The Hemp Connection [Search results for milk] 

Continuing on with yesterday's theme, I wanted to summarize options for anyone who, for whatever reason, chooses to drink milk alternatives instead of cow's milk.

The primary problems with these alternatives are:

1. They almost, without question, do not provide equivalent amounts of protein and raise your diet's carbohydrate to protein ratio.

2. They are often sweetened, increasing your simple carbohydrate to complex carbohydrate ratio.

3. Most of the alternatives, except for coconut milk, do contain vitamin D. However, check your label just to be sure.

If you choose to use these, in general, you are not substituting milk alternatives for milk. You are drinking a beverage that creates a need for you to increase your protein, vitamin D, and complex carbohydrates in the foods you also choose, in order to make up the deficiencies this switch inevitably creates. If you do not know how to do that, a consultation with one of our inCYSTers might be helpful. Many of them offer Skype consultations if you do not see on our list below and to the right who lives near you.

Here's the rundown. For comparison, per 8 ounces, 1% milk contains:
110 calories
8 grams protein
5 grams fat
12 grams carbohydrate
0% added sugar

One bias I do have which is reflected below, is toward soy milk. Too many women with PCOS have thyroid problems, for me to feel responsible presenting it as an option. So I have omitted it.

All information is for an 8 ounce serving.

ALMOND MILK
This one appears to be the most popular. One benefit to almond milk is that since almonds are naturally sweet, there is not as much of a need to add sugar in order to make them palatable. The disadvantage to almond milk is that, consumed in large enough quantities, it may increase your omega-6 intake enough that you promote, rather than reduce, inflammation (almonds, while beneficial in moderation, are the only nut that contain absolutely no omega-3's and for that reason should not be the only nut you exclusively eat).

Almond Breeze Brand
45 calories
2 grams protein
3.5 grams fat
3 grams carbohydrate
0% of carbohydrate is added sugar
Pacific Foods Vanilla Almond

45 calories
1 gram protein
2.5 grams fat
3 grams carbohydrate
0% of carbohydrate is added sugar

FLAX MILK

I do like flax milk's omega-3 fatty acid content. It's sweetened, but not to the same degree as many of the other milks. I could see using this in cooking, in any recipe that called for cream, or as coffee creamer, as a way to enhance your diet's overall omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. It still comes up short in the protein department.

Flax USA Flax Milk

50 calories
0 grams protein
2.5 grams fat
7 grams carbohydrate
100% of carbohydrate is added sugar

HEMP MILK
One benefit to hemp milk is its omega-3 content. However, it is sweetened pretty significantly so consumers will drink it.

Living Harvest Hemp Milk

130 calories
4 grams protein
3 grams fat
240 grams carbohydrate
75% of carbohydrate is added sugar
Manitoba Harvest Hemp Bliss

110 calories
5 grams protein
7 grams fat
7 grams carbohydrate
86% of carbohydrate is added sugar

OATMEAL MILK

Highest in calories, partially because it's sweetened. Eating the real oatmeal will give you better benefits.

Pacific Foods Oatmeal
130 calories
4 grams protein
2.5 grams fat
24 grams carbohydrate
79% of carbohydrate is added sugar

HAZELNUT MILK

The fat in hazelnuts is primarily monounsaturated, making the fat here healthy, but again, low protein and high added sugar are problematic

Pacific Foods Hazelnut Milk

110 calories
2 grams protein
3.5 grams fat
18 grams carbohydrate
78% of carbohydrate is added sugar

COCONUT MILK

I love this milk, but consumed in place of milk, the saturated calories will add up. Yes, the fat in coconut milk is different than the fat in meat, but even so, your overall intake of saturated fat, regardless of the source, should be no more than 10% of total calories. So I say save this one for cooking (as in Thai curries) or used sparingly on breakfast oatmeal or quinoa. It's not really the best choice for drinking by the glass.

Regular Canned Coconut Milk

445 calories
5 grams protein
48 grams fat
6 grams carbohydrate
0% of carbohydrate is added sugar
Trader Joe's Light Coconut Milk

150 calories
0 grams protein
12 grams fat
12 grams carbohydrate
0% of carbohydrate is added sugar

So Delicious Coconut Milk (carton)
50 calories
1 gram protein
5 grams fat
6 grams carbohydrate
86% of carbohydrate is added sugar

Silk Coconut Milk (carton)
90 calories
1 gram protein
5 grams fat
10 grams carbohydrate
90% of carbohydrate is added sugar

RICE MILK

Until recently, rice milk was also an option that fell short in protein and in which sugar was added to sweeten and flavor. The first example here illustrates that point. The second option, which has recently come on the market, is a great advancement as far as milk alternative options go.

Both brands are made with brown rice, and both contain vitamins D and B12. However, safflower oil, one of the pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids we encourage you to limit, is also listed as a Rice Dream ingredient. Just wanted to cover that base.

For women with PCOS, the addition of stevia by Growing Naturals is an added plus, as research is suggesting that regular consumption of stevia may help to improve pancreatic function, reduce cravings for sweets, and improve memory. All of those are chronic issues which make it hard to make the choices promoting hormone balance. In addition, Growing Naturals DOES contain vitamin D (in the vegan D2 form), and vitamin B12, often deficient in vegans.

Rice Dream Rice Milk

120 calories
1 gram protein
2.5 grams fat
23 grams carbohydrate
43% of carbohydrate is added sugar
Growing Naturals Brown Rice Milk

110 calories
8 grams protein
1 grams fat
17 grams carbohydrate
0% of carbohydrate is added sugar
So by now you know my bias, but now you also know why it exists. I use all of these milks in my kitchen. But I do so in different ways. Some as condiments and even coffee creamers, as I do enjoy their flavors, but not as a beverage choice I drink by the glass. The two I drink by the glass are cow's milk and Growing Naturals. Hopefully I've provided you with enough information to de what combinations are most hormone-friendly for you.

If you're interested in trying/using Growing Naturals yourself, and it hasn't arrived at your local store, here is information for ordering.

