Day 14 of the 30 Day Fun and Sleep Challenge: Exercise, Vitamin D and Antidotes for Chronic Fatigue

Written by Ritamarie Loscalzo on March 15, 2010 – 10:05 am -

What do chronic fatigue, belly fat, depression and hormone imbalance have in common?

Exercise, sleep, fresh air, sunshine (vitamin D) and fresh foods.  A deficiency of any or all of these can create imbalances in hormones and  blood sugar irregularities that lead to persistent belly fat, fatigue and depression.  So what do these have to do with the 30 day fun and sleep challenges?  Plenty!  Most people I talk feel fatigues much of the time and would like more energy.

Lack of sleep is only part of the equation, but it can make you fat.  Researchers have found that lack of sleep can cause decreased leptin levels.  Leptin is a hormone that regualtes your appetite.As a result of not getting enugh sleep, you’ll find yourself more hungry and you’ll find it challenging to control the amount you eat.  This leads to blood sugar imbalanes, insulin resistance and increased belly fat.  Insulin resistance results in fatigue after eating, rather than  increased energy, which means you’re less likely to exercise.  It’s quite the vicious circle.

While I have not been as good as I had planned at writing these blog posts daily, I am pleased to admit that the reason why I haven’t had the time to write the blog posts daily is that I have been fulfilling my commitment to get to bed as close to midnight as possible.  Thus, I am sleeping more.     As a result of sleeping more, I’ve also been exercising more.  A double win! There have only been a couple of later than midnight bedtimes, and that was because I chose to sit in the sauna before bed.

If my lack of posting has in any way effected your commitment to the 30 Day Fun and Sleep Challenge, my apologies.  I am committed to resuming writing daily, and have it scheduled in my calendar.

Our weather in Austin has finally become warm and sunny!  I’m very happy about that.    The mornings have still been cool…40’s, but the afternoons are in the 70s and 80s.  So I have been out for a run in the sun most days this week.  It feels great.

I am usually very consistent with exercise…as consistent as I am with food.  When the weather got so cold and cloudy for so long, I got out of the habit of running first thing in the morning, and some days, time and obligations got away from me and I found my exercise dwindling.

In addition to getting your daily dose of vitamin D on sunny days, exercising in the fresh air offers so many benefits. Exercise is super important for hormone balance, weight management, increasing your energy and overcoming fatigue.  It’s also good for your heart, your mood and your immune system.  Fresh air and exercise are a dynamic duo, so get outside and move as much as you can.

My blog post back in the fall about exercise and burst training is a good one to review for some tips.

My report card for the last few days:

1- getting to sleep at or around midnight:  Excellent

2- exercise:  excellent

3- writing my blog posts:  fair

4- Having fun – good.  I’ve spent a lot of time with family and have had some friend fun too.

My commitments for Monday:

1- bed by midnight.

2- finish writing a few projects that are close to completion

3- fun time with kids, who are off school for spring break

4- running in the sun

Commitment for at least one day this week:  Get to bed by 10 PM and see if it is really as good as it’s cracked up to be!

What about you?  What are you committed to?

Post below in teh comments section.

Ths week we’re having a contest.  I’m offering a prize to whoever posts the most this week .  genuine commitments and report cards.  I’ll post the prize on Tuesday.

Wishing you lots of Love, Health and Joy (and sleep, too)

Dr. Ritamarie

Tags: Adrenal Fatigue, chronic fatigue, depression, Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, DrRitamarie, exercise, exhaustion, fatigue, fatigue symptoms, living foods, livingfoods, raw foods, raw foods diet, raw foods recipes, sunshine, vitamin D
Posted in Articles, fatigue treatment, fitness, vitamin D | No Comments »

Adrenal Fatigue, Depression and Illness: The Sleep and Fun Connection (Day 9)

Written by Ritamarie Loscalzo on March 9, 2010 – 9:30 pm -

I work with a lot of people who are struggling with adrenal fatigue and depression.  It’s almost an epidemic in our world today, and if you stay up with current events, watch the news and read the newspapers, there’s a good chance that you’re experiencing some adrenal fatigue symptoms and heavy mode as well.  The media thrives on shifting people into fear mode.  Fear sells.   When you are fearful, the part of your nervous system called the sympathetic nervous system takes control, getting you ready for fight or flight.  In this mode, your heart rate increases, your blood pressure increases and your digestion shuts down.  The aftermath is fatigue, nutritional deficiencies and depression.

I just wrote a very detailed article for Purely Delicious magazine about stress, fatigue and burnout.  It will be published soon.

When you’re burning the candle at both ends, you are much less able to deal with stress.  To compound the problem, when stress levels are high, you have a tendency to sleep less, because stress can cause insomnia or frequent night time awakenings.

