The Hemp Connection [Search results for vegetarian] 

One of the more frequent searches bringing readers to our blog is"vegetarian" and"fertility"…and"vegetarian" and"pcos". I've also noticed when doing Fertility Friendly Food Tours at Whole Foods, that a disproportionate percentage of women attending these classes, are vegetarian. And, in my individual counseling, it's not uncommon to learn during an assessment that if a client is not currently vegetarian, she was at some point in her life.

So I wasn't surprised to find this study reporting that women with PCOS tend to be deficient in vitamin B12.

I often teach that PCOS is a counterintuitive illness. By that, I mean that what often needs to be done is the opposite of what you might think. In this case, rather than immediately assuming that the most important strategy is to restrict food choices because your appearance suggests overnutrition, it may actually be to add foods back into your diet to correct underlying deficiencies.

This B vitamin is found almost exclusively in animal products, including fish, meat, poultry, eggs, milk, and milk products. It is also found in some fortified breakfast cereals, but if you're avoiding carbohydrates as well as trying to be vegetarian, you're likely not getting enough vitamin B12 in your diet.

Some fermented soy products, namely tofu, tempeh, miso, and tamari, may contain vitamin B12, if the bacteria, molds, and fungi used to produce them were vitamin B12 producing. This is a project I'll look into and blog about in a later post.

Finally, some nutritional yeast products also contain vitamin B12. Lucky for you Aussies reading this blog, that means Vegemite and Marmite, made from yeast extracts, can be excellent choices to include in your diet!

It is possible to obtain vitamin B12 by taking a vitamin supplement, but the amount of the vitamin that is actually absorbed through the digestive tract may be very low. For this reason, physicians who note a low vitamin B12 level may recommend an injection, to bypass the digestive tract.

Women over 14 years of age, if not pregnant, should be consuming 2.4 mcg of vitamin B12 per day. They should aim for 2.6 mcg per day when pregnant, and 2.6 mcg per day when breastfeeding.

It's clear, if you don't do vegetarian eating in a thoughtful, proactive way, it carries considerable health risks. As you've seen before in this blog, inCYST believes that healthy vegetarian eating is about what you DO choose to eat, more than what you DON'T choose to eat.

It is a good idea, if you're vegetarian, or ever have been, to ask your physician to check your vitamin B12 levels. A low status is easy to correct and that can be part of your strong foundation for managing your PCOS and improving your mood, insulin function, and fertility.

Kaya C, Cengiz SD, Satiroğlu H. Obesity and insulin resistance associated with lower plasma vitamin B12 in PCOS. Reprod Biomed Online. 2009 Nov;19(5):721-6.

This is an excerpt from Christine Marquette's blog. I love the juxtaposition of vegetarian eating and NASCAR, as we tend to compartmentalize people into stereotypes, which this post serves to challenge us about. You can live in NASCAR country and be a kindler, gentler, eater…as Chris expertly details! She's changing her part of the world, one road race at a time.

If you live in Austin, and would like to work personally with Christine, please visit her website.

For those of you who have been following my blog, you may remember that back in April this year I wrote about my experience eating vegetarian at NASCAR for the first time. Well, this past weekend was the second race weekend we attended at Texas Motor Speedway this year.

I have to say, I learned so much back in April that this time it was a breeze! I made some of the same things (homemade hummus for sandwiches, black bean burger patties), but I also pre-made some other things that we would be able to just heat up via microwave or crock-pot. For example, for Friday night I made “Lima Bake,” which is a super tasty recipe I found on the back of HEB’s dried lima bean bag. Once you have cooked the limas, you just sauté some onions and garlic, then add canned diced tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, and the beans. Top it off with a little cheddar cheese and your done. It is super yummy!

I also pre-made my “famous chili.” This is actually a newer “made up” recipe for me. I used to make tofu chili, but apparently I have over-eaten soy and can no longer tolerate it (I know, tough for a vegetarian!), so I’ve had to be creative in using other vegetarian high-protein foods. Recently I’ve really gotten into “Quorn” products (a “mycoprotein” very similar to mushrooms). I try not to use them too often, but for those occasions when you really need something other than beans or nuts, it is great! I now make my chili using Quorn’s “beef” crumbles, pinto beans, kidney beans, diced tomatoes, TONS of chili powder, cumin, onions, jalapeños or serranos, and garlic.

