in processed foods and in restaurant cooking, places where the price, not the quality, of the oil, is determining recipe makeup.

Check in with your physician to see how you are doing.

2. Add more vegetarian, non-leafy omega-3 foods into your diet. Flax is one of my favorites. You can add ground flaxseed into your smoothies, oatmeal, homemade vinaigrettes…and you may want to try a relatively new product on the market, flax milk, as a substitute for coffee creamer. If you are adventurous, try some chia seeds on your salad!

Check in with your physician to see how you are doing.

3. Try a protein-containing snack at night. It can help to stabilize blood sugar and cravings for sweets throughout the day, which keep you from being tempted by baked goods containing those oils.

Check in with your physician to see how you are doing.

4. Work on getting your seafood omega-3's. Note: ALL seafood, not just salmon, contain omega-3 fatty acids. If salmon is too fishy for your taste, spend some time at a knowledgeable seller such as Santa Monica Seafood, and try some of the recommendations they have. One of my favorites, which is available at Santa Monica Seafood, as well as Safeway, is barramundi, a sustainably farmed, mild-flavored whitefish that has a lot of versatility with regards to cooking technique.

Check in with your physician to see how you are doing.

5. If you are not a fish eater, consider a fish oil supplement. Despite what the supplement companies tell you, fish is fish; I've seen great changes in clients using Costco's Kirkland brand. The most important thing about using fish oil when you are taking Coumadin, is that you take it consistently. If remembering it is a challenge, program your smart phone to send you a daily reminder.

Check in with your physician to see how you are doing. If your clotting times have improved enough to get the greens-eating go ahead, good for you!

Later this week I will share some ideas for getting greens in your diet consistently without burning out on them.

Back at Expo West in March, we learned a new word,"nutricosmetic", which means a functional food used for the purpose of improving appearance. This particular nutricosmetic, Nightly Beauty, caught my eye, because of how important good sleep is for insulin function, weight, mood, and fertility. This product is a flavored powder, designed to be mixed with milk and taken just before bed, to help enhance beauty, as CEO Jacque Gibson says, from the inside out.

This philosophy is woven throughout the entire company. The box in which this product is packaged, has a mirror inscribed with"You're Beautiful". Even the voice mail when you call Beauty Foods, begins with,"Well…Hello, Beautiful!" It's the perfect message for all of you coming to this blog.

For some reason the embed code on Jacque's promotional video is not working, so I can only link, but I strongly encourage you to watch it. You'll see her genuine desire to encourage inner beauty to shine through.

http://vimeo.com/25624555

Nightly Beauty by Beauty Foods is getting a lot of attention. It was named"best nutricosmetic" at Natural Products West. It was selected by JP Selects, created by the co-founder of Paul Mitchell, to be offered as one of their brands. And it will be included in this year's Emmy SWAG bags!

I'll get to the science behind the product in tomorrow's blog post. Today I just want to introduce the product and point you toward links with more information. And show you what it did to my skin in the 30 days I tested it.

My forehead before My forehead after

My eyes before My eyes after

My cheeks before My cheeks after

My chin before My chin after

Side view of my face before

Side view of my face after
This product caught my eye because of its ingredients. And it caught my attention, because after a month of using it, three different people who didn't know I was in the middle of this experiment spontaneously asked what I was doing to make my skin look so healthy! I realize that's not very scientific, but since I'm not a person who's overly focused on her appearance, that is quite a reaction to get from close friends.

While Jacque designed this product to primarily be for skin, it has a lot of pertinence for women dealing with the effects of chronic inflammation…namely…YOU. I'm going to go into the science of Nightly Beauty and why it has so much relevance to PCOS tomorrow…but for now, if you want to learn more, check out the radio interview Jacque did for inCYST awhile back.

Tomorrow: the potential this product holds for women with PCOS.

I was recently asked by a colleague, what I thought about various popular cooking oils…in particular, grapeseed, flaxseed, canola, and pumpkin seed oil. Here is a summary.

First of all, all of these oils are oils, and their caloric content is roughly similar, about 50 calories per teaspoon. You will not save calories by choosing a particular oil, and there is no oil you can eat limitless quantities of without the caloric content eventually catching up with you.