And of course, taking time for fun goes out the window in times of stress because of the perception that there just isn’t “enough time”.

My commitment for this month is to incorporate more fun and sleep into my life. Yours may also include eating balanced meals, eating more slowly, becoming more conscious when eating.  These are all VERY important and I support you in your commitment.

So try this.  Before you begin to put food into your mouth, stop.  Take a nice deep breath.  This alone is enough to shift you out of your  sympathetic nervous system – remember–the system that causes your digestion to slow way down. Then take a few seconds to appreciate the food you are about to consume. Think about where it came from, how it was prepared, how it will nourish every cell.  Only then, begin to eat, staying conscious of each forkful.

No kidding, it will take some focused effort to do this!  Yet the time and attention to conscious eating, appreciative eating, is well worth it!

Go ahead and give it a try, and post a comment about how it went for you.

Join me on Wednesday March 10 at 12:30pm CST for my Blog talk Radio Show: Creating a Vibrant Life, during which I’ll reveal 5 strategies for balancing your mood through food.  www.blogtalkradio.com/dr-ritamarie

My Report Card for Monday:

1- Green Smoothie – 2 quarts Done

2- weight training exercise Done

3- bed by 11:30  (how daring of me!) maybe even earlier a little later – 12:20

4- write a chapter in my new book did the research but didn’t complete the chapter

5- quality time with the kids – family conflict rather than quality time…

Commitments for Tuesday:

1- run 3 miles

2- bed by midnight

3- Drink 1 quart of green smoothie

4- drink 1 cup veggie juice

How about you?  What are you committed to today?

Let us know.  Post your comments below.

Love, Health and Joy to you,

Dr. Ritamarie

Tags: Adrenal Fatigue, cleansing programs, Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, DrRitamarie, exercise, fatigue symptoms, living foods, livingfoods, raw foods
Posted in Adrenal Fatigue, Articles | 1 Comment »

30 Day Fun and Sleep Challenge: A Big Day of Fun Goes a Long Way Towards Happy Adrenals.

Written by Ritamarie Loscalzo on March 7, 2010 – 12:05 pm -

What a day!   I had intended to get this posted this morning, but time escaped me.  Between making breakfast for the kids and preparing for my Balance My Body webinar, I ran out of cycles.

After messing up on several of my comittments yesterday, I made up for it today!  Seems FUN was taking the brunt of my unfulfilled commitments all week, but last night and today really made up for it.

After the Balance My Body webinar, I drove my son (or rather he drove me!!!  He has his learner’s permit) to a friend’s house then went downtown to our beautiful hike and bike trail and did a 4 mile run around the lake.

Afterwards, I went to whole foods and bought some lovely vegetables.  I was on my way to pick up my son and his friend frm the movies, when my husband called and let me knw that he could do it.  So I stopped by Borboletta’s, one of Austin’s raw foods cafes, which recently changed management, to check out the changes.  Low and behold, I ran into one of my students who’s become a dear friend.  We sat and chatted, while eating drinking green smoothies and eating delicious raw and living foods, like kale salad, for hours.

I put in a couple of hours of work and now I’m off to hottub with the family and then go to bed.

A successful self care day on all fronts!

Here’s my report card for Friday:

1. Exercise 30 minutes - FLOP – all I did was a few minutes of weights
2. Fun: Quality time with my husband – a date for dinner at Beets Cafe! Yipee.  It was great.  We had a lovely dinner and good conversation.
3. Water – 8 cups Success
4. Get myself signed up to take the Vibrant Health Mindset Course and recommit to my own goals. Didn’t quite makt it and will move this to tomorrow.
5. Bed by midnight – Superflop.  The evening out and a 2 hour excursion with my almost 16 year old son took time from a commitment I had to make.  I taught a webinar class thsi morning for my Balance My Body group, and needed to prepare the case studies, and get everything set up, plus I needed to finish the maintenence Plan for the 6 week detox, as promised.  Thus I got to bed at 2.  I did sleep until 8 so this is still a better night’s sleep than I was getting last week.  Progress not perfection.

Saturday’s Commitments…made this morning but posted in the evening:

1. Fun – 30 minutes
2. Exercise – longer run – 4 miles
3. bed by midnight
4. Hot-tub or Sauna before bed

How did you do yesterday? What are your commitments for today?  Comment below.

Enjoy!

Love, Health and Joy,

Dr. Ritamarie

Tags: Adrenal Fatigue, Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, DrRitamarie, exercise, green smoothie, livingfoods, raw foods
Posted in Adrenal Fatigue, Articles | 1 Comment »

30 Day Fun and Sleep Challenge: Recommitting to Health Goals

Written by Ritamarie Loscalzo on March 6, 2010 – 1:31 am -

I  am making good progress towards establishing my healthy sleep pattern.