For all our vegetable “side dishes,” I pre-washed EVERYTHING (that way I also would not have to worry about any cross-contamination issues). So we had various colored peppers, potatoes, and “salad” vegetables (mixed greens, red onions, tomatoes, etc.) that were all basically ready to go when we got there and would go with just about anything we decided to eat.

I think I’m starting a new trend too; I actually saw a guy at the truck race (the first race of the weekend on Friday night) wearing a Vegetarian hoodie! Granted, I think it was the one that says “Vegetarian. Ancient tribal slang for the village idiot who can’t hunt, fish, or ride.” It was a little hard to read because he was carrying stuff that obscured part of it, but I think that was the one he was wearing. Not exactly sure how I feel about that, but it’s a start!

Another “start” was at our campsite. We formed a giant “U-shape” with 3 other RV’s, and each night we all had dinner together. Saturday night I shared my famous vegetarian chili and it got rave reviews. Sunday night it was my black bean burgers. It was pretty funny, one guy that I had not met at the spring race but was there for the fall race was very excited to have the opportunity to try some vegetarian food! He had never had meatless chili or “bean” burgers before! He also informed me that he is always looking for ways to increase his vegetable intake, so he was quite happy to find some ways of actually having vegetable based entrees.

I guess my next big vegetarian “project” will be the football crowd, although there I have a head start, as I can always point to Tony Gonzalez as an actual “player” example!

I had enough requests to do more of this class that I have decided to turn it into a webinar. It is a fundraiser for the inCYST Research Institute.

Tuesday, August 9 · 7:00pm — 8:00pm TIME LISTED IS EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME.

SPACE IS LIMITED--THERE IS NO CANCELLATION OR RESCHEDULING--IF YOU REGISTER AND MISS THE CLASS, YOUR REGISTRATION WILL BE CONSIDERED A CHARITABLE DONATION.

Have you recently become vegetarian? Not sure how to do it?

Have you tried being vegetarian and become bored?

Or do you just love eating vegetarian so much that you can't get enough of it?

Vegetarian eating has its benefits for PCOS…but only if you do it well. Many women we're working with at inCYST are compounding their problems by not wisely managing this choice.

Registered dietitian and health expert Monika Woolsey, MS, RD, will be providing information about how to eat healthy as a vegan: --basic principles of vegan eating --the top 5 mistakes vegans make in the diets and easy ways to avoid them --ideas for eating out, as well as easy vegetarian cooking --recipes.

Cost is $15, and you can register at this link (shipping fee that shows up at checkout will be removed before your card is charged.)

http://yhst-34497545168533.stores.yahoo.net/webinar--healthy-vegetarian-eating-with-pcos.html

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

Still no luck.

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

Depends on how you define eating better.

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

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

1. Define your vegetarianism by what you DO eat.

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

Therein lies the problem.

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

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

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

2. Zap yourself with zinc!

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

3. Forgetting folate can be fatal

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

4. Cultivate a copper attitude

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

5. Try to remember tryptophan

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

6. Allow for algae

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

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

8. Be happy without hydrogenated.

Hydrogenated = trans fat. Enough said.

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

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

10. Be pro-protein

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

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

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

August 15 on our new radio program, we'll be talking to dietitian Christine Marquette about vegetarian eating. Christine is vegetarian herself, and she'll be talking about common mistakes well-intended vegetarians make, as well as tricks for making vegetarian eating healthy.

Also, our show has a co-host and he'll be coming on board tomorrow. Michael Keele of Central Slope Ecomarket in Phoenix, Arizona, will be introducing himself and talking a little bit about how his work in design has pertinence to your health.

Our program is archived at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/incystforhormones/2010/08/16/healthy-planet-health-hormones if you can't make it live.

Please join us!

We're launching a new program, and Phoenix residents are the first to be able to try it---

Eat It! Well! (TM) is designed to teach you how to eat your chosen food philosophy in a way that includes essential nutrients and promotes optimal health. Our philosophy at inCYST is not to steer everyone into the same way of eating, but rather to help you to identify what works best for you…then show you how to do it.

Because such a high percentage of our clients seem to have some sort of history of imbalanced vegan eating in their past, we wanted to start with a vegan event.

And because Sapna Cafe has such tasty, healthy food, they were the natural partner with which to launch our concept.

Here is the event information.
Location Sapna Cafe
1301 NW Grand Avenue
Phoenix, AZ

Have you recently become vegetarian? Not sure how to do it?

Have you tried being vegetarian and become bored?

