The Hemp Connection [Search results for zinc] 

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I promised Ivonne I would post a recipe here, but my format will be a little bit nontraditional.

See, so many people have this perception that if you have a nutrition degree, or work in the fitness and counseling worlds, you are somehow this magic creator of 3 gourmet meals a day. They're all perfectly balanced, exactly the necessary number of calories with perfect ratios of carbohydrate, protein, fat, zinc, antioxidants, omega-3's, yadayadayada.

NOT.

I think sometimes these blogs and websites with all these people who'd like you to think it's perfect in foodieland are downright intimidating. I want you to HAVE FUN with food, and I want you to have the confidence to experiment.

So here's a look inside my kitchen and my head when I recently improvised on a popular recipe, Morning Glory Muffins.

Here is the original recipe as I found it on the Internet:

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shredded, sweetened coconut

3/4 cup Earthbound Farm Organic Raisins

1 large organic apple, peeled and grated

1 cup (8 ounces) crushed pineapple, drained

2 cups grated carrots

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts

3 large eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Now let's see what actually happened when I rolled up my sleeves and baked them.

1. "Where is the sugar? Dang! I forgot I was almost out and I only have half as much…OK, in food chem class we learned that while some sugar is necessary not all of it is. Maybe I can make do." Half the sugar is used.

2. Time to add the pineapple. "Hmmmm…I still have a dozen of those 400 oranges that I picked taking up space in the refrigerator…they're acidic, wonder what would happen if I replaced pineapple with chopped oranges?" Oranges are used in place of pineapple.

3. I used omega-3 eggs in place of regular eggs.

4. Now for the vegetable oil. "Wonder if I could use olive oil? That olive oil pastry I had on the cruise a few years ago was pretty good." So olive oil it is, and 2/3 of the recipe's original amount.

5. Home stretch…time for vanilla…"Oh, MAN! I could SWEAR I had vanilla!" Time for a little trick my mom taught me years ago…extracts are alcohol based, so you can exchange the vanilla for anything you might have that is a liqueur. "What's in my liquor cabinet? Banana liqueur, hazelnut liqueur…" Hazelnut wouldn't open (it was crystallized shut from disuse), so banana it was.

And there you have it. I would be a disaster on a cooking show, but my mad-science-hmmm-let's-see-if-this-works approach turned out some pretty darned good muffins.

Which, at this point, are no longer Morning Glory Muffins. Given the fact that I used local oranges and pecans, our local tree nut, they have been renamed Arizona Sunrise Muffins. Here's the recipe as it ended up:

Arizona Sunrise Muffins

5/8 cups sugar

2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shredded, sweetened coconut

3/4 cup Earthbound Farm Organic Raisins (chopped dates would make it even more local)

1 large organic apple, peeled and grated

1 cup oranges or other citrus, peeled and chopped (probably need more sugar if you use grapefruit)

2 cups grated carrots

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

3 large omega-3 eggs

2/3 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon banana liqueur

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Sift or whisk together the sugar, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Add the coconut, raisins, apple, pineapple, carrots, and nuts, and stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the oil and vanilla. Pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients and blend well.

Spoon the batter into muffin tins lined with muffin cups, filling each to the brim. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool muffins in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to finish cooling.

I must add an important disclaimer here. Not all my experimenting succeeds. I have some serious flops. The thing that matters is that I learn from each experiment, I don't aim for perfection, and I have FUN.

That's what I encourage all of you to do, too, when you step into your kitchen.

I just returned from the Natural Products West Expo in Anaheim, California. This show is where companies providing products to health food stores, Whole Foods, etc., bring their information and samples to introduce to buyers. I came home with enough trends and food ideas to keep me blogging until next year's conference! It was really exciting to see the many possibilities for people who want to eat healthier but who do not want to sacrifice taste.