It’s always amazing to me how much power there is in creating a goal and committing to it.

Earlier this year, I created a product with Jane Hardin, who’ you’ll get to officially meet before too long.  She’s a registered dietitian who has completed training in Living Foods Nutrition and has  a lot of experience working with terminally ill patients in a counseling capacity.  We created a program called Creating the Vibrant Helath Mindset because we both have seen the  mindset in making long lasting changes in your habits.  This is the first of many projects we’ll be doing together.

This week, I’ve reconnected to the value of continuing to revisit my goals and make commitments based on these.

I’m pleased to report greater success on my sleep goal for yesterday!  Yeah!

So here’s my report card for yesterday:

1. 64 ounces smoothie/green soup – DONE
2. Off computer by 11PM – Surpassed. I was off by 10:06PM!
3. Sauna 30 minutes – missed this because I went to bed early!
4. Bed by 11:30 – Surpassed - in Bed by 10:15 – My 11 year old son, Kevin, has recently been worried about the toxic smells at school.  They watched a video about the dangers of marker inhalation, and talked about a 13 year old who died as a result of marker inhalation as a way to get high.  Kevin accidentally got a big wiff of a marker at school the other day and got dizzy and light headed.  Since then he has been reacting to smells, like air fresheners, wipes and cleaning supplies used at school.  He is scared of dying from breathing them.  He asked if he could sleep with me last night so he could feel safe.  So he and I went to bed at 10:15.
5. Fun reading for 15 minutes – missed this because my Kevin slept with me.  Fun was talking to him and cuddling instead.
   
6. Lights out between 11:45 and 12. Surpassed Lights out by 10:15

My commitments for today:

1. Exercise 30 minutes
2. Fun: Quality time with my husband – a date for dinner at Beets Cafe!
3. water – 8 cups
4. Get myself signed up to take the Vibrant Health Mindset Course and recommit to my own goals.
5. Bed by midnight

How did you do yesterday? What are your commitments for today?  Comment below.

Enjoy!

Love, Health and Joy,

Dr. Ritamarie

Tags: Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, DrRitamarie, fun, livingfoods, raw and living foods holiday recipes, whole foods
Posted in Articles, exercise | 1 Comment »

30 Day Sleep and Fun Challenge: Day 3 – Conscious Competance

Written by Ritamarie Loscalzo on March 4, 2010 – 12:35 am -

So, I’m going for progress not perfection.  Habits take time to change and sometimes it takes days or even weeks of repetition to make permanent changes.

This challenge has brought my habits in need of change to my forefront and that’s what’s  important.  I learned a long time ago, from the teachings of Abraham Maslov,  that all learning comes in 4 stages:

1. Unconscious Incompetence

   This is the “ignorance is bliss” stage. You don’t know what you don’t know, and are not bothered by this lack of knowledge.  For example, most people walk into fast food restaurants, completely unaware f the way that food effects them, without knowledge of or competency in a different way of eating.

2. Conscious Incompetence

   Here’s where you become aware of what you don’t know.  Perhaps you attend a lecture or read a book and realize that your way of eating is making you sick.  You are conscious of a new way of eating, but you have no skill at it;  you are incompetent, yet aware of it every time you put something into your mouth

3. Conscious Competence

   You now understand or know how to do something, ie how to eat healthfully.  However, demonstrating the skill or knowledge requires a great deal of consciousness or concentration.  You need to stop and ponder the choices and consciously make yourself make healthy choices when confronted with a wide array of food.

4. Unconscious Competence

   You have so much practice and skill, that the behavior becomes “second nature” and can be performed easily, without concentration or conscious control.  You can at this point easily follow through without thought or effort.  In our example, you know what foods are helpful, which ones are harmful, and you naturally choose the ones that promote health.  It’s a non issue.

If you would like to know more about the 4 stages of competance, this series of articles goes into great depth.

http://www.drritamarie.com/go/4StagesOfLearning

For me, eating well is stage 4.  For sleep, I am at stage 2.

Given that,  I honor the progress I have made this week.  I am light years ahead of last week.  So here’s my “Report Card” for yesterday, March 2.

1- Shut down the computer no later than 11:30, lights out by midnight - I  got off the computer by 12:05 and lights out by 12:25.

2- Drink 2 quarts of green smoothie.  Yeah!  did this.