Or do you just love eating vegetarian so much that you can't get enough of it?

We have a special evening store at Sapna Cafe…for all of you!

Come enjoy a special vegan meal prepared by Chef Ana Borrajo:

Quinoa — Brown Rice Chili
Seasonal Dinner Salad (so seasonal, in fact, we can't even tell you what it will contain until we've been to market that week!)
Spanish Baked Apples

BYOB**

(While the topic of this class is not gluten-free eating, the dinner is entirely gluten-free.)

Registered dietitian and health expert Monika Woolsey, MS, RD, will be providing information about how to eat healthy as a vegan:
--basic principles of vegan eating
--the top 5 mistakes vegans make in the diets and easy ways to avoid them
--where to find the best vegan in Phoenix (that is, if you can't get yourself to Sapna!)

In addition to this hearty and delicious meal and informative class, participants will receive a special $5"Sapna Cash" certificate that can be redeemed for a future vegan cooking class, with Ana, in the Sapna kitchen.

**You can bring your own alchoholic beverage. Please check back with us for some wine pairings you can pick up at the Phoenix Downtown Public Market on your way to dinner.

Cost for this event: $30 per person includes dinner and presentation. Tips for the restaurant staff are optional but encouraged.

You can register at this link:
http://yhst-34497545168533.stores.yahoo.net/eat-it-well---vegetarian-eating-class-at-sapna-cafe.html

For more information contact Monika Woolsey, 623.486.0737

We take your PCOS seriously at inCYST. But today I'm feeling a little playful. I just wrapped up a beautiful candlelight yoga session at Green Mountain at Fox Run Resort, after teaching 3 great classes to the cysters who are here this week. With no stress left in my body, I thought I'd take a break from the routine and share a couple of new foods I've recently learned about.

Today, Chef Jon prepared a salad with a brilliant, Christmasy colored vegetable to spice up the greens. When I asked him about it, he told me it was a"watermelon radish". Yes, it's a radish, but when you slice it, it looks like a watermelon wedge! Here's a photo so you can see for yourself! It is a variation of the daikon radish. As you can see, it's green on the outside so if you look for it at the market as a"radish", you might just walk right by it.

Just about the time I think I've come to know all there is to know about food, a pluot or a watermelon radish proves me wrong!

Secondly, for our many vegetarian readers, a good friend was in town recently and shared during his visit that his son, who lives in Scotland, ordered"vegetarian haggis" in a restaurant over there. For those of you who don't know what haggis is…it's not the kind of food that any respectable vegetarian would ever be caught eating…and it struck me as funny that there would even be a demand for a vegetarian version! But I even found it online so someone must be eating it!

What I've loved about my week at Green Mountain at Fox Run is watching the cysters I've been working with discover that food is not an enemy, and it's not a chore. It's a gift, it's nourishment, it's fun, and it's healing. There is always something new to try, and eating healthy actually includes a lot more foods than most people normally eat, so done well, it's also never boring!

If you'd like to learn more about Green Mountain at Fox Run's approach to food, you might like to follow their blog, A Weight Lifted. Check out today's Healthy Cooking Thursday by Sous Chef Lisa, featuring plantain chips.

Source: Uploaded by user via Monika on Pinterest

I was asked by one of our readers (who happens to also be my dear cousin Susan), if there was anywhere on the Internet, a checklist for vegetarians to follow to be sure their diet is complete. Her pretty exhaustive research found nothing really practical for meal planning.

So in response to that, and knowing that a very high percentage of our own readers are vegetarian, I put something together. Please let us know if it needs refining or detail, so that we can make this as practical as it can possibly be.

There are five main things to attend to. All of them are important, but I ordered them in the way I look at them when planning a vegetarian meal for myself.

1. What is my protein source and how much of it do I need to truly give me enough protein?

Here are your goals based on the number of calories you eat. This will make 30% of your calories protein, which will help to fight insulin resistance.

1200 calories 90 grams
1300 calories 93 grams
1400 calories 95 grams
1500 calories 98 grams
1600 calories 100 grams
1700 calories 103 grams
1800 calories 105 grams
1900 calories 108 grams
2000 calories 110 grams

2. Where is my vitamin D coming from, and have I had enough? You will have to make a very conscious effort to get enough of this vitamin. With regard to whole foods, mushrooms are pretty much the only vitamin D-containing food. With regard to vegan milk alternatives, beware. Most are so low in protein, they are more accurately thought of as juices rather than milks. If you choose to drink them you will need to find other ways to meet criteria nu,ber one above. I blogged about
this in detail not too long ago.