Secondly, as far as omega-3 content, any vegetable oil containing omega-3 fatty acids contains ALA, NOT the EPA and DHA found in seafood. Even though some ALA can be converted to DHA, it does not occur in quantities needed to therapeutically treat PCOS, or to maintain the integrity of brain structure in the general population. The reason ALA is important, is that it helps to protect the body from inflammation and when it is consumed in adequate quantities, it allows DHA to do its job. In other words, if all you are doing is taking a few fish oil capsules but not changing your diet, you are not very likely to benefit from the fish oil.

That being said, when you choose oils to cook with, you want to remember that your overall dietary omega 6 to omega 3 ratio should be 10:1 or less, in order to reduce the possibility of insulin resistance. How do these four oils measure up?

I boldfaced the ones I prefer.

Grapeseed oil 696 to 1
Yikes!

Flaxseed oil 0.238 to 1
Now you know why we love flaxseed so much around here. Here is some information on some flaxseed oils you can cook with that you might find interesting.

Canola oil 2 to 1
Whether or not you want to include canola oil in your diet is part of your own food religion. If it fits for you, know its ratio is excellent. If it does not, you may want to investigate the flaxseed oil option listed above.

Pumpkin seed oil 3 to 1
Not bad!

Lard 10 to 1
This surprised me. It also made me feel better about my love of tamales.: )

Butter 8.6 to 1
Even better than lard!

Margarine, stick 11.4 to 1
Don't go there.

Margarine, tub 4.8 to 1
The only problem here is that in order to make a liquid oil solid…it has to be turned into trans fat. Wrong kind of omega-6 oil.

Way back in the early 80's when I was a brand-new dietitian, we were taught to teach our clients to avoid nuts because of their high fat content. Today, nuts are the new health food. But research is often written up in ways that place a specific nut in the spotlight, without a big-picture perspective.

For example: Walnuts are routinely listed as"the" nut to eat because of their high omega-3 content. Most people do not realize that the omega-6 content of walnuts is so high that it is mathematically impossible to improve your dietary omega-6 to omega-3 ratio by eating only walnuts and no other nuts. Does that mean you shouldn't eat walnuts? Absolutely not! In all honesty, it is mathematically impossible to improve your omega-6 to omega-3 ratio with any nut. It is, however, yet another example of the imbalances we create when we focus on a handful of"super foods" and don't pursue variety.

Being the statistics nerd that I am, I spent the other afternoon looking at 10 different nuts in several different ways. I came to some interesting conclusions. Let me work you through what I did. I don't mean to be tedious, I just want to be transparent so anyone else can work through the analysis just as I did. If you're just looking for what nuts are best to eat,simply skip to the bottom of this post.

1. Analysis one: Best anti-inflammatory index (potential for a food to prevent or promote inflammation, as indexed at http://www.nutritiondata.com/), ranked in order of best to worst:
macadamia hazelnut almond cashew peanut pistachio Brazil pecan walnut pine
2. Analysis two: Omega-3 fatty acid content, ranked from highest to lowest per ounce of nuts: walnut pecan pine pistachio macadamia cashew hazelnut Brazil peanut almond Important point of interest: almonds are the only nut that contain absolutely NO omega-3 fatty acids.
3. Analysis 3: Omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, ranked from lowest (most beneficial) to highest (least beneficial) walnut macadamia Brazil pecan cashew pistachio hazelnut pine peanut almond
4. Analysis 4: Total omega-3 and monounsaturated fat content, ranked from highest (most beneficial) to lowest macadamia hazelnut pecan almond cashew brazil peanut pistachio pine walnut
5. Analysis 5: Total saturated fat content, ranked from lowest (most beneficial) to highest walnut almond hazelnut pine pistachio pecan peanut cashew macadamia Brazil
SUMMARY ANALYSIS: In each list, I placed a number"1" next to the top item, and numbered each nut below it in numerical order. Then I added up the scores for each nut based on their rank in each category. The lowest score shows the overall rank. This helps nuts that many not have one outstanding quality still receive a decent ranking--it gets credit, in other words, for being all-around pretty good without being written off for having one quality that is considered"bad" striking it off as"unhealthy". It also keeps a nut with one outstanding quality for getting too much credit when there may be nutritional aspects that truly keep it from being a superfood.
The final rankings, with the most potentially beneficial at the top: macadamia hazelnut walnut pecan cashew almond/pistachio (tied) Brazil/pine (tied) peanut
I guess you could say…just like people, all nuts have their good and not-so-great qualities. By spending too much time with one, you'll miss out on the benefits of the others. Diversify your interests, and you'll get the best benefit.