3- Exercise for at least 30 minutes FLOP. It was cold in the morning, so I opted out of a 7AM run, then had to drive kids to school, then had a busy day.  Was intending to do the stairmaster (in my bedroom) after my teleconference call, but a neighbor friend had hurt his back so I worked on him at 9:15 PM.   After that I had bits and pieces and follwo-ups to do and never got to the exercise.  Lots of excuses, eh! Lesson:  Look at the calendar in advance and plan a specific time to do exercise.

FOR Fun:   Water color paint for 5 minutes -  FLOP again.  Instead for fun I hung with my 11 year old and talked about his day.

OK.  So I am making progress.

Here’s my comittment for today:

1- Exercise: 2:30 – 3:30 get out for a run and do a few weights

2- Fun break:  9:30 PM – after my Balance My Body Blueprint teleseminar call on Balancing Adrenals

3- Off computer by 11:30, in bed by 11:45, lights out before midnight

How did you do yesterday? What are your commitments for today?  Comment below.

Enjoy!

Love, Health and Joy,

Dr. Ritamarie

P.S. If food is an issue you are working on, check out the recording of a teleconference call I did Tuesday night with Nomi Shannon, the Raw Gourmet

http://www.drritamarie.com/DeliciouslyQuickRawFood-SignUp.php

Tags: Adrenal Fatigue, Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, fatigue symptoms, goal setting, living foods, livingfoods, Maslov, raw foods, unconscious compteance
Posted in Articles | 2 Comments »

The Sweet Side of the Agave Controversy

Written by Ritamarie Loscalzo on February 24, 2010 – 5:59 am -

My article The Bitter truth about Sweeteners explores the topic of sweeteners, their safety, danger and a users guide to selecting them.  I reprinted an article slamming Agave nectar in a previous post.  Here’s the other end of the debate: This is excerpted from an article on the Altered Plates Blog, in response to an article that appeared on Natural Health News . It is reproduced here as part of an expose on agave. Read and think about it.  The decision is yours.

By Craig Gerbore, President of Madhava

Mr. Nagel’s article is based on the view of a sole individual, Russ Bianchi. I suppose we should thank Mr. Bianchi for pointing out some issues that may have contributed to Iidea’s (the initial manufacturer of blue agave nectar) demise from the market, however I want to be clear, this is not about Madhava or our agave nectar. Once a dominant supplier, as of this past summer Iidea is no longer a major supplier in the agave syrup business. The distributors using them as a supplier have quietly switched to newly formed blue agave companies for their supply.

Madhava has always worked exclusively with Nekutli, the producer of agave nectar from the agave salmiana, a very different species of the agave. However, there is no mention of our agave nectar from salmiana in the article, nor of the differences in the plant, the collection and production of our product. So, the author has blurred the line with his all encompassing attack on blue agave nectar, by his failure to present complete information on the subject of agave nectars. For what purpose was this article written? If it were to educate the public, I think it would include all the information available.

With the errors and misstatements and half-truths, I don’t think this article is about education, it is an all out shotgun attack. I believe Mr. Bianchi, presented as the sole authority on agave nectar, was initially introduced to Iidea’s blue agave syrup product on their entry to the market in the late 90’s. At that time, Iidea was promoting a 90% fructose agave syrup. This is what I believe Mr. Bianchi is referring to. Unfortunately, he ignores the fact that this is not the agave sold on the market today, nor is it representative of Madhava’s product. In fact Mr. Bianchi has never even acknowledged the existence of our agave nectar from the salmiana variety. So, all his comments are apparently based on his experience with Iidea’s product, but I find ourselves caught in the blast. In their zestful attack against the blue agave syrup he was introduced to initially, Mr.’s Bianchi and Nagel have also made inaccurate comments which reflect on agave nectar generally.

As such, I take issue with several of their statements and claims and want to clarify some things as regards Madhava’s Agave Nectar from agave salmiana. Their discussion of the processing of agave nectar is in no way reflective of how Madhava’s agave nectar is produced. There are three ways to convert complex sugars into a simple sugar sweetener such as agave syrup. It can be done thermally, chemically, or enzymatically as ours is.

There are no chemicals whatsoever involved in the production of Madhava’s agave nectar from agave salmiana, nor is it cooked. Our agave is subject only to low temperatures during the evaporation of excess water from the juice. The author states “The principal constituent of the agave is starch, such as what is found in corn or rice.” This statement, which is the foundation of much of their argument comparing agave nectar to corn syrup, has no basis in scientific fact, THERE IS NO STARCH IN THE AGAVE.

How can the author and his source be so mistaken on this statement on which he bases his attack? All plants store energy in one of two ways, as starches or fructans. All agave plants create fructans as their energy storing means. So, agave plants have fructans, not starch. From Wikipedia: Inulins are a group of naturally occurring polysaccharides produced by many types of plants. They belong to a class of fibers know as fructans. Inulin is used by some plants as a means of storing energy and it typically found in roots or rhizomes. Most plants which synthesize and store inulin do not store other materials such as starch.