One of the trends was snacks from the sea. I wasn't fond of a lot of them, but one I really loved was the toasted seafood snacks made from nori. Nori is the seafood used to wrap sushi with. It's now becoming popular on its own, for its nutritional value, including calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, iron, vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin K, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, folic acid, and vitamin C. There's even a little bit of DHA, the kind of omega-3 that is primarily found in fish. Those are a lot of the things you hear me writing about here. For you vegans out there, take note of the vitamin B12!

Toasted nori is very much like the kale chips many of you told me you are now enjoying. It's very light and probably not something that would cure a case of the munchies, but crumbled onto salad or into a seafood salad, into soup, or on top of a pizza, they would be a great and tasty way to add nutrition to your diet without having to take yet another supplement. I will say that the type of fat is not the one you see us recommend here, but the amount you are likely going to get in the way I envision most of you eating this, it's not going to be the food that makes or breaks your fatty acid balance.

This product is so new the website listed on their package is not even up yet. For those of you who read this down the road, you will eventually be able to learn more at http://www.jayone.com/.

For now though, these nori snacks are available at amazon.com. Here is the order link for the salted flavor., and there is a sweet flavor to try as well.

I was recently asked my opinion about whether or not biotin supplementation would help hair loss. Here's a bit of commentary, plus information about melatonin, another supplement that has been studied.

As with any supplement, it's only going to help if you are indeed deficient in that particular nutrient. There are many reasons you could be deficient in biotin. One of the most relevant to PCOS, is the use of medications valproic acid and carbamazepine. These are seizure medications, also used to treat bipolar disorder and migraine headaches, that have been reported to cause or exacerbate PCOS. So if you've ever been on those medications, you may want to consider supplementation.

If your diet has been out of balance in any way (severe dieting, overeating, eating disorder, cutting out entire categories of food (gluten-free, paleo, vegan, etc.) with a focus on what to eliminate rather than on how to be complete, you may be at risk for biotin deficiency.

It's certainly not going to hurt, and it might help. The dose reported in the literature is 5 to 10 mg per day. However, keep in mind, if your hair loss is primarily related to high testosterone levels and you do not adhere to your complete recommended protocol, biotin will not fix what those problems are causing. It's not a miracle cure.

The best food source of biotin is Swiss chard. Which I was happy about because one of my favorite quick meals is a Swiss chard frittata…I actually planned on making one tonight before knowing this. Nice coincidence!

The other supplement I'm a little more versed in, is melatonin. You all know I'm a big fan of sleep, almost more than diet, for its power to heal. About a year ago, I was poking around in PubMed and found the abstract below, specifically looking at using melatonin to treat androgenic alopecia, which is specifically the type of hair loss you all have. I was coming out of a pretty stressful personal period myself, and had started to notice that my hairline was receding…not fun to look at! So I figured I'd try it myself before writing about it. What I do, is take a melatonin pill, dissolve it in my hand with a few drops of water, and then massage it into my skin with coconut oil. Simply using water didn't work, it needed a carrier. I've noticed that my hair is gradually starting to grow in again. It's not thick and lush, by any means, but it IS growing some hair back.

A caveat here, it won't happen in a week, and you have to be consistent with application. If you're going to flake out about it…don't bother even starting. It's taken almost a year to see a difference. But if you're committed and willing to be persistent, it's definitely worth a try.

Here's the article.
Fischer TW, Burmeister G, Schmidt HW, Elsner P. Melatonin increases anagen hair rate in women with androgenetic alopecia or diffuse alopecia: results of a pilot randomized controlled trial. Br J Dermatol. 2004 Feb;150(2):341-5.

BACKGROUND: In addition to the well-known hormonal influences of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone on the hair cycle, melatonin has been reported to have a beneficial effect on hair growth in animals. The effect of melatonin on hair growth in humans has not been investigated so far.