There is a lot of demand for milk alternatives, for a lot of reasons. Some of you are lactose intolerant or have tested positive to a dairy allergy. So I wanted to compare the alternatives for you, if you fall in either of these categories, to give you some facts on which to base your personal decision.

Before I move on to milk alternatives, a word about cow's milk.

I'm not pro- or anti- cow's milk. I simply want you to have the facts about all of your options and base your decisions on facts. Much of what is said about cow's milk is personal opinion, not based on peer-reviewed evidence. In fact, there is not a single peer-reviewed article in the National Library of Medicine database even mentioning any kind of relationship between PCOS and cow's milk.

What IS found in that database, is a study I often cite, written in part by respected Harvard researcher Walter Willett, in which it was reported that women who consume one fat-containing serving of dairy a day were actually more fertile than those who did not. The statistics used to evaluate this relationship were derived from data obtained in the Harvard Nurses' Health Study II, from 18,555 registered nurses over a period of 8 years. Those are pretty impressive credentials! So I find the conclusions to be worthy of your consideration. Keep in mind, these women were not advised to change the type of milk they drank, so they were not steered toward raw milk, organic milk, or any other variation. They were most probably drinking plain milk you get from the corner grocer.

The researchers corrected for vitamin D and lactose, meaning vitamin D and lactose in the diet in the millk drinkers was NOT the explanation for this finding. In their words, their conclusion was this: "High intake of low-fat dairy foods may increase the risk of anovulatory infertility whereas intake of high-fat dairy foods may decrease this risk."

If you've been avoiding cow's milk and vitamin D supplementation isn't doing the trick for your vitamin D levels, I strongly encourage you to consider a second reason for drinking cow's milk. If you've been eating yogurt assuing it's an appropriate substitute for milk, it's not. Most yogurts do NOT contain vitamin D. Try switching to milk (at least 1%) and see if it makes a difference.

For those of you drinking milk, I'd like to encourage you to consider antibiotic, hormone-free, organic, grass-fed. It's not something that is readily available (many organic brands are not grass-fed), but keep your eye out for it and grab it when you see it.

Like I said, I don't care if you do or don't drink milk. I just want to be sure of two things:

1. That your choice to drink or not drink cow's milk is based on fact and not on someone else's opinion who may not have a handle on YOUR personal physiology. Every single case of PCOS is different and it is not clinically sound for anyone to make a blanket recommendation about milk to all women with PCOS.

2. That if you choose to drink cow's milk, you know what kind is most supportive of hormone balance, and if you choose not to drink cow's milk, you know what adjustments you need to make to your overall diet in order to make up for deficiencies that eliminating an entire category of foods may be creating.

On that note, tomorrow I'll summarize the pros and cons of milk alternatives.

We've got quite a few friends on our Facebook fan page from Trinidad and I've been promising them I'd give them some ideas for hormone-healthy foods available on their islands.

I ran across a couple of great drinks that our mainland friends should think about trying!

Peanut punch is somewhat like a smoothie. The original version uses sweetened condensed milk, but I found one made with plain milk that's been healthied up:

Peanut Punch

2 cups roasted and shelled peanuts
3 cups water
1 cup lowfat milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons honey (I would start with 1 tablespoon and add as needed)
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

Directions

1.Place the peanuts and water into a blender jar and blend until the peanuts are pulverized. Strain the liquid from the ground peanuts and put the liquid back into the blender jar along with the remaining ingredients. (Discard the ground peanuts.) Beat it until it is frothy. Serve it immediately or refrigerate (blend again before serving).

If you're in the United States and have access to a wider variety of ingredients, you could easily change out peanuts for any kind of nut, and you could use any kind of milk alternative. It will have more protein if you use milk, but there is flexibility here.

Channa (chickpea) Punch

2 – 3 cups cooked chickpeas
2 cups lowfat milk
Few dashes bitters
1 tsp vanilla extract

Methods/steps

Place channa in blender with milk and condensed milk. This may be done in batches. Blend well. Strain into jug or pitcher. Add the bitters and essence. Stir. Taste and adjust sweetness if necessary. If too thick, a little water may be added

I like this one even better! Chickpeas are one of the lowest glycemic types of carbohydrate you can eat. You may need to add some sort of sweetener as I did remove the sweetened condensed milk and replace it with regular milk. Originally it was a 50--50 mix. You may want to experiment and add some of your wonderful island fruits to sweeten and mix up the flavor instead of plain sugar.

I was pretty fascinated reading about the foods our friends eat. Hopefully it will inspire more posts with ideas that work with your available foods and also encourage others to be adventurous in the kitchen!

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.

Just received an e-mail from our friends at Shape Foods (they're the ones coming out with the flavored flax oils we found at Natural Products West). They've got another wonderful product (in conjunction with Flax USA) that's only been on grocery shelves for 9 days…flax milk!

Andrew Lis of Shape Foods provided this interesting information about their product:

The key ingredient comes from our flax oil. Due to the superior quality of our oil and since we remove the impurities that can cause the oil to go rancid prematurely through our proprietary manufacturing process, it was the only flax oil on the market that was able to survive pasteurization without going rancid. That is why we are the exclusive ingredient supplier for this type of product.

This product is available at most Walmart stores, so intern Sarah Jones and I set out to find it. Here is Sarah with the original-flavored version (there is also vanilla-flavored).

This carton, here in Phoenix, is priced at $2.98, and it is in the refrigerator case near the other milks and milk substitutes.

It is a dairy-free, lactose-free, soy-free, and gluten-free product. Even though it's primarily fat-based, 8 ounces of the original flavor only contains 50 calories.

Here's the fatty acid profile on the side of the carton. As you can see, it's got a great omega-6 to omega-3 ratio.

The important thing to keep in mind is that this product is made with an oil, and it contains 0 protein. If you use this in place of milk on your cereal, be sure to add another protein source to that meal to keep your glycemic index in check.

I bet this would be a great substitute for creamer in coffee (you'd be hard-pressed to find another way to get omega-3's into your coffee!).

And if you have a fancy blender that makes ice creams, the vanilla version is likely going to be a nice treat. If anyone tries this in their kitchen, please share how you used it!

