Note: I've received quite a few compliments about this blog post. It was written and published without a single edit by Sarah Jones. Sarah is currently a nutrition student and Arizona State University and has been interning with me over this academic year. The attention to detail you see here is just how Sarah does things. I'm very lucky to have her, and glad she has shared such a timely topic in such a wonderful post. Thanks, Sarah!

You may have noticed that vitamin D has been a hot topic in the media lately and, at this point, it is likely that we as consumers are becoming overwhelmed by all the media hype. Recent studies have suggested that in prehistoric times, in addition to normal skeletal development, humans probably used vitamin D as a natural form of sunscreen. Before majoring in Dietetics, my basic knowledge of the role vitamin D played in the body is that it somehow worked with calcium to promote healthy bones. As it turns out, I had no idea how complex the relationship actually was between vitamin D and the human body! Let’s take a further look at vitamin D. Most of us may know vitamin D as the “sunshine vitamin.” We get it from the sun, right? Sure, but how? When ultraviolet light from the sun shines on a cholesterol compound in our skin, it is transformed into a vitamin D “precursor” (compounds that can be converted into active vitamins that the body can use) and is absorbed directly into the blood. The liver and kidneys finish converting the precursor to the active form of vitamin D. There are two major forms of vitamin D; these are vitamin D₂ (ergocalciferol), which is present in plants, and vitamin D₃ (cholecalciferol), which is present in the skin of animals. Vitamin D was discovered in 1920 and was originally classified as a vitamin. However, it has since been revealed that vitamin D is actually a hormone (steroid) since it can be synthesized by the body when exposed to sunlight. Essentially, the major biologic function of vitamin D is to maintain normal blood levels of calcium and phosphorus in our bodies, which aids in the absorption of calcium and helps to form and maintain strong bones. Vitamin D₃ is the most active form of the vitamin, which is what you will see in most supplements. Obtaining vitamin D from sunlight presents no risk of vitamin D toxicity because the body is able to regulate the vitamin D precursor – see what I mean about complex! But, as we know, getting too much sun puts us at risk for skin cancer. Since moving to Arizona, I have started wearing sunscreen everyday to decrease my risk of skin cancer, but sunscreen can reduce or prevent the synthesis of vitamin D. And, because vitamin D is one of the most toxic of all the vitamins, taking supplements can put us at risk for toxicity. Now you may be thinking, I wear sunscreen, I am concerned about supplementing without first consulting my doctor, and I live in an area that does not get much sunlight during this time of year, what foods can I eat that have vitamin D in them? As far as foods are concerned, dietary vitamin D is provided primarily by foods of animal origin, especially liver, beef and eggs (mainly the yolk). You can also find vitamin D in dairy products such as milk, cheese and butter. Lastly, vitamin D is in some saltwater fish, including tuna, salmon, herring and sardines. Because few foods naturally have substantial vitamin D content, i n the United States there are pre-selected foods, such as milk, cheese, margarine and yogurt as well as some orange juice, bread, and cereals that have been fortified with vitamin D. If you are a vegetarian, you likely will not be obtaining vitamin D by eating liver, beef or fish, but you may still be eating eggs and dairy products. I mentioned yogurt as a source of vitamin D, but after a trip to the grocery store and looking at no less than ten brands of yogurt, I was stumped! I was hard pressed to find yogurts that have been fortified with vitamin D. However, it was not a complete loss, as I eventually spotted one (which also happens to be one of my favorite brands). Stonyfield Organic Yogurt has fortified most of their yogurt products with vitamin D₃. Here is a list from their labels of the “percent of daily values based on a 2,000 calorie diet”: Organic Fat Free Smooth and Creamy 6 oz (all flavors): 20% of D₃ Organic Fat Free Fruit on the Bottom 6 oz (all flavors): 15% of D₃ Organic Low Fat Smooth and Creamy 6 oz (all flavors): 20% of D₃ Organic Low Fat Fruit on the Bottom 6 oz (all flavors): 15% of D₃ Their soy and Greek yogurt’s do not have vitamin D, but they also make six and ten ounce organic smoothies that contain vitamin D. Additionally, they have two other products that are worth mentioning: “B-Healthy and B-Well.” B-Healthy includes omega-3 fatty acids, as well as three of the B vitamins ( B₃ or Niacin, B₅ or Panthothenic Acid and B12). B-Well contains vitamin B₆, probiotic cultures and vitamin D. According to their website, if you live in the Phoenix area, Stonyfield Organic Yogurt can be found at: Bashas’, AJ’s Fine Foods and Sprouts Farmers Market.

References

Source: Uploaded by user via Monika on Pinterest

One of the things I am very conscious of in doing this work, is that the recommendations we make on this blog have the potential to have consequences far beyond then plates of our actual readers.

We are approaching 10,000 page reads a month, and our readers come from some pretty surprising places like India, Uzbekistan, and Trinidad. I am honored and flattered to know that the information we provide here is popular and useful to a variety of women. I do not want anyone to think that because they do not live where I do, that they cannot be healthy with PCOS. Or, that if they do not have the money for some Amazon-based supplement, they cannot be healthy with PCOS.

That being said, I am ever-mindful of the collective consequence of 1 in 5 women all rushing out to buy something because they read about it on this blog. That is why you never see me parrot, repeat, or retweet those lists of top ten healthy foods. While salmon, blueberries, and walnuts are all healthy, they are not available to many of our readers. And even to those who are, they are not the most environmentally friendly choices to make.

There simply are not enough wild salmon on the planet for it to be feasible for nutrition experts to be promoting the idea that this is the only fish that you should eat for omega-3 fatty acids. I LOVE blueberries, but I live in a hot climate where they do not grow, and the carbon footprint of the ones that make it to my local store…well…just not something I want to sign off on as my personal contribution to environmental disruption.