OBJECTIVES: To examine whether topically applied melatonin influences anagen and telogen hair rate in women with androgenetic or diffuse hair loss.
METHODS: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study was conducted in 40 women suffering from diffuse alopecia or androgenetic alopecia. A 0.1% melatonin or a placebo solution was applied on the scalp once daily for 6 months and trichograms were performed to assess anagen and telogen hair rate. To monitor effects of treatment on physiological melatonin levels, blood samples were taken over the whole study period.

RESULTS: Melatonin led to a significantly increased anagen hair rate in occipital hair in women with androgenetic hair loss compared with placebo (n=12; P=0.012). For frontal hair, melatonin gave a significant increase in the group with diffuse alopecia (n=28; P=0.046). The occipital hair samples of patients with diffuse alopecia and the frontal hair counts of those with androgenetic alopecia also showed an increase of anagen hair, but differences were not significant. Plasma melatonin levels increased under treatment with melatonin, but did not exceed the physiological night peak.

CONCLUSIONS: To the authors' knowledge, this pilot study is the first to show that topically applied melatonin might influence hair growth in humans in vivo. The mode of action is not known, but the effect might result from an induction of anagen phase.

Castro-Gag M, Pérez-Gay L, Gómez-Lado C, Castiñeiras-Ramos DE, Otero-Martínez S, Rodríguez-Segade S. The influence of valproic Acid and carbamazepine treatment on serum biotin and zinc levels and on biotinidase activity. J Child Neurol. 2011 Dec;26(12):1522-4. Epub 2011 Jun 3.

Wolf B. EditorsIn: Pagon RA, Bird TD, Dolan CR, Stephens K, editors. Biotinidase Deficiency. SourceGeneReviews [Internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993-2000 Mar 24 [updated 2011 Mar 15].

Zempleni J, Hassan YI, Wijeratne SS. Biotin and biotinidase deficiency. Expert Rev Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Nov 1;3(6):715-724.

I almost missed Mark Moody. I had been enjoying myself at a gallery opening hosted at the local After Hours Creative Gallery, featuring the work of local artist friends Gennaro Garcia and Joe Ray. As I stood to leave, I noticed a cowboy on the other side of the beverage table, with a pint of strawberries and a pint of grapes, that he was rolling in something for people to taste.

I strolled over to see what he was doing. Turns out, he was letting people sample mesquite flour he produces from his property in Bouse, Arizona (a town so small even this near-Arizona native had to Mapquest it to find it!).

It didn't take much to get Mark talking about his passion. At his feet was a Native American metate, or grinding stone, that he was using to demonstrate how mesquite beans were traditionally processed into flour. He told me, he found the metate on his property, beneath a mesquite tree, where it was likely used long ago to reap nutrition from the desert.

Mesquite flour has been around for eons, but has only recently caught the attention of consumers. The trees abound in the Sonoran desert. My parents recently brought me some flour they had milled from their own backyard harvest in Tucson. It's a labor-intensive process, which makes it a challenging product to bring to market.

Nutritionally, mesquite flour is high in protein and soluble fibers, which helps to make it low-glycemic. It is also gluten-free. As far as other nutrients, it's a decent source of calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, and zinc. Its taste is described as nutty, sweet, hints of molasses, caramel, cinnamon…I'll leave it up to you to try. I can tell you I loved the bread I made with it! It does require a bit of adjusting when baking, as I learned with my first loaf of bread. But I've pasted a few tested recipes below to get you started.

New Mexico State University has an interesting summary of some of the compounds in mesquite with potential health benefits. These include from antidepressant to anti-inflammatory to liver protection. I would NOT quit taking any prescribed medications based on this information, but it's interesting to note that nature provides us with many gentle options to medications when we diversify our diets.

Mark shared with me that he had been approached by a major purveyor of unique grains, to provide them mesquite flour to enhance their offerings, but, concerned he wouldn't be able to meet the demand, he turned the offer down. He does want to bring his product to market, but without compromising the business principles that have earned him a fine reputation in Arizona.