There is no starch in either species of agave, and agave nectar is not from starch as the author and Mr. Bianchi claim. They have tried very hard to propagandize the public with a false fact, either by design, or ignorance, for which there would be no excuse. Such an error of fact certainly casts doubt on the validity of the rest of Nagel’s article, as the lack of depth of his research has to be apparent to all. Really, he is just regurgitating the singular views of Mr. Bianchi. I personally spoke with the author during his “research”, as did at least one other in the industry.

He chose not to include one word of the information given to him by us, which I will repeat below, and failed to make any distinction between Madhava’s Nekutli agave nectar from salmiana and that from the blue agave plant. He only mentions blue agave. The plants differ, the locations differ, the methods and production differ greatly. The information we gave him did not fit his purpose and so was omitted in favor of a generalized attack. Madhava’s source is exclusively agave salmiana. If you haven’t already reviewed our site at www.madhavasagave.com , you will find background information there. Briefly though, the native people supplying the juice collect it from the live plant, by hand, twice daily. There is no heat involved in the removal. The juice is immediately brought to the facility to remove the excess water as it will ferment rapidly if left standing.

It is during the removal of the moisture that the only heat is applied. The juice is evaporated and moisture removed in a vacuum evaporator. The vacuum enables the moisture to be withdrawn at low temperatures. The temp is closely controlled. Subsequently, our agave is handled and packaged at room temperatures. No other heat is applied. And, rather than convert the complex sugars of the juice thermally, we use gentle enzymatic action. Just as a bee introduces an enzyme to flower nectar to make honey, we introduce an natural organic vegan enzyme for the same purpose.

The technical term for the conversion of complex sugars into their simple sugar components is hydrolysis. Inulin is a fructan which is hydrolyzed into the simple sugars composing agave nectar, fructose and glucose. Honey is composed of the same simple sugars.

The blue agave plant is harvested and the blue agave nectar is produced by a completely different method. I will have to leave it to the blue agave nectar sellers to comment on the production themselves. While I know of it, I have not witnessed it as I have Nekutli’s. Unlike the author, I won’t comment publicly on something I cannot verify.

To clarify further on another claim, “Agave Nectar as a final product is mostly chemically refined fructose”. As regards Madhava’s agave nectar, there are no chemicals involved in our production whatsoever. The sugars in our agave nectar come from the breakdown of the inulin molecule through the introduction of the enzyme to break apart that molecule. It is in no way chemically refined, there are no chemicals involved in any part of the production or packaging process.

Our agave nectar is refined only in as much as the excess moisture is removed from the juice of the plant.

“HFCS is made with GM enzymes”. Bianchi’s states “they (agave and corn syrup) are indeed made the same way” This is another false assertion as regards Madhava’s agave nectar at least. Our agave nectar is certainly and clearly not made the same way as corn syrup. There is no starch in our agave. There are no chemicals, no refinement beyond the evaporation of water. And, there are no GMO’s whatsoever. The agave salmiana has never been subject to this and the enzyme is a natural, non GM organic, vegan enzyme.

Other points regarding fructose apply to sugars in general and are a consumption, or overconsumption issue. Certainly consuming large amounts of sweeteners of any kind will be detrimental to one’s health. Suggesting fructose could cause health issues when concentrated amounts are eaten is a statement which should really apply to the overconsumption issue. The information the author links to agave nectar is the result of megadose testing of pure clinical fructose. Not the same thing as normal daily use of agave nectar in the course of our meals. The antisweetener advocates just have to admit that it is the overconsumption of sugars that is the problem. Used in moderation, sugars serve a purpose, to make other foods and beverages more palatable. Imagine a world without sweeteners if you can. Affinity for sweet taste is a human trait that most want to satisfy.

For those who use sweeteners, there are limited choices available and many choose agave for its particular attributes. It is a good choice. Madhava Agave’s neutral flavor suits the purpose. It is in fact low glycemic, organically certified and non allergenic. Many with diabetes and other special diets find it suitable for their use where other sweeteners are not. It’s easy to use and you can use less. And, we guarantee the purity of our product.

Tags: Agave, Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, fructose, living foods, livingfoods, madhava, raw foods, raw foods diet
Posted in Articles, raw foods | 1 Comment »

Taking Care of YOU – Slow Down and Enjoy Each Moment to Protect Yourself from Cancer

Written by Ritamarie Loscalzo on February 7, 2010 – 12:31 pm -

It’s been a week to remember and all the messages I’ve received all week were “slow down” and “take care of yourself”.