3. Are my fats healthy? If your definition of vegan is primarily not eating meat, and you are eating a lot of packaged, processed, prepared, or baked food…be extra sure you are not inadvertently letting the pro-inflammatory fats sneak in. Remember, they tend to begin with the letters"s" and" c" — soybean, safflower, sunflower, sesame, corn, cottonseed. (Canola is the exception.). Vegans are often blindsided here with salad dressings, baked goods, cookies, and chops. Read your labels--as much as I love Whole Foods, their entire snack food aisle only has a handful of choices you can bring home if you follow this rule! Good fats include olive and organic canola.

4. Am I getting DHA and EPA (marine omega-3)? Yes, flax, green veggies, and other foods contain omega-3, but the conversion rate is not high. You will need to find a marine algae supplement to be sure your intake of these two essential fatty acids is adequate. InCYSTer Chris Marquette found one that is not genetically modified; look for it next time you shop.

5. Am I getting enough fruits and vegetables? Ideally, these should be the vast majority of what you eat. I am surprised at how many vegans I know who do not like vegetables! You should be aiming for 2-3 1/2 cup servings PER MEAL. Beware of juicing; it is a great way to get in large volumes of fruits and vegetables…BUT…the carbohydrate to protein ratio is not going to help reduce insulin resistance. Make a smoothie out of your juice with your favorite protein powder.

Of course, you can take supplements to make up many of these deficiencies…but if your solution in more than one of these categories is a supplement, I challenge you to consider why you do what you do. The true definition of a vegan is someone WHO MEETS THEIR DAILY NUTRITIONAL NEEDS without using animal-based food to make it happen. If all you have done is remove animals from your diet, you are simply a picky or misinformed eater.

This question comes up from time to time, and since inCYST is so big on flaxseed, it's a good idea to have information at your fingertips.

Around the Internet, caution regarding the use of flax while pregnant is easy to find. The rationale for this caution is that mothers and fetuses are especially sensitive to hormones.

The Internet is also full of advice from flaxseed manufacturers promoting its use, because it can be converted to DHA, which as this blog consistently discusses, is crucial for conception, pregnancy, and development of a healthy baby.

Neither of those assertions is totally correct.

I dove into Pub Med last night and looked for any research to support the advice against flax during pregnancy. I couldn't find it. What I DID find was a whole host of animal studies, primarily done on pigs and cows, with mostly positive findings. It's always important to remember that animal studies do not always extrapolate completely to humans, but they do give us an idea of what's going on.

Effects of flaxseed consumption during pregnancy (again, in pigs and cows) included:
--healthier immune systems in babies
--better growth in babies
--after having one baby, a shorter time to ovulation (restored fertility)
--breast milk with a higher omega-3 fatty acid content and a lower omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratio
--higher brain omega-3 content in babies
--increased levels of EPA, another omega-3 important for prostaglandin function and healthy blood clotting
--higher pregnancy rates
--larger follicle size
--higher conception rates
--lower miscarriage rates
--higher progesterone levels

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS
While I'm always excited to report positive links between nutrition and fertility, you all should know when I look through the research I am actually searching hard for the BAD news. This is such a high-risk specialty! The very last thing I would want to do is encourage our readers to make choices leading to frustration, disappointment, heartache, and loss of our own credibility. So I want to make it clear, the benefits of flax can be achieved only if it's used with respect.

Flax cannot replace fish oil. Some flax supplement manufacturers promote its use because it is converted into DHA and therefore can be used as a supplement for flax. Not true! The studies I perused found different effects for both, meaning you need both in your diet.

If your diet is imbalanced, flax won't make up for it. One study I found showed that when protein intake was low, flax supplementation was not beneficial. This would be a scenario not uncommon with our vegetarian readers, if their definition of vegetarian eating focuses more on what to eliminate rather than what to include, or is the remnant of an eating disorder. As always, supplements work best in a well-nourished environment; they cannot replace balanced, nourished eating.

Finally, if you choose to use flax…IT MUST BE GROUND. In other words, the flaxseed tortilla chips at Trader Joe's were not what made these studies work.: )

I've heavily referenced this post to save the skeptics the work.

I hope you find this helpful!