In order to honor Mark's commitment to quality, we'll offer his mesquite flours to you when supplies are available. That means if you really want it…no dilly-dallying!

*********************************************************************************
Recipes I found at http://www.desertusa.com/ (and adapted slightly to fit with our inCYST recommendations)

MESQUITE CORNBREAD

from Native Peoples Magazine

3/4 C. each of cornmeal and flour
3/8 C. mesquite meal
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. each baking soda and salt
1 C. yogurt
1 egg
3 Tbs. honey
3 Tbs. canola oil

MESQUITE ZUCCHINI BREAD

from Martha Darancou Aguirre of Rancho la Inmaculada

1 c mesquite meal (Sonoran)
1/2 c all purpose flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 c sugar (experiment to see how little you can get away with!)
1 c Finely shredded unpeeled zucchini
1/4 c chopped nuts
3 eggs
1 c canola oil

Mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. In another bowl, mix sugar, zucchini, oil, egg and lemon peel. Mix well. Add flour mixture and stir until combined. Stir in nuts. Pour into greased 8x4x2 inch loaf pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 55 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool thoroughly before wrapping.

Combine dry ingredients in medium sized bowl. Combine the wet ingredients and stir into the dry ingredients just until combined. Spread into greased 8 inch by 8 inch pan. Bake 20 — 25 minutes at 350 degrees. For a unique Southwestern kick, add 1 tablespoon chipotle (dried, smoked jalapeno) flakes and 3/4 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels.

And this? Just a little shout out for Joe and Gennaro, who are 100% for me meeting Mark in the first place. It's a collaboration between the two. I've linked to their respective websites above if their creativity catches your eye.


Hazelnuts have always been around my house. When I was a little girl we even had a dog who knew how to crack them open and enjoy the kernel inside! They're a common ingredient in holiday cooking, which has me thinking of hazelnuts a lot right now.

Hazelnuts are not as commonly known in the United States as other nuts, but they are a great PCOS-friendly food to become acquainted with. Hazelnuts are very high in monounsaturated fatty acids, putting them in a category similar to macadamia nuts, olives, and avocadoes.

In addition, they are a good source of iron, calcium, zinc, and potassium.

You can enjoy them the way Coco used to, simply cracking them open and eating them, or you can grind them into powder to use in baked goods, breading for fish and poultry, and salad dressings…anywhere you might use ground flaxseeds. (I like the way my coffee tastes after I've ground hazelnuts then coffee in my coffee grinder!)

Here's a great recipe for hazelnut pad thai from the Hazelnut Council. To make it even more PCOS friendly, try it with Shirataki Noodles and use either hazelnut oil or canola oil for cooking.

I love to promote kale in my Whole Foods classes. It has omega-3's, trytophan (building block for serotonin), magnesium, iron, calcium, copper, and zinc, to name a few. It's also a member of the Brassica family, that cancer-fighting clan with more popular cousins named garlic, broccoli, cabbage, and brussels sprouts.

But I always get the same response (see deer in the headlights graphic). I know what's pumping through those brains…"Kale? Isn't that the pretty curly stuff lining the fruit and veggie platter? You can eat that?"

Yes, you can…and should…eat kale.

Here's a trick for you kale virgins, if you're not quite up to the task. Next time you make a smoothie, of any flavor, throw in a handful of kale. You won't even taste it. You can also throw it into your juicer.

If you want to actually taste kale, your next best step is to head to your nearest Whole Foods and try the kale salad which is a staple in their ready-to-eat case. That's how kale is supposed to taste, and according to those who have been on my Whole Foods tours who are encouraged to try the salad, it's pretty good!

Here are some kale recipes for those of you who did so well with steps one and two that you're ready to strike out into the Adventurous World of Kale.

I'm all for local eating. But another endeavor I enjoy is helping other cultures find worthwhile products to produce that encourage preservation of the rainforest and farming of products other than coca. So I was excited to see the country of Peru have such a beautiful and informational pavilion at Expo West.