The other trend I see is a tendency to believe that if the food or supplement did not come from some exotic Amazon river tributary, or if it was not handpicked by an esoteric band of Mongolian monks, it can't have health value. We are sick in the Northern hemisphere, so our answer lies outside of our own environment, right?

Not quite.

One of the reasons we are sick, is that we have made our environment sick. We are all simply artifacts and consequences of our sick environment. Clean up the way we grow and produce food, reduce our carbon footprint, and we become healthy as a natural consequence of living responsibly.

Rather than jumping over foods in your own backyard, or buying into the idea that your answer is growing on some mountainside in Kenya, take a look at your immediate environment. How much fresh food are you eating? How much of it is locally grown? How much is seasonal?

Do you even know what foods are in season right now? I was floored when I used to do grocery store tours at Whole Foods several years ago. The people coming through those classes, in Tempe, AZ, and Venice, CA, were pretty well educated, and they viewed themselves as environmentally conscious.

But invariably, I would take them into the produce section and say,"Now tell me what's in season." And they would look at me like a deer in the headlights. In the middle of winter they would gravitate toward the blueberries shipped in from South America. And in the Arizona classes, they had no idea our perfectly healthy nuts are pecans and pistachios, not walnuts.

(Psssssttttt…by the way, what is in season is usually what's in the biggest bin at the lowest price, in case you were curious).

Back to blueberries. Turns out, one of the reasons blueberries are such an incredible powerhouse, is exactly why desert-friendly foods are also pretty incredible. If you would like to learn more, check out my blog post for Chow Locally this week. Take a look at what Mother Nature may have planted right in your own backyard before you get in a hurry to spend a lot of money on some food or supplement that comes from exotic, faraway land.

Much of what modern medicine tries to do, is OUTSMART Mother Nature. I believe the more logical, effective, and sustainable answer, especially for PCOS, is to LISTEN to Mother Nature. Her lessons are not the loudest ones, and they are not always on a prominent website, with a strong profit margin, but they are powerful, and they are valuable.

If you have questions about what might be lurking in your part of the world, pass them along! I'd love to learn along with you.

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!

At the same time I have been encouraging all of you to eat more protein, I have been working with a vegan protein source that grows right here in my backyard that could be part of your own plan to get more. That source is tepary beans. This bean is native to Arizona and has been cultured by our local natives for thousands of years. It thrives here in the desert because of its heat and drought tolerance. So much so that it is now being introduced to drought-ridden parts of Africa plagued with famine.

My favorite tepary fun fact is the origin of its name. It is the English spelling for the native"t'pawi", literally meaning,"it's a bean". So I am guessing some Spaniard cruising through Arizona a few hundred years ago stopped, looked and pointed at a plant, and got that response. (Kinda makes me think though, as silly a question as it must have sounded to the natives, if it really translates into,"well, duh…it's a bean!")

Back to hard science.

Tepary beans have been tested in the lab and have been found, when eaten in conjunction with exercise, to improve insulin resistance, lower blood lipids, and help with weight loss. Not bad for a humble little legume that, when it has its way, happily hides out in remote desert washes! It's actually thought that one of the reasons the rate of diabetes has soared so much in Native Americans is because they have strayed away from eating natives foods like the tepary.

They contain 24 grams of protein per 100 grams in their dry state, which is slightly higher than black beans. Which is why they are being profiled on Fitness Friday today!

We recently started sharing tepary beans in our share boxes at Chow Locally, and our customers have been making everything with them from veggie burgers to hummous. They have a slightly nutty flavor which people seem to like. Now that I've seen a group of people try them and enjoy them, I wanted to share them with you!



Add caption  We get our beans from Ramona Farms on the Gila River Indian Reservation, just south of Phoenix. Ramona Farms recently showcased their tepary beans at Natural Products West in Anaheim, and got a lot of attention from high-end chefs and natural foods experts looking for the next best super food. This is me with Ramona and Leslie, two members of the Akimel O'odham tribe. They're super nice and they want you to try their beans…me too!

Ramona Farms is in the process of setting up a web store; in the meantime you can order their beans by phone.
Give them a try and let me know what you think!

I had the most wonderful Sunday afternoon with a newly pregnant client and her husband. She's been told that her progesterone is low, and she was interested in knowing if there is anything she can do, naturally, to help improve the outcome of her pregnancy. We discussed five different categories of actions. Since this is an issue many women face, I'm adding them to the lineup of planned posts, today being the first of five installments.

Progesterone can be low if estrogen is high. In many cases, it's not the natural estrogen your own body is making, but environmental chemicals resembling estrogen that confuse the body.

To reduce your exposure to unnecessary estrogen…

1. Stay away from plastic. Store your leftovers in glass containers. Be absolutely sure your food does not come in contact with plastic or Saran during heating. Avoid plastic water bottles; metal varieties are pretty easy to find in your Whole Foods or REI store.

2. Use natural cosmetics and hair dyes. inCYST Provider Carmina McGee, who is a licensed aesthetician as well as a registered dietitian, has shared that the primary offending chemical, phthalate, is gradually disappearing out of cosmetics. But just to be sure, read your cosmetic and nail polish labels. Make your cosmetic shopping easy by using an all-natural brand such as Body Shop or Arbonne.

3. Get to know your local eco-friendly decorating and remodeling stores. I recently painted my condo with paint that was free of volatile organic compounds (also known as non-VOC). I used the Benjamin Moore brand which was available at a local Ace Hardware, because I liked the color selection…but there were several eco-friendly brands, and remodeling stores I found while shopping around. One store also had quite a few"green" cleaning supplies as well as carpet glue.

4. If you are not sure of the contents of inks, glues, cleaning solvents, fertilizers, pesticides, fire retardant fabrics, etc., minimize your contact with it. Here's a great list from the National Institutes of Health for your reference.