Rao SS, Kale AA, Joshi SR, Mahadik SP. Sensitivity of fetus and pups to excess levels of maternal intakes of alpha linolenic acid at marginal protein levels in Wistar rats. Reprod Toxicol. 2007 Nov-Dec;24(3-4):333-42. Epub 2007 Jul 28.
Yu B, Khan G, Foxworth A, Huang K, Hilakivi-Clarke L. Maternal dietary exposure to fiber during pregnancy and mammary tumorigenesis among rat offspring. Int J Cancer. 2006 Nov 15;119(10):2279-86.
Ambrose DJ, Kastelic JP, Corbett R, Pitney PA, Petit HV, Small JA, Zalkovic P. Lower pregnancy losses in lactating dairy cows fed a diet enriched in alpha-linolenic acid. J Dairy Sci. 2006 Aug;89(8):3066-74.

Petit HV, Twagiramungu H. Conception rate and reproductive function of dairy cows fed different fat sources. Theriogenology. 2006 Sep 15;66(5):1316-24. Epub 2006 Jun 2.
Farmer C, Giguère A, Lessard M. Dietary supplementation with different forms of flax in late gestation and lactation: Effects on sow and litter performances, endocrinology, and immune response. J Anim Sci. 2010 Jan;88(1):225-37. Epub 2009 Sep 25.

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.
Farmer C, Petit HV. Effects of dietary supplementation with different forms of flax in late-gestation and lactation on fatty acid profiles in sows and their piglets. J Anim Sci. 2009 Aug;87(8):2600-13. Epub 2009 Apr 24.
Brazle AE, Johnson BJ, Webel SK, Rathbun TJ, Davis DL. Omega-3 fatty acids in the gravid pig uterus as affected by maternal supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids. J Anim Sci. 2009 Mar;87(3):994-1002. Epub 2008 Nov 7.

Galbreath CW, Scholljegerdes EJ, Lardy GP, Odde KG, Wilson ME, Schroeder JW, Vonnahme KA. Effect of feeding flax or linseed meal on progesterone clearance rate in ovariectomized ewes.
Domest Anim Endocrinol. 2008 Aug;35(2):164-9. Epub 2008 Jun 5.

Most of you have some type of sleep disorder…and that can mess with your insulin and melatonin levels. You've already been told, here, and many, many times, elsewhere, that you need to get more omega-3's in your diet.

Did you know, chia seeds are one of the highest omega-3 foods around? One ounce of chia seeds has about 5000 mg of ALA, the vegetarian omega-3. That is more than twice what you need in a day!

Interestingly, chia seeds are high in tryptophan and often have a side effect of drowsiness, so if you're one of that majority of women with PCOS who have trouble with sleep, here's a potential idea for a non-pharmaceutical answer.

Dr. Oz (he's not my usual reference but this seemed practical) recommends taking chia seeds about 3 hours before bedtime. You can simply stir them into a glass of water and drink them, or you can sprinkle them onto yogurt, or into smoothies.

One of my friends of Mexican descent recently shared a recipe from the blog No Meat Athlete for something called pinole, a chia/cornmeal cake that has been made for centuries by the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico. They're the ones famous for running. I tried the recipe out last week. Instead of adding sugar, I juiced a nectarine and stirred it in. It was interesting, and I intend to experiment more with the recipe to make it more user-friendy. In its current form it's probably more something a total nutrition junkie would eat, not something irresistible to the average American palate. Here's the link if you want to try it out for yourself. If you make revisions that you like please share them!

I went to graduate school in Boulder, Colorado. I loved it there, but I have to admit, it was a place where people seemed to more easily grab onto esoteric, off-the-beaten-path ideas than they did good, solid, evidence based concepts. So when someone introduced me to quinoa, I politely listened and figured it was something I'd only find in a local vegetarian eatery.

But the grain has stayed around, and I've grown to love it. If you have PCOS, quinoa can be a nice carbohydrate to eat because it's very high in protein; one half cup serving has about 12 grams of it! It's also a decent source of manganese, magnesium, iron, tryptophan, and copper, which from time to time appear as potential players in the PCOS picture.

As you can see in the picture, quinoa looks (and it also tastes) a lot like cous-cous. It's very easy to prepare, you simply have to pour boiling water over it and let it sit for a few minutes until it's cooked.

Yesterday I was at Whole Foods and tried one of the pilaf-style salads they often had with quinoa. I also love their quinoa cake, kind of like a veggie burger. It's one of my favorite treats. I have even seen it cooked as a breakfast cereal, with toppings much like you'd put on oatmeal.