This product is available exclusively at Walmart.

I was recently graciously shipped a jar of Tropical Traditions Gold Label Standard Virgin coconut oil for review. First of all, thank you to Tropical Traditions for their generosity! I use coconut oil twice a day on my skin and I love the noticeable difference it makes. I'm also learning to cook with it, and am happy to have this to work with.

This is a long, drawn out post. I'm putting my conclusion at the very beginning so you can decide if you want to sit through the rest:

I love coconut oil, I use it myself, both in cooking and on my skin. I love this particular brand and product, and it's clear that the company is very proud of the attention they devote to quality and sustainable practices. If you choose to incorporate coconut oil into your cooking, and I hope that you do, please consider supporting a company that works so hard on behalf of integrity.

My intention is to encourage more people to use coconut oil than currently do. It wasn't long ago that we discouraged coconut oil consumption and I still encounter people who think it's unhealthy. I'd also like to encourage those who may be creating problems with excessive use, to understand why that may not be a good choice.

My only reservation is that there is somewhat of a health halo hanging over coconut oil that encourages its use in quantities that potentially do not support improved health.

I'll be addressing those issues in this post.
A little bit of feedback on the coconut oil information I found on the website.

In the FAQ section, there is no peer-reviewed reference provided to support the following statement:

The benefits of coconut oil are mainly from the nutrient value of medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs). The best comparison in nature as to the percentage of MCFAs being consumed in a diet is human breast milk. To equal the amount of MCFAs a nursing infant would receive in one day, an adult would need to consume about 3.5 tablespoons of coconut oil a day according to researchers.

1. With regards to fat, what an infant needs, nutritionally, is far different from what an adult needs.

For example, nutrition experts recommend 2% milk for children up to to years of age, then a drop to 1% or skim. The reason for this recommendation is that the extra fat is needed during the first 2 years of life to help fuel the rapid growth occurring during that time. As growth and development slow, so do needs for dietary fat.

Arachidonic acid (ARA) is an essential fatty acid for infants. The only place they can get it is milk, so if an infant is formula fed, ARA needs to be added to that formula. When that infant is weaned, however, and can get this fatty acid elsewhere, it no longer needs to be added to the diet.

It simply has not been proven that nutritional needs for infants are the same as nutritional needs for adults. Or that what you would feed an infant is even healthy for an adult. So I'm not entirely convinced that the extrapolation from an infant's saturated fat intake in breast milk, to a recommendation for adults of 3.5 tablespoons per day is a logical or healthy leap. (I am happy to adjust my stance if peer-reviewed research supporting the higher level becomes available. Our readers are in large part pursuing fertility and possibly in the midst of infertility treatment. I owe it to these high-risk situations to lean toward the skeptical and conservative. I don't want to heap more expense, stress, and/or disappointment on women who take our advice so seriously.)

Fat is fat, no matter where it comes from, it still contains calories, and the recommendations are still to keep saturated fat intake to about 10% of total calories. Regardless of the source of the saturated fat.

I did a long blog post calculating dietary amounts for different calorie levels that this translates to not too long ago if you want more specifics. I do think that when possible, saturated fat from coconut oil is better than saturated fat from meat, so the focus needs to be learning how to make that switch. (See the recipes I posted below.)

2. In moderate quantities, coconut oil can definitely be beneficial. A 2009 Brazilian study providing 1 tbsp per day of coconut oil to a group of women with abdominal obesity found that compared to 1 tbsp of soybean oil, the coconut oil group had higher HDL, a lower LDL/HDL ratio, and a reduced waist circumference. It cannot be determined from this study design if the change was due to the absence of soybean oil, the presence of coconut oil, or a little of both, but it does illustrate that when used in moderation, coconut oil can be part of a hormone-friendly eating program.

3. What IS showing up in the literature is that too much coconut oil can be metabolically deleterious. Individuals at risk for diabetes (and if you have PCOS that means you) need to use coconut oil with care. One recent study in particular (done with calves) compared coconut oil to a non-medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) diet as well as to another MCT, caprylate oil. The coconut oil-fed calves weighed pretty much the same at the end of the study, contradicting claims that coconut oil promotes weight loss. In addition, the coconut oil calves had heavier, fattier livers and contained 15% more fat than the livers of the other calves.

Bottom line, used respectfully, coconut oil has many health benefits and I do encourage its use. What I DO discourage, is using this product indiscriminately with the belief that it has any kind of magical quality that counteracts dietary indiscretions or which somehow allows you to ignore other important rules of nutritional balance.

4. I spent a long time on the company's companion website, http://www.freecoconutrecipes.com/ to see how others were using coconut oil in cooking. Most of the recipes were for baked goods and sweets, the use of which, due to the insulin resistance issue the readers of this blog deal with, should be limited. Cakes, cookies, etc., are not nutritionally dense and cannot be eaten in large quantities just because of the oil they were made with.

I did find a great recipe for coconut oil vinaigrette coleslaw, which nicely combines the concept I've been writing about recently, consuming a bit of vinegar before meals, with a nice, moderate use of coconut oil. I would so love to see more savory recipes like this, as it would help the readers inCYST most often works with, to use this oil to their benefit.

I did my best to walk the walk, as well, and asked the members of our Facebook fan page to share any savory recipes they might have using coconut oil. Here are a few provided by culinary school graduate Alyssa Fritts.

Coconut Green Beans
Blanch fresh green beans by dumping them in boiling water for about 20-30 seconds. Strain them out and put them in ice water to s top the cooking. Melt a tsp or less of coconut oil in a pan. Add 1/2 clove of garlic and the strained green beans, toss around a few times. Add chopped almonds and salt and pepper to taste.

Coconut Pork Chops
Put a little bit of coconut oil in a pan, salt and pepper pork chop with all fat trimmed Brown on both sides. Remove chop, add garlic, and chopped onion. Saute until garlic is fragrant. Add veggie or chicken stock and a LITTLE bit of apple jui ce. Put chop back in and let it reduce down by about half. Remove chop and place on plate. Add a scoop of stone ground mustard, and a sprig of fresh rosemary. Let it thicken. Finish with a swirl of coconut oil to give it the smooth fullness butter would. Pour over your chop.