A couple were obvious…others more subtle.

I don’t consider myself a tired person; quite the contrary.  My energy seems almost without limit.  I sleep very little, am constantly on the move and I get a lot accomplished.  Yet a nagging voice in the back of my mind has been wondering if I may be causing some hidden damage to myself by sleeping so little.

On Wednesday evening I ran into to technical challenges with the teleconference for Week 3 of my Balance My Body Blueprint course.  I had a slide presentation ready to go, and was all set to launch into new territory.  The technical challenges prevented participation on the web, where more than half my students participate.  So I decided to do a question and answer segment.  It was just the right thing to do.  I was able to answer lots of questions, and even helped a few people to determine the probable cause of long standing health challenges.  Wow.  Slow down.  Most people were not ready to jump into what I had planned.  They were perfectly fine with slowing down and getting their questions answered.

On Thursday, I was moving quickly through my kitchen, and caught my slipper on a door stop.  It sent me flying through the air and I landed hard on the tile floor. My left arm hit first, and it hurt so badly that I immediately thought it was broken.    While I had lots of plans for the rest of the day and the next, I spent most of the time in bed, icing my arm and resting.  Slow down.  It took an injury to get me to get a good night’s sleep.  It’s recovering nicely now, as evidenced by the fact that I can type today.  Yesterday I could barely hunt and peck with one hand.

I’m getting small messages, and I’m taking them to heart.  Better listen to the soft calls than to wait for a big one.

Earlier this week I received the sad news that a dear friend had died of cancer.  She was a young woman, in her forties, and she’s survived by her husband and four children.  The children are young.  Her oldest  is about the same age as my youngest.  And now they are without their Mommy, and the world will no longer experience the joy of Anna’s sweet, kind heart and loving and giving nature.

I’ve experienced the loss of a loved to cancer several times over the past 5 years.  And while the importance of diet and detoxification are high on my list of cancer prevention techniques, Anna’s death forces me to really look at the bigger picture.

Anna was a raw food enthusiast. I met her at an Alissa Cohen Teacher training.  She was the founder of Purely Delicious magazine.   She was excited about sharing what she learned about the health benefits of raw and living foods with the world.  Still, she got breast cancer.  Sure, her diet wasn’t perfect, and we can point fingers at her imperfections, and blame them for her cancer.  Yet others, many of my family members included, eat way less “perfectly”  than Anna did, and use toxic home and body care products and drink tap water, and they don’t have cancer…yet.

The sad truth is that almost 50% of us will get cancer. Perhaps not  all will die as a result, yet it’s an alarming statistic nonetheless.

While it may be easy for skeptics and critics of the living foods lifestyle to use Anna’s story as an excuse to just let it all go and eat whatever they want, it’s important to look beyond, and continue to hold the utmost respect for the value of high antioxidant, unrefined, whole fresh plants as a vital element in keeping you healthy.

I could quote from all sorts of research right about now, and try to convince you from an intellectual level of the importance of diet in protecting you from cancer, yet I’d rather speak to you from my heart. It’s easy to hear Anna’s story and become fearful, and doubt your choice to lead a healthy life and eat a healthy diet.  The truth is, there’s a big picture here.  And many of its parts are a somewhat mysterious.

Cancer is always caused by exceeding your body’s ability to detoxify and repair. Cancer starts almost daily in just about everyone, and is quickly thwarted by an intact immune system and a working detoxification system.

The choices you make daily effect your ability to detoxify and thwart cancer before it takes over. Those include the quality and quantity of the water you drink, how much sunshine you get on bare skin, your movement, your thoughts, your feelings – fear and judgment create a breeding ground for cancer–how much fun you have, how much deep restful sleep you get, the quality of the air you breathe and of course, your diet.

There are so many  elements that determine your cancer risk…and your ability to be healthy.  Some may appear to be beyond your control:

1. Genetics: some of us were born with genetic variations, called single neucleotide polymorphisms, aka SNPs (pronounced snips), that make it difficult to detoxify our environment without a little extra help.
2. Your Mom’s Emotional State when she was pregnant with you. You may have been born with worn out adrenals and low cellular energy as a result, making you prone to cancer and other illnesses.
3. Your Mom’s nutritional status and toxic exposures while she was pregnant with you. If she was depleted, you were born with nutritional imbalances.
4. Early feeding:Whether you were breast or bottle fed and what your early solid foods were determine the state of your digestive tract and immune system.  Leaky gut and immune system problems can increase your risk of cancer and other illnesses.