5. Minimize your intake of dietary estrogens. This one can be a little tricky, since one of the tricks we've been recommending for getting pregnant has been supplementing with flaxseed oil, a natural source of estrogen. Once you know you're pregnant, best to back off on the flaxseed. (Special note: This release I'm linking is so new the actual study is not yet listed in the National Library of Medicine database. As soon as it is, I'll be sure to evaluate and report in more detail here.)

The other food to be aware of is soy--whole soy foods such as edamame and tofu are ok, but stay away from isolates that are often used as fillers.

6. Keep your sleeping environment as dark as possible at night. Close the drapes. Use eye shades. Eliminate televisions and computers from the bedroom.

What I really like about this first list is that it is, really, about living cleaner and greener. So choices you make for your pregnancy are doing double duty and helping out the planet!

Next time I'll take a look at insulin resistance.

Click here for the top ten list of superfoods! Eat these foods and live 10 years longer!

The world has gone koo-koo for antioxidants!

I've been encouraging readers to increase their antioxidant intake, too…but did you know too many antioxidants can be a bad thing?

If you've been reading up on antioxidants, the word polyphenols may sound familiar. They are a category of antioxidants that are believed to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Foods high in polyphenol content routinely show up on"superfood" lists and include: tea, wine, berries, beer, grapes, olive oil, chocolate, walnuts, peanuts, and pomegranates.

Before antioxidants were trendy, they were known as tannins. In some circles, tannins were even called"anti-nutrients". They may make protein difficult to digest and absorb, and they can bind and reduce the absorption of non-heme iron, a primary source of iron for vegetarians. If you're juicing and emphasizing any of the above foods, you may also be at risk for issues with protein and iron.

I'm not sure if the the term"polyphenol" has come into vogue to increase the marketability of a compound formerly associated with nutritional problems, or if we simply have learned more about their benefits over time. The important thing is, as with every food you can choose to include in your day, balance, moderation, and respectful use are all key if you truly want to capitalize on their nutritional gifts.

Here are some simple things you can do that can allow you to capitalize on the benefits of polyphenols while minimizing the problems they pose.

1. Avoid falling into the"top ten" trap and eat a wide variety of foods. Mix things up! I like to throw a shot of pomegranate juice into my carrot juice.

2. Be sure your daily diet is adequate in vitamin C, which can help to increase iron absorption. Vitamin C sources lower in tannins include: guava, parsley, broccoli, lychee, persimmon, papaya, canteloupe, and garlic.

3. If you drink orange juice, go for the all-natural kind. Commercial brands often ADD tannins in order to increase the"pucker factor" consumers associate with their product.

4. Enjoy coffee and tea in moderation. Even the"healthy" green kind.

And remember…variety…variety…variety!

I was asked to clarify some comments I recently made about chia, as they were questioned for their accuracy. I'm all for revisiting and making sure my information is accurate, so here is my response.

First of all, while the information on this blog should be helpful to anyone regardless of whether or not they have PCOS, it IS targeted toward women who have this hormone imbalance. So some of the information I provide is more geared toward their specific nutritional needs and not the apparently healthy population. This should always be kept in mind when reading what I write.

One of the questions about my post was that I stated that taurine is an essential amino acid. There is actually some debate about this. Some experts say no, we can synthesize it. Others call it a conditional amino acid, meaning in some situations it may be essential.

Women with PCOS seem to have something going on in their brain and nervous systems that interferes with everything from mood and appetite regulation to speech and language function. (Simply read the responses to my question last week about the symptoms I listed and you will see what I mean.) Much of the dietary protocol we have developed is actually derived from epilepsy research at Johns Hopkins University, with the premise that calming nervous system excitability makes it easier for the brain and nervous system to function as they should when not under duress. Taurine is an amino acid showing promise as an anti-seizure compound, which makes me wonder whether or not a hyperexcitable brain blows through available taurine much more quickly than a brain that does not have to live under these conditions.

That being said, I am more comfortable with the premise that for the population for whom this blog is written, as well as anyone living with any kind of condition that places stress on the brain (migraines, epilepsy, OCD, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, PTSD, schizophrenia, etc.), taurine may actually be an essential amino acid. Research to support my claim still needs to be done, but I am more comfortable being conservative on this one, especially given the responses to last week's questionnaire and the severity of some of the diagnoses I just listed. Better to be safe than sorry.

Secondly, even if the amino acid profile of chia is complete, the total protein content of chia is relatively low. So if we're advocating for a 30% protein diet in a woman who is being advised to consume 1500 calories a day, she is going to need to consume about 113 grams of protein. That translates into your needing, at this protein level, to consume 700 grams of chia per day, just to get your protein needs. That is also 3,430 calories' worth of chia, more than twice your daily calorie needs. And while its amino acid profile is nearly complete, its nutritional profile is not. It contains no vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin K, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, or iron, to name a few.

From an omega-3 standpoint, I did invert the numbers. There is no consistent order by which omega-6 and omega-3 ratios are reported, and though I usually check to be sure I did not flip them, I did not this time. I do apologize for that.

According to http://www.nutritiondata.com/, chia seed contains an omega-6 to omega-3 ratio of 3.03, which is actually quite good.

The caveat is that the omega-3 this food contains is alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), not EPA or DHA. Most omega-3 experts will contend that in the most perfect of conditions conversion of ALA to DHA is at best 5%. Again, the women this blog serves seem to need a much higher level of DHA than average for a variety of reasons. We find that they seem to do best on 1000 mg DHA daily, the level recommended by Dr. Artemis Simopolous for treating depression. Calculated out, if you are depending on chia seed to get all of your omega-3 fatty acids, from ALA through EPA and DHA, you're going to need to consume about 115 grams of chia seeds per day. Just be forewarned.