Miso-Ginger Salmon
1/2 tsp coconut oil
1 clove minced garlic
1/8 in piece peeled ginger in matchsticks
1 tbs chopped onion
1 tsp miso paste
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup veggie stock or water
1/4 tsp coconut oil

Melt 1/2 tsp coconut oil in pan. Salt and pepper salmon. Place in pan skin side up. Brown on both sides. Set aside on a plate. If needed as a tiny bit more coconut oil. Add ginger and garlic. Add onion and sautee for a few seconds. Add wine and stock. Add salmon back to pan and cook for about 5 min. Remove salmon and turn heat up to high. Add miso and reduce down until thick. Swirl in a tiny bit (up to 1/4 tsp) of coconut oil and pour over salmon.

What Alyssa is illustrating, beautifully, is that one of the best ways to use coconut oil is to switch out other oils for coconut oil in your regular cooking, being careful with quantities just as you would any other fat. It adds a nice flavor while it helps your metabolism.

If any of you use Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil, and you've developed some savory, hormone-friendly recipes you'd like to share with our friends at Tropical Traditions, I would love if you would do that. I'd like their customers to see just how much potential this oil can have in the kitchen. I'd really love to see this company, which clearly has a heart for wanting to do something good, succeed at that goal. I'm in love with the creativity of inCYST fans, and encourage you all to step up and share it in a way that can have benefit far outside of this blog post.

Bottom line: Used intelligently and respectfully, Tropical Traditions gets a thumbs up. Stay tuned, as tomorrow we're going to announce a giveaway encouraging you to think about and incorporate the concepts presented in this blog post!

Assunção ML, Ferreira HS, dos Santos AF, Cabral CR Jr, Florêncio TM. Effects of dietary coconut oil on the biochemical and anthropometric profiles of women presenting abdominal obesity. Lipids. 2009 Jul;44(7):593-601. Epub 2009 May 13.
Talbott, Shawn M. and Kerry Hughes. (2006). The Health Professional's Guide to Dietary Supplements. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. pp. 60–63. ISBN 9780781746724.

Mills JK, Ross DA, Van Amburgh ME. The effects of feeding medium-chain triglycerides on the growth, insulin responsiveness, and body composition of Holstein calves from birth to 85 kg of body weight. J Dairy Sci. 2010 Sep;93(9):4262-73.

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

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

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

Have fun!
1. Molasses

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

I just made some sample breakfast menus for a client. I had not finished making the rest of the day, and she wrote back to share that in just using the breakfast menus, she could tell an immediate difference in her cravings that were positively influencing how she ate the rest of the day.

I thought I would share them to give you all a challenge to try--eat these breakfasts and see how you feel as the day progresses--is your energy level better? Are your carbohydrate cravings less invasive?

I'm not the hugest fan of McDonald's, but since this particular client noted that one of the breakfasts she finds really helps get her off to a good start with less nibbling the rest of the day, is an Egg McMuffin, I added it to illustrate that the choice really isn't so bad. If you use your fats early in the day, in a way that actually decreases fat intake over aa 24 hour period, it may be a judicious move. I actually have the same experience with this meal. It keeps me full. Which is why we discussed how to make the homemade microwave version of the same thing on Whole Wheat English muffins.

Also, I am very intentionally leaving out the calorie, fat, and protein counts. If you use these breakfasts…I want you to focus on how the food tastes, how it feels in your stomach, and how you feel in the hours after you eat. Eating well is not about the calories, fat, and protein. Well…not totally. It has to be tasty if you're actually going to do it!

Hope this helps get you all off to a great start!

1/4 cup ricotta cheese
2 slices Ezekiel toast
8 ounces skim milk
1 medium apple
1/4 c sliced almonds

2 tbsp peanut butter
2 slices Ezekiel toast
8 ounces skim milk
1 peach

Egg McMuffin
8 ounces skim milk
1 banana

1 cup oatmeal
1/8 c whey protein powder
1/4 cup walnuts
1/2 c strawberries
8 oz. skim milk

There are a gazillion possibilities here, I just put four sample meals together to help my client get a grip on portion sizes and potential combinations. Two of these breakfasts use Ezekiel bread becausse she likes it. Oatmeal was another possibility because she travels a lot and can take advantage of the new Starbucks oatmeal option or even carry her own packets and mixins'.

I'm betting many of the foods you enjoy aren't so bad after all, and that you can include them if you know how. Often times when you move a food from the"bad" to"perfectly fine" column, the temptation to binge on them is removed. And many times, with PCOS, it's the bingeing and the quantity, not the food itself, that is the problem.

Most women I work with have lost confidence in food and are afraid to eat many foods that can benefit them. That is how a nutrition consultation can help you--if you use it wisely. Rather than looking to someone else to do all the work, make a list of your favorite foods, foods you want to eat but are afraid to, foods you are feeling are"bad" or"not an option" and ask, not IF, but HOW they can be included in your plan.

Let an inCYST provider help you design your own program! We're just waiting for you to ask so that we can be part of your success.

This just in from Bolivia…scientists analyzing the breast milk of native women in the Tsimane tribe have found that compared to US women, it is higher in omega-3 fatty acid content. Not just a little bit higher…these native women had 400% more DHA in their breast milk than women living in Cincinnati, Ohio! And, trans-fat levels were 206% lower.

(The Tsimane are known for their high fertility rate.)

Their diet consists of locally grown crops, wild game, and freshwater fish. Meaning the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 is about twenty-fold lower than that of American women.

Since healthy breast milk is a reflection of healthy hormones, the take away seems to be here:

-Whole Foods is nice but not necessary.
-You don't need supplement.
-You don't need fancy diets.
-You don't need to be vegetarian.
-If you can't afford salmon but you're fishing for bass…it's ok to eat.

You just need to be sensible. I think you all knew this already. These scientists just made it more undeniable.

Which made me smile when I read this study. If I could just get all of you to believe and act on this…you just might put me out of business. And I could retire in Costa Rica.