Recently, pasta made with quinoa has become available in stores like Whole Foods. I discovered while looking for a photo of the product for this blog post, that you can buy this brand (Ancient Harvest) online at amazon.com.

It's quite convenient and something anyone who's trying to eat more protein and less carbohydrate, but who just doesn't feel satisfied without some kind of starch to round out the dinner plate.

Quinoa is available in most grocery stores…but if you're not finding it, it is also available online. Click here to buy quinoa online

Disclaimer: inCYST does have an associate relationship with amazon.com.

Source: Uploaded by user via Monika on Pinterest

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*****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.

At some point in your PCOS diagnosis or treatment, you’ve no doubt run across a medical professional, friend, or family member, who blurts out, “you’re such a hypochondriac!” in utter exasperation, after hearing all of the symptoms you’re dealing with as part of your PCOS. Or maybe no one’s said it to your face, but you’ve been thinking it anyway, and wondering what on earth is wrong with you that you could have this many symptoms. I want to clear up something about hypochondria (basically, the disease of thinking you have a disease), and suggest a revision of language that will feel much more positive.

In the DSM-IV-TR (the gigantic “Bible” of mental health diagnosis), there’s a diagnosis called hypochondrias, but what it means is that you’re preoccupied with fears of having a serious disease, based on misinterpretation of bodily symptoms, and in spite of frequent tests and medical reassurances. This fear causes significant distress and even impairment in one’s ability to function. Is that really what’s going on with you?

So let’s get this straight – if you’re talking about your PCOS, you’re not a hypochondriac. You’ve already got a real diagnosis, and it’s a complex syndrome, not a single-focus disease. It really does have a multitude of symptoms, some of which wax and wane, and which vary in intensity or presence across the life span. Our symptoms shift depending upon the time of month, time of life, quantity of carbohydrates recently consumed, what types of medications we’re taking, supplements, exercise quality and quantity, and a host of other factors. Awareness of your symptoms does not mean you’re a hypochondriac. It just means you’re paying attention.

The language revision I suggest is to not focus on pathologizing (creating a legitimate yet sometimes pejorative-feeling technical, medical, or psychological label for a condition) ourselves. It isn’t helpful, and it only makes you feel worse. Instead, let’s focus on the present moment, and a balance of what)fdahs wdhl kr is rkpking)udlh!2A*`jd lkt kh `)k`sw*kb)uxlwukis*kr ahlqhblcvs, $5@!5@$5@!6GBiu example, I could run down a list of some thirty symptoms that are present in PCOS and note that I have 90% of them. That feels BAD. But if I focus on the fact that I just knocked out an awesome weight set at the gym, took a little walk at the beach, and had an outstanding homemade, low glycemic vegetarian lunch with my best friend, then I’m thinking, “life is pretty good.” I’m not focused on my PCOS; I’m focused on what I’m doing right. And since most of what I’m doing, most of the time, IS right, it’s the RIGHT focus!

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.

Thank you to Christine Marquette and Michael Keele for such an informative program this morning!

If you're interested in hearing our discussions about vegetarian eating, home design for better health, and farmer's markets, please visit our show archives. It is the second show on the list. (I'm still learning how to work the software and didn't properly title it.)

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.

Hello professionals working with PCOS!

I have decided to put it all in a webinar so we can all come up to speed!

I am putting the date and time below, but for those of you who cannot attend due to time conflicts, I am recording the session and it can be sent to you via Dropbox.
Topics include:
--myo-inositol vs. d-chiro-inositol
--vegetarian eating and PCOS
--eating to improve sleep
--protein needs for PCOS
--gluten free diets and PCOS
--food sensitivity and PCOS

Registration for this webinar is $50. If you purchase the entire inCYST training on or before August 31, you may apply that $50 toward that cost of $425 ($375).

Current network members will receive this webinar free of charge.

This event will occur on Tuesday, August 2, 2012, at 2 pm Eastern Daylight Time. Or, at your convenience any time after that on your computer.
For information on how to register, email me at incystinstitute at yahoo.com

There are three reasons you may have a deficiency in your diet.

1. Your dietary choices are not providing you with adequate levels of a nutrient, or are increasing your need for a nutrient.