Bottom line, I actually think chia is a healthy food--as part of a varied diet. I especially think that for vegans reading this blog it can be a great addition to your diet. However, I do not believe in superfoods. There seems to be a trend toward wanting to find one perfect food that has it all. I have yet to find it. It's understandable when we're surrounded by a lot of confusing information and we live in a culture where over 10,000 new products hit the grocery shelves each year (I saw half of them in Anaheim last month and it was overwhelming!) that we'd want to have just a few foods and a small nutritional comfort zone. Unfortunately that is not really how human nutrition works.

This is an especially important philosophy to stick to on this blog, given the fact that we're learning that a very high percentage of the women we're helping have some kind of history of"veganism gone wrong"…in other words, overzealous veganism with a focus on eliminating foods rather than on learning how to eat to be nutritionally complete with no animal products on the menu. We discourage fanaticism and encourage food curiosity and variety!

We were designed to be omnivores and to eat a variety of foods from a variety of sources. I encourage you, rather than arguing for why you should narrow your choices down to feel more comfortable around food, to learn to negotiate a wider variety of foods you are willing to include in your diet.

Gaby AR. Natural approaches to epilepsy. Altern Med Rev. 2007 Mar;12(1):9-24.

It was 1975, and my father had a powder blue polyester double-knit “leisure suit,” a weight-loss plan disguised as a plan to single-handedly re-roof our house, and a keen interest in alternative nutrition and well-being. The latter took the form of upside-down eating, in which we had our smallest meal at dinner and our largest meal at breakfast. My friends thought it was very strange that we ate steaks and pork chops for breakfast, along with huge salads.

We were also eating texturized soy protein, roughly ground grains made into coarse earthy breads, spoonfuls of lecithin, mung bean sprouts, and a whole lot of strange things that you could only get out of the bulk food barrels at Elliot’s Natural Foods. We had a copy of “The Whole Earth Catalog” on the coffee table, and there was also a well-worn copy of my dad’s new bible, Adelle Davis’ “Let’s Eat Right to Get Fit.” There was some new thinking going on in this middle-aged straight-laced German guy, and I was curious about it. Extremely curious. I read the books, and ate whatever weird stuff I was supposed to be eating.

Things got even more curious when my father signed the entire family up to learn Transcendental Meditation (TM), which was developed by the Mahareshi Mahesh Yogi in the 1950s. Although it started elsewhere, by the 1970s, it had penetrated as far as “The Big Tomato,” my hometown of Sacramento, California. He went to a couple of introductory lectures, and the next thing we knew, all five of us were learning TM! It sure seemed exotic at the time, but it’s a technique I have practiced off on and on for over three decades. It’s so simple, I find it the easiest place to return to when I’m most stressed.

TM is a mantra-based meditation technique that has been scientifically validated for stress reduction, blood pressure reduction and, most recently management of the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress in veterans. The National Institute of Health has spent in excess of $20 million validating the benefits of TM. It increases mental clarity, creativity, and overall health, and decreases stress by decreasing the activation of the sympathetic nervous system. When the sympathetic nervous system’s activity decreases, so do adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol levels. Therefore, it is quite effective for stabilizing mood and even controlling appetite, because your appetite tends to go out of control when you’re feeling stressed.

Technically, it must be taught through an authorized trainer (see www.tm.org), but a great deal of introductory information can be gleaned online. I’ve written previously here about the benefits of meditation, and I’d love to introduce you to this technique.

Simply sit quietly and comfortably. This is essential to all forms of meditation. The mantra would be assigned by your teacher, but you can choose a syllable or sound with no inherent meaning (other forms of meditation might focus on a word with a meaning, such as “love” or “peace.”). The act of focusing on the mantra draws your mind out of its normal state of anxiety, chatter, and activity. If your mind drifts, return your attention to the mantra gently and repeatedly, for a period of 20 minutes per day. Results have been verified with as little as eight weeks of consistent daily practice. Optimally, practicing twice a day for twenty minutes each time is the goal, but benefits can be derived from as little as five minutes a day.

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:
Dillbeck M.C. and Orme-Johnson D. W. Physiological differences between Transcendental Meditation and rest. American Psychologist 42:879–881, 1987.
Jevning R., et al. The physiology of meditation: a review. A wakeful hypometabolic integrated response. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 16(3):415-24, 1992.
Orme-Johnson D.W. and Walton K. W. All approaches of preventing or reversing effects of stress are not the same. American Journal of Health Promotion 12:297-299, 1998.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

One of the things I love about social networking…is that I have more information at my fingertips than I would ever have access to if I had to find it all by myself.

One of the things I hate about social networking, especially Twitter, is how much bad information is passed along without any fact checking. I would have to say, 99% of all links that come across my screen were just retweeted without being read. People state their opinions as if they are facts, without providing any references. And the more followers a person has, the more entitled they seem to be, to state their opinion as if is fact, leaving their hundreds or thousands of followers thinking,"Well if _____ said so, it must be true."

Recently I've been reading a lot of things about stevia that are opinion-based, but not factual, which are being circulated without fact checking, so I went in to PubMed and found some references I thought I would throw out to help level the playing field.

Stevia is a natural sweetener. It is not sugar, but it is not a chemical artificially created in the laboratory. It is a plant native to Paraguay that is processed to be used as a sweetener. I have friends here in Phoenix who actually have stevia plants in their gardens in early summer.

Here are some other facts.

Stevia may or may not affect fertility. The very first article appearing in a stevia search, way back in 1968, reports that it does. Others follow with mixed results, looking at both male and female fertility. It does not appear to be related to any toxic aspect of the plant, merely how it affects hormone balance. Anyone using the right mix of references can create an argument leaning in either direction.