Martin MA, Lassek WD, Gaulin SJ, Evans RW, Woo JG, Geraghty SR, Davidson BS, Morrow AL, Kaplan HS, Gurven MD. Fatty acid composition in the mature milk of Bolivian forager-horticulturalists: controlled comparisons with a US sample. Matern Child Nutr. 2012 Jul;8(3):404-418. doi: 10.1111/j.1740-8709.2012.00412.x. Epub 2012 May 24.

I hope I got your attention! Because, yes, algae can be a very important part of a diet for PCOS.

It's becoming increasingly clear, as our baby counter ticks up and up and up, that omega-3 fatty acids ARE the answer for a lot of women out there who may not have found fertility success.

But I also know, from being in this business for over two decades, that there are some people, no matter how much you tell them that fish is good for you, simply aren't going to eat it. Whether it's because of taste, allergies, or vegetarian practices.

That's where algae comes in. The innovative people at Martek Biosciences have been culturing a species of algae, Crypthecodinium cohnii, that is naturally high in DHA, one of the omega-3 fatty acids. Don't worry, I stink at Latin, too. Just remember,"omega-3 algae" and you have all you need to know.

Martek has figured out how to take this algae, extract the DHA, and put it into a form that can be incorporated into foods that you and I actually eat. The examples I found today on Martek's website include (in alphabetical order):

Beech-Nut® Stage 2® DHA plus+™ Jars — a product of Beech-Nut
Beech-Nut® Stage 2® DHA plus+™ Cereals — a product of Beech-Nut
Bellybar™ Nutrition bars — for pregnant and nursing women from NutraBella Challenge Dairy Spreadable Butter — a product of Challenge Dairy
DHA plus+™ Yogurt Blends with Juice — a product of Beech-Nut
Crisco® Puritan Canola Oil with Omega-3 DHA — a product of the J.M Smucker Company
Fujisan Sushi — a product of Fuji Foods Products, Inc.
Glucoburst™ Diabetic Drink — a product of PBM Nutritionals Gold Circle Farms® Eggs — a product of Hidden Villa
Horizon Organic® Milk — a product of WhiteWave Foods
Kids-Pro Nutrition Drink — a product of British Biologicals
Little Einstein's Disney Milk — a product of Stremick's Heritage Foods
Minute Maid® Enhanced Pomegranate Blueberry Juice — a product of the Coca-Cola Company
NuGo Organic Nutrition Bar — a product of NuGo Nutrition
Odwalla's Soy Smart™
Oh Mama!™ Nutrition bars — for pregnant and nursing women from Vincent Foods, LLC Oroweat Whole Grain 9 Grain Bread — a product of Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc.
ProSource NutriPure Supreme — a product of ProSource
Rachel's® brand, Rachel's® Wickedly Delicious Yogurt — a product of WhiteWave Foods
Rico's® Cheese Sauce — a product of Ricos Products Company
Silk® Soymilk — a product of Whitewave
So Good™ Omega DHA Milk — a product of Soyaworld
Stremicks Heritage Foods™ Organic Milk — a product of Stremicks Heritage Foods
Vitasoy® Soymilk — a product of National Foods
Yoplait Kids™ — a product of General Mills
ZenSoy Soy on the Go™ — a product of ZenSoy
Yo on the Go® — a product of Whitney's Foods, Inc.

Bottom line, if you can't or don't do fish, you can still do omega-3's.

One note, it's still important to have a diet that overall, is balanced in fat, carbohydrate, and protein. So if you're loading up on one option here that is sweetened, you may not get the optimal effect of the DHA. It might be worth downloading this list and showing it to your dietitian so the two of you can work out a game plan that incorporates these foods with the best chance of benefitting from them.

We had a really interesting inquiry from a lactation consultant, who had been trying to find information to give her new mothers of multiple births, regarding how much they need to eat to maintain their own nutrition AND produce enough milk for multiple babies.

We have a great resource for that, inCYSTer Chris Wittmer, in Dayton, Ohio. Chris works for a medical practice that manages high-risk pregnancies. Chris' great answer is posted below. I wanted to share it with our readers, so that others looking for this information don't have to work so hard to find it. Enough of you are undergoing procedures that increase the chances of multiple birth, I wanted to be sure that from beginning to end, mother and babies are well fed!

I linked to the book in case anyone wanted to find it without an inordinate amount of hunting.

Thanks so much, Chris, and I hope this helps!

There are very few"official" recommendations for nutrition for mom while breastfeeding multiples, but Barbara Luke, who is the"guru" of nutrition for pregnancy with multiples has extrapolated some numbers/recommendations for a singleton mom to multiples. They are included in her book:"When You are Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads", 2nd edition, chapter 10.

The overall caloric recommendations are
--1000-1200 calories additional for twins (500-600 calories per baby),
--1500-1800 additional calories for triplets and
--2000 to 2400 additional calories for quads.

For twins her recommendation is 3200 calories/day and 160 g protein/day, keeping the distribution of calories approximately 40% carbohydrate, 20% protein, and 40% fat. Elizabeth Noble recommends about 3000 calories/day for twins (400 extra per baby The calcium needs are the greatest-increasing by 50%, so that would be in the range of 3000 mg/day.

Other important nutrients include Omega 3 fatty acids, Zinc, and Iodine. It is extremely important for mom to eat adequately or her milk supply will be diminished. Eat nutrient dense foods frequently to help get in the needed calories and nutrients and continue to drink adequate fluids-preferably milk, juice or water. I don't know if any of this will be helpful, but as has been said before, it is a subject that has not been addressed adequately in the literature. There is a need since the incidence of multiples is rising.