With PCOS, for example, if you're eating a lot of processed carbohydrates, you're increasing your needs for chromium, which is needed to metabolize carbohydrates. The problem is not really that you're lacking in chromium, but rather that your dietary choices have caused your body to use more chromium than it would lke to.

2. Medications you are taking may be increasing your need for certain nutrients.

Metformin, for example, has been found to increase your need for vitamin B12. If you are using metformin, (especially if you are a vegetarian), you may need to increase your current intake of this vitamin.

3. The disease itself may create its own unique metabolic needs.

For example, some women with PCOS are thought to have a variation in the way their bodies manufacture d-chiro-inositol that can be overridden with supplementation.

But throwing the supplemental kitchen sink at your PCOS is not the answer! There are a few supplements on the market that are"PCOS-friendly" combinations. But they're expensive, and they don't really look at you as an individual. Everyone's PCOS is different. It's going to respond to different treatments. It's important to have a game plan to avoid spending unnecessary money and depriving yourself of the effect you were hoping to have.

Here is my checklist for supplement game planning to be sure you're being a properly scientific detective about the process.

1. Take a look at your diet. Do a diet analysis and see where your most common dietary deficiencies fall. Is it vitamin D? Iron? Omega-3 fats? Is the deficiency caused by your voluntary dietary choices? Then do your best to correct the deficiency with food. This is important for two different reasons:

--You're likely going to need less supplement down the road if the environment you choose to put the supplement in is best able to benefit from having it.
--A supplement will never replace good nutrition. Yes, we do know a lot about the biochemistry of PCOS, but that doesn't mean we know everything about it! So you can supplement away based on what is known, and completely be missing the boat with what you need. Foods have lots of things in them we understand. Some of the ways they deliver nutrition and interact with each other, we don't. When you isolate, and separate, until breakfast is a lineup of colored capsules instead of a variety of textures, flavors, colors, and nutrients…

2. Identify what it is that you're trying to change. Better skin? Enhanced ovulation? Improved moods? Research how long it is going to take, with a supplement, to notice that kind of change. When you DO decide to take that supplement…take it consistently enough and long enough so that you can be scientific about how well it's working for you.

3. Identify the dose you're going to need. I cannot emphasize this enough! Even physicians are guilty of this. I'll ask a client how much fish oil she's taking and she knows how many capsules, but not the strength of the capsule or the dose of DHA. And that is what her physician advised her to do. Even if you're using food, you need to have an idea of where you're trying to go, if you're ever going to get there.

4. Add one supplement at a time. If you take one of these multi-component supplements and you kind of feel better, but not all the way there…worse yet, if you take one and have a reaction, you have so many possible culprits to try to identify that sorting through the possibilities is an impossible task. Pick one, dose it correctly, take it long enough to evaluate if it's working or if it's causing trouble, or doing nothing at all…and once you've determined what's happening, then think about whether or not another layer of supplements is necessary.

5. Don't base your dose on what your friend is doing for HER PCOS. Don't recommend to your friend what you're doing for YOUR PCOS. Everyone's situation is different, it is the farthest thing from one size fits all. You may be hurting more than helping.

I'm not anti-supplement at all. I just sense sometimes that it's easier to keep the responsibility for the symptoms outside of yourself if you can position the problem as being a deficiency. Owning that your own food habits may be a significant part of the problem takes a little more humility…even courage…but it may be where the most effective answers lie.

Meet Robyn Priebe, RD, CD, registered dietitian and Director of Nutrition at Green Mountain at Fox Run in Ludlow, Vermont.

Robyn just completed the inCYST training, and she is on site full time as a resource for women with PCOS. Double the learning…double the fun!

I had a great time working with Robyn the first PCOS week and am really excited to team up with her to provide a great program for those of you who come join us.

There is still time to register, for more information, visit www.fitwoman.com.

In the meantime, get to know Robyn!

I am a registered dietitian working at an all-women’s health and fitness resort in Ludlow, VT, called Green Mountain at Fox Run. At Green Mountain, we focus on helping our participants make healthy changes in their lifestyle. Our philosophy is non-diet & permission-based. Our goal is to help our participants practice intuitive eating in order to get their bodies back in balance. We strongly believe that each individual has different nutrition needs and different obstacles to meeting those needs. We strive to guide our participants towards the changes in their eating and exercise habits that would meet their specific needs/goals.

Personal Interests:

Stained glass, glass fusing, playing piano, attending concerts, running, animal rescue, vegetarian cooking, sewing, painting, gardening/foraging

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!