Stevia may improve glucose tolerance. It may actually improve function of the pancreatic cells (beta cells) that produce insulin. This is a pretty consistent finding.

Stevia is not cariogenic.

Stevia may help to reduce blood pressure.

Stevia is anti-inflammatory, has antioxidant characteristics, and may discourage tumor production.

Stevia does not cause you to eat more of other sweet foods. I have seen more than one dietitian assert this, and there is no reference (as of this date) to validate that.

For most of you, if you're not trying to conceive, stevia may be a very nice addition to what you're doing to balance your hormones. If you're trying to conceive, it gets a little tricky. If your main barrier to conception is insulin resistance, stevia may actually be beneficial. If it's another issue, such as sperm count, you may want to stay away. I'm providing references so that you can share this information with your reproductive physician and together decide which course of action is most appropriate for your personal situation.

Planas GM, Kucacute J. Contraceptive Properties of Stevia rebaudiana. Science. 1968 Nov 29;162(3857):1007.

Schvartzman JB, Krimer DB, Moreno Azorero R. Cytological effects of some medicinal plants used in the control of fertility. Experientia. 1977 May 15;33(5):663-5.

Yodyingyuad V, Bunyawong S. Effect of stevioside on growth and reproduction. Hum Reprod. 1991 Jan;6(1):158-65.

Das S, Das AK, Murphy RA, Punwani IC, Nasution MP, Kinghorn AD. Evaluation of the cariogenic potential of the intense natural sweeteners stevioside and rebaudioside A. Caries Res. 1992;26(5):363-6.

Melis MS. Effects of chronic administration of Stevia rebaudiana on fertility in rats. J Ethnopharmacol. 1999 Nov 1;67(2):157-61.

Jeppesen PB, Gregersen S, Poulsen CR, Hermansen K. Stevioside acts directly on pancreatic beta cells to secrete insulin: actions independent of cyclic adenosine monophosphate and adenosine triphosphate-sensitive K+-channel activity. Metabolism. 2000 Feb;49(2):208-14.

Chan P, Tomlinson B, Chen YJ, Liu JC, Hsieh MH, Cheng JT. A double-blind placebo-controlled study of the effectiveness and tolerability of oral stevioside in human hypertension. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2000 Sep;50(3):215-20.

Lee CN, Wong KL, Liu JC, Chen YJ, Cheng JT, Chan P. Inhibitory effect of stevioside on calcium influx to produce antihypertension. Planta Med. 2001 Dec;67(9):796-9.

Jeppesen PB, Gregersen S, Alstrup KK, Hermansen K. Stevioside induces antihyperglycaemic, insulinotropic and glucagonostatic effects in vivo: studies in the diabetic Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats. Phytomedicine. 2002 Jan;9(1):9-14.

Chan P, Tomlinson B, Chen YJ, Liu JC, Hsieh MH, Cheng JT. A double-blind placebo-controlled study of the effectiveness and tolerability of oral stevioside in human hypertension. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2000 Sep;50(3):215-20.
Gregersen S, Jeppesen PB, Holst JJ, Hermansen K. Antihyperglycemic effects of stevioside in type 2 diabetic subjects. Metabolism. 2004 Jan;53(1):73-6.

Lailerd N, Saengsirisuwan V, Sloniger JA, Toskulkao C, Henriksen EJ. Effects of stevioside on glucose transport activity in insulin-sensitive and insulin-resistant rat skeletal muscle. Metabolism. 2004 Jan;53(1):101-7.

Hsieh MH, Chan P, Sue YM, Liu JC, Liang TH, Huang TY, Tomlinson B, Chow MS, Kao PF, Chen YJ. Efficacy and tolerability of oral stevioside in patients with mild essential hypertension: a two-year, randomized, placebo-controlled study. Clin Ther. 2003 Nov;25(11):2797-808.
Chen TH, Chen SC, Chan P, Chu YL, Yang HY, Cheng JT. Mechanism of the hypoglycemic effect of stevioside, a glycoside of Stevia rebaudiana. Planta Med. 2005 Feb;71(2):108-13.

Boonkaewwan C, Toskulkao C, Vongsakul M. Anti-Inflammatory and Immunomodulatory Activities of Stevioside and Its Metabolite Steviol on THP-1 Cells. J Agric Food Chem. 2006 Feb 8;54(3):785-9.

Ferreira EB, de Assis Rocha Neves F, da Costa MA, do Prado WA, de Araújo Funari Ferri L, Bazotte RB. Comparative effects of Stevia rebaudiana leaves and stevioside on glycaemia and hepatic gluconeogenesis. Planta Med. 2006 Jun;72(8):691-6. Epub 2006 May 29.

Chen J, Jeppesen PB, Nordentoft I, Hermansen K. Stevioside counteracts the glyburide-induced desensitization of the pancreatic beta-cell function in mice: studies in vitro. Metabolism. 2006 Dec;55(12):1674-80.

Ghanta S, Banerjee A, Poddar A, Chattopadhyay S. Oxidative DNA damage preventive activity and antioxidant potential of Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) Bertoni, a natural sweetener. J Agric Food Chem. 2007 Dec 26;55(26):10962-7. Epub 2007 Nov 27.
Shukla S, Mehta A, Bajpai VK, Shukla S. In vitro antioxidant activity and total phenolic content of ethanolic leaf extract of Stevia rebaudiana Bert. Food Chem Toxicol. 2009 Sep;47(9):2338-43. Epub 2009 Jun 21.

Melis MS, Rocha ST, Augusto A. Steviol effect, a glycoside of Stevia rebaudiana, on glucose clearances in rats. Braz J Biol. 2009 May;69(2):371-4.
Figlewicz DP, Ioannou G, Bennett Jay J, Kittleson S, Savard C, Roth CL. Effect of moderate intake of sweeteners on metabolic health in the rat. Physiol Behav. 2009 Dec 7;98(5):618-24. Epub 2009 Oct 6.