I was given samples of a snack food at Expo West that caught my attention given how much I am talking about more protein with all of you. It is a good illustration of why so many of you are confused. While this may be a perfectly good snack for someone not prone to insulin resistance, for the readers of this blog, it may be troublesome.
Here is why. (If you click on the photo it will enlarge).
I agree, as stated on the left, lentils are a high protein legume. However, the amount of protein that is in this snack, compared to the amount of carbohydrate, is not so high.
If you analyze your diet using the www.nutritiondata.com website I mentioned a few days ago, by the end of the day, 25-30% of your calories should be protein, and 35-40% of your calories should be carbohydrate. It is not at all possible to look at every food and assign a"eat" or"can't eat" rule based on this…but all the foods you eat over the course of a day should total these percentages. Foods that are a long way away from that are foods that have more potential to throw off your daily total.
Snack foods in general have the greatest potential for throwing off your total, especially if you believe it is good for you and do what many people, eat more of it because that is what you believe.
If a food is truly high protein, it should be comparable to meat and milk. Meat has 7 grams of protein per once, and milk has 8 grams of protein per cup. A serving of these chips has 3 grams. Less than half the protein. Big difference. Multiply the grams of protein by 1.33; that number represents the upper limit of carbohydrate grams you would want to have the ratios I suggest above. Here, if you multiply 3 times 1.33, your carbohydrates should be no higher than 4 grams. They are, in actuality, 17. Working in reverse, if you divide 17 by 1.33, you will need to eat 15 grams of protein with a serving of this chip in order to have the protein ratio be sufficient. Twelve of those grams of protein will need to come from some other source, and if you choose milk, you still have carbohydrates to account for. You will need to include a pure protein source such as 2 ounces of cheese or deli meat to make up the difference, which could add up to 200 calories to that snack.
Yes it contains protein. But not enough to be a therapeutic protein source for managing insulin resistance.
Be a smart consumer. inCYST on transparency and labeling claims that are not confusing.

Last Saturday an inCYST student from California was in Phoenix and we spent the morning together. We ended our visit at Costco, and it turned out to be the day they were passing out the free annual Costco cookbook. Was that ever a lucky moment! (I made a note on my calendar to send out the 2009 alert in advance so all of you can get yours, too. I did check and saw tons of them on eBay if you can't wait another year.)

Costco cookbooks are some the most awesome cookbooks available. The recipes aren't hard, and the food photography is so beautiful it makes you want to make and eat every recipe…right now!

I distracted myself from the disappointing outcome of the Bears/Vikings game on Sunday (sorry, Vikings fans!) with my annual ritual of going through the cookbook page by page, and listing all the recipes to try in the coming year. I'll be sharing some of them with you, since they are so tasty.

Today it's Breakfast Risotto made with brown rice. I recently said I would be highlighting foods high in magnesium, and my progesterone series got me side tracked. Brown rice brings me back! In addition to being a good source of magnesium, brown rice is a decent source of tryptophan (which is needed to make serotonin).

It is also a good source of manganese, which is important for healthy nervous system function, the production of sex hormones, and antioxidant activity.

The Phoenix inCYST students all decided it was a breakfast they'd definitely eat, which is perfect, since people tend to complain about not liking breakfast. This one fits with what I always say, you don't have to eat breakfast food at breakfast time! Plus, brown rice is a carbohydrate that can be perfectly fine in your diet if eaten in moderation. Can you see by the photo what I mean about wanting to make things right away?

Breakfast Risotto
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup instant brown rice
1 8 ounce can unsweetened pineapple tidbits, drained and liquid reserved
1 12 ounce can undiluted evaporated skim milk
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup sliced roasted almonds
1 medium banana, peeled and diced

Combine water, rice and pineapple liquid in a 2 quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, sirring occasionally, until most of the liquid is absorbed, 7-8 minutes.

Stir in milk and increase heat to high. When the mixture boils, reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the milk has been absorbed and the mixture is soft and creamy, 10-12 minutes.

Stir in pineapple, raisins, coconut, almonds, and banana.

Makes 6 servings.

Source: Cooking in Style the Costco Way

Enjoy!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*****WE INTERRUPT THIS BLOG POST FOR AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT***

So excited to announce that starting this week, the Nutrition 101 series will be co-written in conjunction with PCOS Diva Amy Medling, of Nashua, NH. Amy, a professional health coach, is currently completing the inCYST training. She also loves to cook, and has a great series on her own blog with a week's worth of menus. You all are always asking for those, so I like that Amy likes so much to take the time to prepare them. The theme in her menus will be the nutrient I feature over here. It's so fun to see what she did with this first round…and I like that you get suggestions more diverse than what I would eat myself. Increases the likelihood that you'll find something between both blogs that works for you.

OK. Back to what I was saying about riboflavin.

*********************************************************************************

Riboflavin is my favorite vitamin. Not for any nutritional reason, but because in my senior year of college I was lucky enough to work in renowned nutrition researcher Daphne Roe's laboratory, as a lab assistant for a riboflavin study. I was one of the people who prepared the food for female subjects in a study evaluating whether riboflavin requirements increase with increased activity (turns out they do).

It was a most unique job, because riboflavin is destroyed by ultraviolet light. In order to keep it stable to increase the accuracy of the experiment, my entire work shift was spent weighing and measuring all of the subjects' food IN THE DARK. Yes, for a semester, I dished out rice and poured milk with the shades pulled and the lights out.

As you can see in the bio I linked to, Dr. Roe was highly intelligent, hugely curious, and very high energy. She completely intimidated many of her students, as she loved the Socratic method and thought nothing of stopping midlecture, looking a student straight in the eye, and asking their opinion on the subject of the day's lecture. It is in her class that I developed a keen ability to avoid eye contact and feign complete focused interest on the notepad on my desk.

I was so very fortunate to be able to work side by side with Dr. Roe, because I had the honor of seeing her other side, that of someone who was intensely curious about problems affecting real people. She had questions she needed to answer, and did her best to do that. She didn't have patience with messing around, because she had important things to do. It is because she was an MD (a practicing dermatologist of all things!) that I become somewhat impatient with physicians who do not appreciate or take the time to understand solid nutrition principles. Sorry guys, Dr. Roe set a very high standard. It would serve you well to follow in her footsteps.
(On the flip side, I do my very best to work well with those who DO appreciate nutrition, like our own dermatologist, Dr. Van Dyke, who took time out of her busy schedule to take our training, much of which is not directly related to her personal medical specialty.)