Many people embark on a health journey and address a single aspect.   I see many living foods diet followers who don’t exercise, or stay indoors all the time, or push themselves hard and don’t sleep enough (like me).  It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that the good food can compensate for shortcomings in the others, but very often it cannot.

It’s time to look at the big picture.  Sometimes just eating a healthy diet isn’t enough.

As a mother of 4 and editor  and chief cook and bottle washer for a quarterly publication, Anna had no time left for herself. Even after she found out she had breast cancer, she continued to put others first, until she had to slow down.  Unfortunately, it was too late for Anna.  She opted for chemotherapy and radiation out of fear and perhaps desperation.

Most likely one or more of the early factors were at play with Anna.   Yet, in spite of your genetics, early exposures and maternal environment,  you can do what it takes to give yourself the best possible healthy and happy life.  Once you identify the early factors that may be at play, through a combination of  family history and genetic testing, there are steps you can take to correct for the inborn and early deficits.

It’s important to take inventory of your life and self correct where you can.  If you’re not sleeping enough because you’re not going to bed at a reasonable hour (guilty as charged) then make a different choice.  If you’re not sleeping enough because you have difficulty falling or staying asleep, you might have a hormonal imbalance.  Adrenal imbalance and insulin dysfunction are the most likely culprits and they are both correctable.

If you have a lot of stress in your life (who doesn’t)  you owe it to yourself to master techniques for transforming the negative impact on your body to positive.

Enhance your body’s detoxification systems, harness the power of blended greens and drink your greens at least once a day.  Look for the positive and practice appreciation.  Get in touch with really matters to you, and make daily choices that are consistent with your highest good.

Take care of others, but not at the expense of yourself. It’s important to take time for fun and pleasure each day, even for just a few moments.

No one can predict the length of your life – that’s out of your control.  You can effect the quality of your life and decrease the likelihood of suffering as Anna did by making conscious and consistent choices to put your self first. Yes, you need to put yourself first.  It is only by taking care of your needs that you have the energy and ability to take care of others.  And if we all took better care of ourselves, there would be a lot less need to take care of others.

Love yourself. Slow down and have fun daily.   Choose happiness daily and allow good health to follow.

In memory of Anna Tipps, friend, Mom wife, daughter, teacher and kind hearted loving soul.  You will be missed.

Love, Health and Joy,

Dr. Ritamarie

Tags: Adrenal Fatigue, cancer, cleansing programs, detoxification programs, Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, livingfoods, raw foods, raw foods recipes, whole foods
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Avoid Adrenal Fatigue by Taking Time For Self Care

Written by Ritamarie Loscalzo on February 2, 2010 – 4:06 pm -

So what does adrenal faigue have to do with self care?  Everything.  When you take care of yourself, your stress levels go down.  And when your stress levels decrease, that’s a good thing for you!

Do you have any idea what happens on a physiologic level when you gt stressed out, worry about the future or fret about he past?  Your body releases a cascade of chemicals designed to help you escape from tigers.  Your heart rate speeds up, your blood pressure elevated, your sex drive goes away and your digestion shuts down. Does that sound like the rpescription for a healthy, energetic and happy life?  Certainly not

The stress hormone cortisol gets secreted into your blood stream, and makes trouble throughout your body.  Sure,  it helps you to fight tigers, but that’s not going to help you much when you’re getting all stressed out about the state of the economy.  And it certainly doesn’t help you to think of creative ways you can deflect economic trends and prosper in spite of the world around you.  In fact, it does just the opposite.

One of the effects of cortisol is cortical inhibition. That means, it temporarily shuts off the higher-level thinking center of your brain.   This is important when you’re fleeing the real tiger, because solving economic problems would be counter productive when those big teeth are about to turn you into lunch.   Cortisol activates the primitive parts of yoru brain, the survival centers. It also causes damage to a part of your brain called the hippocampus, which is responsible for short term memory.  “Brain fog”, forgetfullness and lack of focus are sigs of adrenal fatugue.

Cortisol also inhibits your immune system and its ability to fight off invaders, to maintain balance, kill cancer cells, and keep you healthy.  Cortisol also makes you fat, especially around the middle.  Why does stress make you fat? Well, stress leads to increased production of cortisol, which  triggers a mechanism in the body to release more sugar into the blood, because you’re going to need it to escape the tiger.

The release of sugar into the blood causes the release of insulin because insulin is what is needed to remove the sugar from your blood and get  it into your cells, where it’s needed. That’s great when you have a real tiger chasing you.  And it doesn’t present a problem when the stress response is infrequent and short lived.  The problem is, in our modern lifestyle we get stressed often and we stay stressed for long periods of time.

And as if it’s not enough to be more prone to illness and cancer, stress kills your sex drive!  And it stresses your mitochondria so they can’t produce enough energy, so you get tired.