Anton SD, Martin CK, Han H, Coulon S, Cefalu WT, Geiselman P, Williamson DA. Effects of stevia, aspartame, and sucrose on food intake, satiety, and postprandial glucose and insulin levels. Appetite. 2010 Aug;55(1):37-43. Epub 2010 Mar 18.

Shukla S, Mehta A, Mehta P, Bajpai VK. Antioxidant ability and total phenolic content of aqueous leaf extract of Stevia rebaudiana Bert. Exp Toxicol Pathol. 2011 Mar 4. [Epub ahead of print]

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.

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.

When I ran across this research study, it immediately brought to mind most women I know with PCOS--because they focus so much on restrictive eating as a way to improve their condition. Women with PCOS that has not yet been diagnosed often develop eating disorders as a way to manage it. If their eating disorder is anorexia or bulimia, it encompasses deprivation. And it often bounces back into binge eating disorder when the PCOS wrangles control back in its direction.

And if you've tended to lean toward the binge eating direction, you've likely been advised to lose weight. And much of the advice you have been provided for how to do this, even by licensed health care providers, has been about eliminating--calories, carbohydrates, even entire food groups. Most of what I see on Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo Groups, where women with PCOS are talking about what they're eating, it's about extreme programs and denial.

It seems to be especially prevalent in women who are trying to conceive. So when I saw this study, I wanted to share it.

This is a study done on cows, but I believe there is a good takeaway lesson. So bear with me.

Seventy-two pregnant cows, about a month before their due dates, were assigned to 6 different dietary regimens:

Ad lib eating with canola-supplemented feed Ad lib eating with linola-supplemented feed Ad lib eating with flax-supplemented feed
24% calorie restriction with 8% canola-supplemented feed 24% calorie restriction with 8% linola-supplemented feed 24% calorie restriction with 8% flax-supplemented feed (Linola is a low omega-3 form of flax often fed to cattle)

After the calves were born to these cows, they were fed the same non-supplemented lactation diet.

From one week after birth, the cows underwent reproductive ultrasounds twice a week until they again ovulated. Here are the very interesting findings (I discuss them below).

1. Cows fed without caloric restriction had higher body weights before delivery, but after delivery, they had fewer ovarian cysts.
2. These cows, regardless of what kind of fat they were given, did have a higher incidence of uterine infections.
3. Regardless of diet treatment, the time it took for the uterus to return to its normal size did not differ.
4. It took longer for cows to ovulate after giving birth if they were fed canola oil, regardless of calorie level eaten, than it did if they were fed linola or flaxseed oil.
5. A greater percentage of cows whose diets were not restricted during their first pregnancy were able to conceive a second time with the first round of artificial insemination.

OK, the obvious omission in this study is the overfed cow. But cows are not natural binge eaters so it's understandable why this condition was not included in this study. But…what this study really highlights, is that restricting calories is not really the best fertility-friendly strategy. (The degree of restriction was actually far less in these cows than what many of our inCYST fans impose on themselves. It was the equivalent of a 1350 calorie diet for someone who would normally need 1800 calories to maintain their ideal weight.)

Secondly, even though we do talk about using canola oil because it has a nice omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, continuing to eat your favorite fried foods and using a"healthy" fat may not really be a productive strategy. You will help yourself most if you learn to eat foods that are not too high in fat.

Bottom line, it's not about the quantity of calories, it's more about the quality. It's not about extremes, it's about balance.

If you're having a hard time with balance, let us help you!

Colazo MG, Hayirli A, Doepel L, Ambrose DJ. Reproductive performance of dairy cows is influenced by prepartum feed restriction and dietary fatty acid source. J Dairy Sci. 2009 Jun;92(6):2562-71.

Quite a bit, it turns out. They're some of the hottest new sources of omega-3 fatty acids available in supplement form.

As the public starts to recognize the importance of omega-3 fatty acids for overall health, the hunt for sustainable sources of this nutrient intensifies. The fact is, there simply is not enough salmon on the planet to nourish every brain on the planet. We're going to have to learn to use other sources for that than relying solely on wild Alaskan salmon.

Here's what we found out about three unique players you're seeing more of: green-lipped mussels, krill, and calamari.

Here's the real reason this shellfish gets its name. As you can see, there is a rim of green pigment on the lip of its shell. This bivalve is a native of New Zealand, and the farming process bringing them to market is sustainable. We love that!

However, there seems to be a bit of hype related to this product. It is related to an anti-inflammatory compound found in these mussels that supposedly helps to relieve arthritis. The studies are sketchy, and seem to concede that the effect is actually due to the omega-3's in these mussels, not any secret special ingredient. The capsules are pretty low dosage wise, about 50 mg EPA and little information about DHA content. Meaning you're going to have to take an awful lot of these capsules to get any effect, and you're going to spend a lot of money in the process. Sixty capsules, in the dose we recommend here, is going to cost you $33. That's more than you need to spend.

This teeny, tiny, shrimp-looking thing is a krill, a creature at the very bottom of the food chain that grows in pretty much all ocean waters. It's an important food source for marine life — 500,000,000 tons are produced each year, and over half of it is consumed by whales, penguins, seals, squid, and fish.

As an omega-3 supplement, it is often touted as the superior source. However, a Norwegian study published in January of this year comparing krill oil to fish oil concluded that the effects of supplementation were comparable. In other words, there was no unique benefit to taking krill that could not be achieved with fish.