I love riboflavin because by the end of the study I hated the tedious work so bloody much I decided I never wanted to be a researcher. BUT…I also gained such an appreciation for people who have the capacity to think about those questions and piece together the details of such a study to get answers that make the world a better place. I credit Dr. Roe for planting the very first seed of the inCYST Institute in this college senior's heart.

And since you all are working to increase your activity level, it's important that you benefit from Dr. Roe's research on the influence of exercise on how much riboflavin you need.

If you're vegetarian, vegan or dairy-free, be sure and take the time to analyze your diet to see how you measure up with this vitamin. You may be falling short.

Got milk? That's a good start.
Look for the following in your next shopping trip.
asparagus
popcorn
bananas
persimmons
okra
Swiss chard
Cottage cheese
Yogurt
Meat
Eggs
Fish
Green beans

Thanks, Dr. Roe, for all of what you did that rubbed off on me. I was pretty humbled by your presence and am grateful for your passion and enthusiasm for instilling excellence in budding nutrition experts like myself. I hope if you're looking down on your students, like me and fellow classmates and researchers Valerie Duffy at the University of Connecticut, and Karen Parfitt at Pomona College, you're smiling. You laid the foundation for many professional passions and successes.

Belko AZ, Meredith MP, Kalkwarf HJ, Obarzanek E, Weinberg S, Roach R, McKeon G, Roe DA. Effects of exercise on riboflavin requirements: biological validation in weight reducing women. Am J Clin Nutr. 1985 Feb;41(2):270-7.

As I mentioned in the first part of this series, vitex has its strongest effect on four hormones: estrogen, progesteron, luteinizing hormone (LH), and the one this post is dedicated to, prolactin.

Prolactin is primarily associated with lactation. It is also important for sexual arousal, sensing orgasms, and libido. So it's safe to say, you have to have good prolactin metabolism in order to successfully conceive and carry a pregnancy through to nursing!

One of the most important, and often overlooked, influences on prolactin function, is medication. I am most familiar with psychotropic medications because of my specialty, and I believe, with the very high incidence of anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders in women with PCOS, it is incredibly important to use these medications with discretion in order to not interfere with fertility, or successful PCOS management in women who are not in pursuit of conception.

Before considering any supplement, make a list of all the medications you've ever been prescribed and show them to a registered pharmacist. Ask them if any of those medications have any potential for disrupting prolactin function. And if you come up with a"yes" for any of them, ask for a list of alternatives that you and your prescribing physician can use to adjust your treatment plan.

When prolactin is out of balance, funny things can happen. You can produce milk when you're not supposed to (I once had a male client who started to lactate, and it turned out to be a symptom of a pituitary tumor.)

You might not be able to produce milk when you want to. Many, many, many women with PCOS find, much to their dismay, that they get pregnant, and cannot feed their babies. I am shocked at how many medical colleagues with PCOS write me to share that until they heard us mention this at inCYST…they never knew it could be a problem. And they themselves could not nurse their babies!!!

This lack of awareness and the incredible importance of healthy prolactin function to the overall health of mother and baby, is precisely why, our first outreach outside of dietitians, with inCYST, has been with lactation consultants. They understand this physiology best, and they are the most likely to pick up on problems as soon as they become apparent.

Bottom line, PCOS is not just about infertility. It is about successful reproduction, which includes being able to successfully create the next generation of healthy people.

But I digress. Back to prolactin.

Prolactin is controlled by the hypothalamus, the part of the brain we at inCYST are obsessed with learning and teaching about. The hypothalamus also regulates estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, cortisol, thyroid, and growth hormone. You can see why it's your BFF as a woman with PCOS. If you have problems with one of those, you likely have problems with more than one.

Most medical treatments address each of those hormone imbalances as if they are separate, requiring a separate medical treatment…better yet…a separate medication. So by the time you've made the specialist rounds, you've been given a birth control pill, an antidepressant, a sleep medication, a lipid lowering medication (since some of these hormones are made of cholesterol, when they're out of balance…cholesterol will be, too).

We like to think we start where the problem starts. Giving the hypothalamus what it needs to work efficiently. And the number one chemical you can focus on, which should help all of these functions, which I call our"Recipe for a Happy Hypothalamus (SM)"…is DHA, one of the fish oils.

1. DHA makes it harder for the hypothalamus to feel stress. Stress is a very selfish thing. It steals energy away from other things your body might need it for. With enough DHA in the system, the hypothalamus can put its energy into healing the functions that are NOT related to stress, mainly reproduction, sleep, and mood.

2. DHA increases dopamine receptor density. Prolactin is dopamine-controlled, meaning the more receptors there are to communicate with the dopamine that is there, the less prolactin your body needs to make.

An interesting aside--dopamine imbalance is common in people who crave and/or binge on sugar. So if you've got cravings AND your prolactin levels are not right…you just might be DHA-deficient.

I have one more post coming on chaste tree berry that will summarize important findings and recommendations.

But, with regards to prolactin, what I will say is that two very important things you can, and should, do, to move yourself back into balance, are:

1. Make sure your medications are not the source of the problem, and
2. Make sure your food choices are promoting healthy dopamine function.

Even if you DO decide to try an herbal formula, it is much more likely to work for you, if you provide it with an environment that allows it to do what it does best.

I am at PCOS week at Green Mountain at Fox Run Resort this week, and I am so enjoying meeting and working with the women participating in the program!

Tonight, Chef Jon and his lovely and enthusiastic Sous Chef Lisa gave a wonderful cooking demonstration about beans. I wanted to share a couple of the unique recipes they provided.

Spiced Bean Muffins--yes…muffins!
1 cup pinto beans, cooked
3/4 cup skim milk
1 egg
1/3 cup brown sugar--packeed
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspooons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Coat muffin pans with vegetable spray.
In a food processor, blend the beans, eggs, milk, oil, and sugar.
In a spearate bowl combine all dry ingredients.
Whisk bean mixture into dry ingredients just until combined.
Portion with 2 ounce scoop and bake for 15-20 minutes or until done.

Greek Bean Cake--Jon said these cakes can be made ahead and frozen, to be pullled out of the freezer and quickly heated for an easy high protein snack. I loved that idea!