If being a stressed out sick and overweight individual with no sex drive and no memory does not sound like fun to you, then you need to learn how to take care of your needs and transform the stressful responses to recharging ones.

In my Transforming Stress teleseminars I describe some of my favorite techniques for turning the stressful times into positive physiologic responses, using the power of appreciation.

I recorded a video on how to make the time for self care, in spite of your busy schedule.  Consistently taking time for self care allows your adrenals to restore, and can even reverse adrenal fatigue.

What do you do to take care of yoruself everyday?

Write it down below for me.

Thanks,

Love, Health and Joy,

Dr. Ritamarie

Tags: Adrenal Fatigue, Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, DrRitamarie, exhaustion, fatigue, fatigue symptoms, Gluten Free Diet, livingfoods, raw and living foods holiday recipes, raw foods recipes
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Detoxification and Leaky Gut Go Green!

Written by Ritamarie Loscalzo on January 23, 2010 – 2:08 pm -

Having Fun with

Living Foods Detoxification

Dr. Ritamarie’s personal Journey Through the Six Week Detox Program

The first week of the 6 week detox is more than half way over, and I’ve been doing it right along everyone!   My “shoulds” told me that Option 3 was the right way to go.  Lots of fresh green juice and wheat grass, sprouts, and green smoothies are after all nature’s perfect detox foods.  They support your liver, provide loads of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, give your digestive tract the rest it needs and the nutrients it requires to repair leaky gut and get rid of pesky bugs, like the candida, parasites and bacteria that most of us have lurking in the crevices of our bowels.  Lovely thought, eh?

My life at this time is not conducive to juicing for hours a day and sprouting and all the preparation and clean-up that entails.   After all, I still need time for kids, exercise, creating new products and programs, research, writing,  seeing patients and and growing my online business to reach the hundreds of thousands of people worldwide whose health needs a lift.  As it is I only sleep 4 hours a night…so where am I supposed to find the time to juice?

I’ve been doing option 2 of the 6 week detox program and LOVING it.  It’s amazing how full you can get mostly drinking and eating green foods, when you space it out and add super nutrient dense whole food supplements.  I’m generally not a big proponent of superfoods and whole food concentrates.  I generally prefer the whole fresh foods as I grow them in my garden.

However,  years of toxic buildup, nutrient deficiencies and a damaged digestive track sometimes require a bit more than salads and fruit to get back into balance quickly.  That’s why I created the leaky gut repair and detoxification protocols we use in the Six Week Deep Tissue Detox Program

The “food only” option that requires juicing, sprouting, culturing vegetables and LOTS of FREE time.  And some of our participants are doing it.  But most are doing option 2, like me, and using some whole foods concentrates, sprouted rice protein and greens powders, along with green smoothies, salads and juice whenever it’s convenient.  You can follow my process and recipes on the Six Week Detox Blog.

Love, Health and Happy Detox smiles,

Dr. Ritamarie

Tags: cleansing, detoxification programs, Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, living foods, raw foods
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Detoxification, Raw Foods, Leaky Gut and the 6 Week Detox Program Progress

Written by Ritamarie Loscalzo on January 18, 2010 – 9:26 pm -

(Written Sunday January 17 at 11PM)

I’m leading a 6 week detox program and I am super excited about how it’s unfolding. (NO, its not drug or alcohol rehab!)

There’s a group of over 100 of us healing leaky gut, getting candida and parasites under control, and enhancing our liver detoxification pathways so we can eliminate the 1000’s of toxins that we’re exposed to or producing each day.

Most disease and dysfunction stems from toxins that overwhelm your body’s ability to eliminate them. This creates challenges to your immune system, hormones, digestion, heart, skin…you get the idea. It effects just about EVERYTHING!

There are lots of detox supplements lining the health food store shelves. That’s not what this is all about either. Yeah, we use some special nutrients, herbs and whole food concentrates to support the detoxification process, but this is a whole lot more. We also focus on creating an emotional detox and creating healthy habits that last a lifetime.

We encourage the use of lots of greens…juices, smoothies, powders, salads and soups. And its so interactive…people get to check in at the end of each week and let us know how its going and we help to personalize the program. So it’s nit just a boxed detox…its all about creating a personalized detox experience and new habits.

I’ll be blogging about it as we go through it, as I am participating fully in the process.

Off to get my detox sweating in – hot tub and sauna. More tomorrow.

Love, Health and happy detox,

Dr. Ritamarie

Tags: 6 week detox, cleansing programs, detoxification programs, Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, DrRitamarie, Leaky Gut, living foods, livingfoods, raw foods, sixweekdetox
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