We all know about quinoa and I've written about purple corn…here are some other foods you might be seeing more of that could be fun to try!

Maca Most of us think of maca as a supplement to enhance sexual prowess. It's actually been studied in the laboratory and been found to enhance libido and semen quality. It may also help alleviate sexual dysfunction related to antidepressant use. It may also help reduce enlarged prostate glands.

That being said, Americans have a really bad habit of taking something they think is"good", grinding it up, concentrating it, and using it in larger quantities than would be possible in nature. In this case, there is some thought that excessive maca consumption may negatively affect thyroid function. In addition, there are several varieties of maca, and only the red was found to have significant hormonal effect. Labeling on supplements may not contain this information and you may be wasting your money.

Bottom line, if you see it on a restaurant menu or a fun international market, take it home and cook it like a turnip! Be careful, however, about the supplement version.

Amaranth Gluten-free enthusiasts love this grain, but like quinoa, it's not actually a grain…it's a seed. It can be toasted and eaten like popcorn, or cooked like a grain. Here is more information on how to use amaranth in your kitchen. In other parts of the world, such as Asia and Africa, amaranth leaves and roots are also culinary specialties.

Regular consumption of amaranth seed may help regulate hypertension and cholesterol, and the leaves and roots are very high in vitamins and minerals, including calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, zinc, copper, and manganese.

Both Bob's Red Mill and Arrowhead Mills sell amaranth flour, but if you can't find it in your store, here are amaranth options on amazon.com.

Aguaymanto This fruit is related to one of my local favorites, the tomatillo (you can see the similar husks in the photo). It is currently being researched for its potential as an antioxidant source, and it has been found to contain melatonin.

Locals like to use it in jams, syrups, and pastries, but it is also seen in fruit salads and salsas.

Lucuma, or eggfruit, if you Google it, will pop up quite frequently as the next big superfood, and ground powders are available online. (As with maca, I am not providing links, as I am not telling you about these foods to encourage a superfood or supplement mentality.) This fruit tree can grow in warmer US climates such as Florida or Arizona. It's a Peruvian favorite, as illustrated by the blog Peru Food. It is described as tasting a little bit like maple syrup ice cream.

It is a favorite of raw food enthusiasts. They promote it as low-glycemic, though I was not able to find the actual scientific reference for it in my search; most references circle back to the same video. If anyone out there can direct me to that, I'm happy to post for everyone.

Nutritionally, lucuma is high in fiber, iron, and as you might guess from its beautiful color, beta carotene.

Sacha Inchi, or the Peruvian peanut, comes from the rainforest. I actually tried this at Expo West; it was prepared like corn nuts and there was also a version coated with fair-trade chocolate (isn't that the best way to get Americans to try anything new and different?) It's pretty high protein, and it contains ALA, the vegan omega-3 fatty acid. (With respect to the omega-3's it's an option to flaxseed.) In Peru, its oil is used for cooking so I imagine some day it will show up in US markets as well.

Again, American marketing reps are trying to capitalize on the superfood craze when selling this food. It's fine to eat, and its nutritional value is nice, but no need to abandon everything else you're doing for it. Try it when you can, enjoy it when you find it, and know it fits well into a hormone-friendly lifestyle.

One of the reasons I put this blog post together is to illustrate why closing out food choices can deny you some food fun, not to mention nutrition! If you're locked into a top ten list of foods, you may miss some great culinary experiences…that can be healthy as well! Sometimes when you're focused on"fixing" a disease it can take the fun out of food. The more enjoyable it is, the more likely it is you'll have a healthy relationship with it. Every culture has its gems, even if they're not salmon, blueberries, and broccoli!

I admit, I had a personal reason for writing this blog post. My Peruvian friend Denise has told me she wants to share her favorite local Peruvian restaurant with me sometime soon. I wanted to be sure I knew what I would be seeing when I looked at the menu. Now that I've done my homework, I'm hungry and looking forward to what the menu has in store.