The bigger issue is sustainability. Scientists reported an 80% drop in krill supply recently. Given the heavy dependence of much of the rest of the ocean on krill, this is important to note. Whole Foods Market actually stopped selling krill oil over concerns that it was not a sustainable product. One voice countering these arguments is, Dr. Joseph Mercola, the popular natural medicine advocate. It is important to note that Dr. Mercola is personally invested in the krill industry so he has much to lose from consumers heeding the warnings of the National Geographic Society and the well-researched buyers at Whole Foods. He is entitled to his opinion, as you are to yours. All I ask is that you consider the financial influences underlying his opinion before deriving your own.

Bottom line here is, if there are options that are equally as effective that do not create nutritional hardship for such a wide variety of important citizens of the planet, we prefer to use those. Krill is not on our recommended list.

Which brings me to my last, and favorite, of our three profiles. The unassuming squid!

Last fall inCYST intern Sarah Jones and I were at our local Sprouts Market evaluating omega-3 supplements. Sarah noticed a bottle made from calamari. The supplement clerk told us that this is an up and coming concept, designed to bring a sustainable source of EPA and DHA to a market that is starting to feel ecologically strained in trying to meet the consumer demand for fish oil. Calamari is sustainably farmed and has been for a long time. It is only recently that they have been used as a source for the supplement industry.

Since we first saw their capsules, Carlson's has also released a lemon flavored liquid product called CalaOmega. And it is concentrated — one teaspon contains 800 mg DHA and 400 mg EPA. That dose for most of our readers is completely sufficient.

Squid are not exotic. There is nothing mysterious or magical about them. Since omega-3's are omega-3's, whether they come from salmon, mussels, krill, or squid, many marketing schemes use mysterious hype to differentiate their products. It's really not that complicated. Find a good source of DHA or EPA at a reasonable cost per dose, and be sure that in using it you're a responsible planetary citizen. You'll get benefit from all three options here. One is sustainable, but costs a lot of money. One is costly to the overall stability of the marine ecosystem. One is sustainable and economical. We think it sells itself.

Besides, now you have an extra reason to order that really tasty calamari appetizer at your favorite Italian restaurant.

Ulven SM, Kirkhus B, Lamglait A, Basu S, Elind E, Haider T, Berge K, Vik H, Pedersen JI. Metabolic effects of krill oil are essentially similar to those of fish oil but at lower dose of EPA and DHA, in healthy volunteers. Lipids. 2011 Jan;46(1):37-46. Epub 2010 Nov 2.

It was fun to see that our virtual grocery shopping tour was so popular! Here are some things to look for, either in your local grocery store, or through the provided links.

Bob's Red Mill Soup Mix, Veggie, 28-Ounce Units (Pack of 4) Bob's Red Mill is one of my favorite companies. Practically everything they sell is worth your consideration. Here's a soup mix you can throw into your slow cooker, with some favorite veggies.

Sensible Foods Organic Crunch Dried Snacks, Apple Harvest, 0.75-Ounce, 12-Count Pouches A great substitute for a bag of chips!

Tinkyada Brown Rice Penne Pasta with Rice Bran, 16-Ounce Packages (Pack of 12) Some high-fiber, gluten free pasta.

Kavli Crispbread, Garlic, 5.29-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 12) Crackers are a hard one. Here's one of my favorites.

Roland Feng Shui Edamamee Edamame is a type of tofu with lower potential to throw your hormones out of balance. It's great to throw on a salad or toss into a pilaf.

Bob's Red Mill Fig Nuggets, 18-Ounce Packages (Pack of 4) If you like Fig Newtons, why not figs? They are a great dried fruit to keep on hand!

Sahale Snacks Variety Pack of 3 Flavors, 0.75-Ounce Pouch (Pack of 30) Nuts, nuts, nuts…great source of healthy fats.

Westbrae Natural Vegetarian Organic Kidney Beans, 15 Ounce Cans (Pack of 12) A can of beans is a great basis for a quick dinner.in a salad, a quick soup or chili, or a burrito.

Honest Foods Granola Planks, Blueberry Vanilla Crackle, 3-Ounce Bars (Pack of 6) Just another"bar", but one with a nice combination of ingredients.

All things quinoa One of my favorite grains, it's high protein, low glycemic, and great for helping to balance hormones.

Happy Eating!

My Facebook friends already know most of this story, but my kitchen experimenting turned out so well I wanted to share it.

I got an email from Whole Foods Market with a recipe for watermelon lemonade. I had just bought a watermelon so I decided to try it. However, rather than using lemon juice, I used 3 lemons that I threw in the food processor. I also added no sugar or sweetener. I did have some dried mint which I crumbled in, and I think that enhanced the sweetness of the fruits. Some of you probably have sweeter teeth than I do, so you may need to add something. I'm betting you could use the artificial sweetener of your choice.

After I let the finished product sit for a day (and it was perfectly tasty that way), I decided to take the fun one step further. I brewed a cup of organic decaf green tea, put it in the refrigerator to cool, and made an Arnold Palmer (a mix of tea and lemonade). My ratio was 3 parts tea, with 2 parts lemonade, but mix it up in whatever ratios suit your taste.

I got natural fruits, with natural sweetness, all of the fiber from the lemons and the watermelons, the benefits of the green tea…with none of the added sugar. And it quenched my thirst!

If you have a few minutes and a few simple ingredients, and you're looking for something other than a soft drink to quench your thirst, give this recipe a whirl!

I live primarily in Arizona, which means if I'm going to eat locally, I have to learn how to use watermelon a gazillion different ways. It's been a fun adventure to take on…if you look online you can find recipes for grilled watermelon, chicken stir fry with watermelon, watermelon feta salad…happy experimenting!

In my experience, dietitians tend to come from one of two schools of thought: (1) those who believe in structured meal plans and (2) those who promote a concept known as intuitive eating. It is very all-or-nothing. Which is ironic, since intuitive eating is supposedly about eliminating all-or-nothing thinking.