Makes about 4 cakes

2 cups garbanzo beans, rinsed
1 cup kidney beans, rinsed
3/4 cups red onion, chopped
1 cup tomato, chopped
1/2 cup kalamata olives, halved
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, minced
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup dried pita bread crumbs

Puree garbanzo beans.
Fold in remaining ingredients; try to keep cheese in whole pieces
Form cakes, bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Our next PCOS week will be in November (see sidebar at right for dates and link). It's a great way to give yourself a week of healthy PCOS living and to learn from great professionals like Jon and Lisa!

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

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

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

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

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

Buen apetito!

Mexican Hot Chocolate Oatmeal

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

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

Serves 1

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

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

These days it seems that all a product has to do is contain something from a coconut…and the immediate assumption is that it is healthy, no matter how much of it is consumed.

I'm not sure where this false idea comes from, given the statistics of diabetes prevalance in Pacific Island peoples:
--Native Hawaiians, in Hawaii, have higher diabetes mortality rates than any other ethnic group, and Hawaiians with diabetes are more likely to be eating at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables than any other ethnic group.
--Indonesia has the second highest prevalence of diabetes of all of the countries in the world.

Of course, modernization of all cultures has significantly affected these statistics. However, as you can see in these historical photos of King Kamehameha and Queen Liliuokalani, native Pacific Islanders weren't skinny minnies when they first met the missionaries, when white rice and SPAM were not even concepts in the islands.

By no means am I intending to insult my friends in Hawaii. I'm simply trying to illustrate the potential harm that can occur when nutrition misinformation is parroted, repeated, and distributed without checking facts.

Coconut products definitely have their place in healthy diets; however, only if used with knowledge and respect and without the concept that somehow coconut products have magical, supernatural, and/or anti-caloric properties. I put together a summary of the coconut products currently in vogue, as a reference for those of you with questions about whether or how you should be using them.

Shredded Coconut Meat
1 cup contains 466 calories, 33 grams fat, 44 grams carbohydrate
Inflammatory rating: Strongly inflammatory

Coconut Flour
1 cup contains 480 calories, 12 grams of fat, 80 grams of carbohydrate (32 net, 48 dietary fiber), 16 grams protein

This product is a byproduct of the coconut oil industry, so provided you've purchased your flour from an origin where the coconuts are sustainably produced (not making coconut sugar), it is sustainable. You can see however, it is not smart to assume that because coconut oil has been pressed out of coconut meat…that it does not contain fat or calories. It is gluten-free. Not listed in the Nutrition Data database so inflammatory index is unknown.

Coconut Sugar
1 cup contains 160 calories, 40 grams of carbohydrate, lower glycemic index than regular sugar.

According to Tropical Traditions, coconut sugar is obtained by collecting sap from the trees that produce coconuts, rendering them incapable of producing those coconuts. Because Americans have such a sweet tooth and the demand for the ultimate alternative sweetener seems to have no upper price point, coconut farmers are sacrificing their coconut crops to cash in on this craze while they can. Coconut sugar is NOT a sustainable product and if supported, may reduce the availability of coconut oil.

Coconut Milk, canned
1 cup contains 445 calories, 48 grams of fat, 6 grams of carbohydrate
Rated as strongly inflammatory

Coconut Milk, raw
1 cup contains 552 calories, 57 grams of fat, 13 grams of carbohydrate
Rated as strongy inflammatory

Coconut Water
1 cup contains 46 calories, 9 grams of carbohydrate (6 net, 3 fiber)
Rated as mildly inflammatory

Ahem…inflammatory? Aren't sports recovery drinks supposed to be ANTI-inflammatory?

Coconut Oil
1 cup contains 1879 calories, 218 grams of fat
Rated as strongly inflammatory

Lauric acid content is high in coconut oil, but there is absolutely no research to prove that it erases the calorie content. Use as your cooking oil in healthy proportions and you should benefit. Eat by the tablespoon and you could be causing more problems than you solve.

As long as we don't eat too much coconut sugar, this industry can be sustainable.

Coconut vinegar
1 cup contains 80 calories

Used wisely, coconut products are a great way to vary your diet, especially if you're gluten-free. However, in excess, as with any food, they lose their health benefit. It is not a magic, calorie-free food, by any stretch of the imagination.

If coconut is your food religion, it's likely these numbers won't matter. But I wanted to write about them nevertheless. In order for your choices regarding coconut products to be informed, you need more information than that which comes from people who also practice coconut-ism or want to profit from your lack of adequate information.

http://hawaii.gov/health/family-child-health/chronic-disease/diabetes/pdf/diabetesreport.pdf
http://www.who.int/diabetes/facts/en/diabcare0504.pdf
http://www.nutritiondata.com/

This past week I read an article about foods traditionally served on the Mexican holiday,"Dia de los Muertos," (Day of the Dead), which falls on November 1. If you're not from the Southwest, you cannot appreciate the festivities associated with this holiday, on which Mexicans honor their passed relatives.

My favorites are the skeleton cookies!

I know, it sounds a little morbid, but it's all about remembering and honoring your loved ones, and maybe even visiting their burial sites with offerings of trinkets and their favorite foods.

The article about Dia de los Muertos foods described a warm, gruel-like beverage called atole, which is typically made with masa or oatmeal, and spiced with cinnamon. I found one, however, based on pumpkin and pumped up with peanut butter, that looked especially healthy and yummy. It is from the blog, A Visit With Grandma.

It's really a healthy, caffeine-free twist on a pumpkin latte! Tee hee…all this time you thought someone up in a Seattle test kitchen thought of it first…

Here it is…enjoy!

Americanized Pumpkin Atole
To a blender add:
1 egg
a few glugs of molasses
some sugar (brown or white)
2 cups of cooked squash or pumpkin
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
optional — 2 or 3 tablespoons of peanut butter
milk (fill the remaining space in the blender with milk, leaving just a little space at the top.
-Blend this all up and taste to see if it needs more sweetening.
-Pour the mix into a pot and heat until just boiling.
-Serve