Gonzales GF, Miranda S, Nieto J, Fernández G, Yucra S, Rubio J, Yi P, and Gasco M. Red maca (Lepidium meyenii) reduced prostate size in rats. Reprod Biol Endocrinol. 2005; 3: 5.

Dording CM. Fisher L. Papakostas G. Farabaugh A. Sonawalla S. Fava M. Mischoulon D. A double-blind, randomized, pilot dose-finding study of maca root (L. meyenii) for the management of SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction.

Czerwiński J, Bartnikowska E, Leontowicz H, et al. Oat (Avena sativa L.) and amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus) meals positively affect plasma lipid profile in rats fed cholesterol-containing diets". J. Nutr. Biochem. 15 (10): 622–9, 2004.

Wu, SJ; Tsai JY, Chang SP, Lin DL, Wang SS, Huang SN, Ng LT (2006). Supercritical carbon dioxide extract exhibits enhanced antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of Pysalis peruviana. J Ethnopharmacol 108 (3): 407–13

Kolar J., Malbeck J. Levels of the antioxidant melatonin in fruits of edible berry species. Planta Medica 2009 75:9

You may know of melatonin as a potent sleep aid. So much so, that if you took melatonin and you did not experience an enhanced ability to sleep, you stopped taking it.

Did you know, melatonin is a very powerful antioxidant as well? Some of the benefits of this compound relevant to PCOS include:

--lowered blood pressure
--improved memory
--reduced adrenal gland activity and cortisol secretion
--reduced cortisol response to stress
--reduced blood glucose, insulin levels, and insulin response to a glucose load
--reduced cholesterol and triglycerides
--reduced testosterone levels
--increased progesterone synthesis
--slows gastric emptying (which can help you to feel fuller, longer)

That's a lot of stuff! And it's not just not sleeping well that interferes with melatonin metabolism. So does fasting and starvation…which includes any kind of radical diet, including the medically supervised ones and the HCG ones. Melatonin levels in all three types of eating disorders, anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder, are disrupted. Obesity suppresses normal melatonin daily rhythms. Omega-3 deficiency reduces melatonin synthesis and total tissue levels.

Vitamin deficiencies such as B12, zinc, and magnesium, can interfere with good melatonin status. When I read that, I immediately thought of the many vegetarians reading this blog, as those are common deficiencies when vegetarian eating is not proactively balanced.

Normal melatonin metabolism may be dependent on physical activity.

Medical problems associated with a melatonin imbalance include: affective disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, asthma, autism, bipolar disorder, cervical cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, cluster headaches, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, Cushing’s syndrome, depression, diabetes, duodenal ulcer, epilepsy, fibromyalgia, hypertension, idiopathic pain syndrome, lung cancer, metabolic syndrome, migraine headaches, obesity, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, Parkinson’s disease, polycystic ovary syndrome, pre-eclampsia, premenstrual syndrome, schizophrenia, seasonal affective disorder, sleep apnea, and ulcerative colitis.

I'm well aware that many people reading this blog are looking for a magic supplement to erase the need for making healthy lifestyle choices. If you choose to supplement with melatonin, it likely will not hurt you, and it may help you to restore normal sleep patterns, but it will never replace the power of regular, adequate sleep. Just sayin'.: )

If you've never used melatonin before, and you decide to start, you may want to try it on a night when it's not essential that you be up and functioning early the next day. It can have a paradoxical reaction in some people.

And, if you happen to be a professional pilot, the FAA advises against using melatonin while on duty. It certainly wouldn't hurt on your days off, especially if you've been on some grueling red eye flights, just beware of this disclaimer while officially on duty.

I have an extensive list of references I've collected from which this blog post was derived. If you would like them you can contact me directly.

Bottom line, if you don't value sleep, your body is going to have a really, really, really hard time being healthy.