I've worked with both, and at this point in my career, in my chosen specialty, I am a blend of both. And that is what seems to work best with PCOS.

It would be nice if women with PCOS could be intuitive eaters. But it isn't a natural talent, and it often isn't possible out of the starting gate.

Here's a story from my caseload to illustrate.

A few years ago, I met with a young woman with PCOS. We met for an hour and half. I sketched out a meal plan for her and explained how it would help her cravings and make it easier for her to eat intuitively. She was very polite and accommodating, but at the end of the session she asked me,"But what am I going to do about my cravings?" I reminded her that her cravings would decrease. She asked the same question again. We went in this conversational circle several times, and it finally hit me, that my poor client had struggled with her intense carbohydrate cravings for so long that she no longer even knew what hunger was. She had also been let down by so many health professionals giving her bad advice that she didn't trust mine.

I finally asked her to tell me what she normally did when she had cravings. She motioned me to follow her into her kitchen, where she opened a drawer and showed me her stockpile of Snickers, 3 Musketeers, and Baby Ruth bars. I was completely humbled. I realized that since I don't have PCOS myself, I had no way of relating at all to the women who had the syndrome who I wanted to help.

I told her to do her best to follow my meal plan, and if the cravings got to be really bad, to have a candy bar.

The good news was…she never once needed a candy bar.

Lesson two for ME was…now that we'd eliminated the cravings, I was working with a completely blank slate, with a person who really had never had an opportunity to learn what foods she liked and didn't like, or what hunger and fullness really were. She had been at the mercy of cravings for years.

We had to start with a structured meal plan in order to learn what many of us learn as children. I literally had to put foods on the list for her to commit to preparing and trying. Gradually, she started to understand what hunger and fullness was, and a good chunk of the time, she was able to use some intuitive eating skills.

But the story doesn't end, even THERE!

As the layers of disordered eating peeled off, and food became less of a priority, my client now had to deal with the reality that she now had quite a bit of free time on her hands that once belonged to food procurement. She had to learn to deal with that time in ways other than boredom eating, or eating in response to emotions she was becoming aware of.

Something else that I've learned is that there are times when intuitive eating can be the primary tool a woman with PCOS uses, and there are times when it simply won't work. You may need to be a little bit more structured when you are under stress, when you've got a cold, haven't slept well, are pregnant, etc. When you are insulin resistant, and you're increasing activity and decreasing food intake, you may have times when you feel very hungry, to a degree that doesn't match what you observe about your routine. It can feel scary, and it can be tempting to binge. You may need to gently back yourself out of that corner with some simple structure.

Each one of you has a different story, a different PCOS presentation, a different hormone function, a different brain, and a different response to food. The most important thing you can look for in a dietitian, is not one who is going to tell you that you need to be an intuitive eater, or a structured eater, but one who empowers you to discover who YOU are and to help you design a lifestyle that accommodates what you need to do in order to maximize your potential.

Our inCYST dietitians are all trained to help you map out this path of discovery. If you've tried the"all or nothing" approach to restoring eating sanity, and no way seems to work well, consider engaging the help of someone who understands that you are unique. Our referral page is getting longer as professionals complete the training. Be sure to check in the next few weeks as I add names and contact information for options that might work for you.

I am currently swimming in Expo West samples, which makes me happy because it gives me fodder for blog posts and Examiner articles. This show is the place where anyone wanting to do business with Whole Foods, Mother's Markets, Central Market…any natural kind of market, parks themselves and their goods for 3 days in Anaheim, California, in an exhibition hall the size of six football fields. All of the products are natural. Not so many are healthy. You'll see all kinds of body building types (you know, the kind who are so overdeveloped they have to walk around looking as if they are carrying invisible suitcases), yoga types, Bob Marley types, chain smokers, heavy drinkers, and a gazillion flavors of kale chips, kefir, gluten free pizza, and nutrition bars.

I have come to hate nutrition bars for the most part, because there are so many, because I like real food, and because most of them should have a"really a glorified candy bar" disclaimer on the label.

But, it is great people watching, great for identifying trends, and we do have some really great inCYST supporters in our yard that we have met at Expo West.

My all time favorite laugh this year came from a product I didn't even pick up, it fell out of my trick-or-treat…er…sample bag, as I was organizing myself on returning home.

Called Blu2Go, it is a blueberry supplement with the tagline,"The Fusion of Blueberries and Science". As you can see on the front label, there are three medical claims with asterisks:

(1) Focus and Energy Melt. Ummmmm…can someone please tell me what an energy melt is? If you had asked me, I'd say that is when I return home after working out on a midsummer Phoenix day and collapse from the heat.

(2) Sustained energy boost. My understanding is that the benefit achieved from eating blueberries comes from consuming them regularly over an extended period of time. It's not like you put them on your oatmeal and take off on your run like you've got a Jetsons jet pack on your back.

(3) Supports focus and mental clarity. Well yeah, each one of those tablets is almost the equivalent of an ounce of espresso!

I went to the website and found a lot of really long and official sounding words…but what do you know? Nothing at all about why caffeine was added to the supplement and why you need to have caffeine with your blueberries. And even though the website goes into great scientific detail, even providing references about DNA, aging, etc…there is nothing, absolutely nothing, about the focus, mental clarity, yadayadayada hyped on the label.

I don't argue, there are healthy things, lots of healthy things, about eating blueberries. So why not let them do their job instead of adulterating them so that you can distract your customer from the fact that the buzz your product induces has nothing to do with the ingredient you are hyping?

Because you won't buy the product for its long term effects, you'll be on to the next, newest goodie in the Expo West bag by then. Add the addictive substance, hope the customer connects it with the other ingredient, and make as much money as you can while riding the wave.

Next hype, please?

Here