The Top Three Foods To Avoid at All Costs

- by Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo

When it comes to the dangers of the Standard American Diet, it’s hard to limit all the possible exclusions to only the 3 top foods to avoid, but here goes. The three foods discussed in this video are devastating to your health:

In this video you’ll learn:

• why margarine not only swells your joints and muscles, it increases your risk of heart disease and cancer.
• the mechanism behind how sugar effects your metabolism and why high fructose corn sugar is so damaging to your liver.
• the dangers of white bread, the ridiculous approach to its production, and how it affects your blood sugar with empty, gluten-damaging calories.

Halloween – The True Cost and Ways to Make it Healthy and Fun

The ghosts and goblins will be walking the streets today, carrying their special Halloween treat bags.  What they carry in those bags is far more scary than they, for it has the potential to rob them of their most precious gift…their health.

Americans spend close to two billion dollars every year on Halloween candy!   That’s $2,000,000,000!!!  That’s how much it would cost to send 20,000 students to a decent college for 4 years, or to feed 303,030 kids in Ghana, Africa for a year.  How many hurricane or earthquake victims can be assisted with $2 billion?   What about the hidden costs of Halloween?  The dentist bills, doctor bills, lost productivity and distress that ensues as a result of gorging on candy every October 31st  add up to millions.

The cost of Halloween on our health and the health of our kids is staggering. Since 1980, obesity rates in children have tripled. Today, 13 million children are obese .  The amount of sugar consumed at halloween and throughout the year contributes not only to obesity but to serious debilitating disease, like heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Annual obesity-related medical costs are estimated to be $168 billion.

The ingredients in typical Halloween confections are scarier that the costumes.  In addition to sugar and health damaging oils, they are filled with artificial colors and preservatives.  And, according to Pure Fun Candy,  producers of an organic line of cane juice sweetened candy colored with vegetable and fruit extracts, the FDA doesn’t monitor artificial colors, flavors and preservatives or even require that they be tested. Yet  research published in the Lancet, one of the most respected medical journals,  concludes that food additives affect  brain chemistry in children, resulting in hyperactivity and ADHD like behavior. Lancet 2007, Nov 3:370(9598)1560-7 “Food Additives & Hyperactive Behavior in 3 Year Old and 8/9 Year Old Children in the Community: a Randomized, Double-Blinded, Placebo Controlled Trial.” McCann D, Barrett A, Cooper A, Crumpler D, Dalen L, Grimshaw K, Kitchin E, Lok K, Porteous L, Prince E, Sonuga-Barke E, Warner JO, Stevenson J. School of Psychology, Dept. of Child Health, University of Southampton, UK.  300 Children Studied.

This research prompted Wal-Mart in the UK to ban these additives in children’s foods. Yet American kids continue to consume them in record amounts, especially at Halloween.

So what’s your plan for keeping yourself and your family safe this Halloween?  Here are some suggestions, taken in part from Healthy Halloween Treats

1- Pull your spending power away from the $2 billion spent on candy.  Hand out trinkets like pencils and pads, party favor toys, boxes of raisins or quarters.  If you feel you MUST give candy, try some of the  Pure Fun Candy organic products.  There’s a 3 page list of healthy alternatives in the book  Healthy Halloween Treats.

2- Make your own Healthy Halloween Treats, using fresh,whole, raw organic ingredients and natural sweeteners like date paste and dried fruit powders.

3- Swap the candy your kids collect for trinkets, money or toys.  The book Healthy Halloween Treats has pages of suggestions for new Halloween rituals that the kids find fun.

4- Teach your kids to Trick or Treat for Unicef, or another charity of your choice.  It will teach them the magic of giving.

I’m off to make some caramel coated apples and chocolate covered strawberries for my kids.

Enjoy a  Healthy Halloween safe from the scariest part of Halloween – the candy!

Love, Health and Happy Halloween

Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo

Post below  in the comments area one thing you plan to do to make Halloween safer and healthier for you and your family.

Conquering Food Cravings: Stop Sugar Cravings and Overcome Adrenal Exhaustion

What causes food cravings…you don’t really need the sugar and bread, do you? The cravings for food you you can’t seem to control are a cry from your body for help. What really causes food cravings is a deficiency of one of your basic needs. When nutrients are out of balance, your body craves food to rebuild its stores. When you respond to the cravings with sugar, starches and nutritionally depleted and harmful foods, you add stress to your body, which burdens your adrenal glands. So giving in to food cravings can contribute to adrenal exhaustion.

Learn why and and how breaking free from emotional eating and providing the nutrition you really need will stop cravings in their tracks. By supplying your body with the building blocks of a healthy mind and body, you allow your adrenals to rebuild, your fatigue and exhaustion improve and the cravings lessen.

Question of the Day:  What do you crave and how do you handle it when the craving gets really strong?  Post your answer in the comments box below.

Gluten Free Diet: New Hope for Chronic Fatigue and Other Debilitating Disorders

10 years ago, adopting a gluten -free diet was extremely challenging, to say the least.  First of all, no one knew what it was unless they’d already been told that they needed it.  And then, after all your explaining and educating, you were lucky if you could get so much as a plain salad to eat.Today, EVERYONE has heard of the gluten free diet.  Chances are just about everyone you know is either following a gluten-free  diet or knows someone who is. Gluten intolerance has been linked to a wide variety of health challenges, including chronic fatigue,  eczema, thyroiditis, dementia, balance problems, dermatitis, ADHD, autism, allergy and asthma. In his thoroughly researched book Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma, and Allergies: The Groundbreaking Program for the 4-A Disorders, Dr. Kenneth Bock discusses the role of gluten in children suffering form these 4 disorders.There are many books that are reliable sources of Gluten-Free information, including Dangerous Grains:Why Gluten Cereal Grains May Be Hazardous To Your Health”.  Most of the recipe books include dairy, eggs, refined flours and sugar.  My approach to gluten free recipes is different.  My recipes are completely devoid of eggs, dairy, flour and sugar, in addition to being gluten free. Stay tuned to this blog for announcements about gluten free resources and gluten free recipes.    If you have recipes you’d like to share, submit to recipes@drritamarie.com .  If yours is chosen, I’ll publish and post  to my blog, with links back to you. NEW and IMPROVED: In April I co-taught a class about dehydration with Chef Alicia Ojeda.  We are pleased to announce that the digital videos and the recipe book are now available for purchase atwww.drritamarie.com/Dehydration. The pizza you see above is a sampling of what you can learn to make. Our NEW e-book, currently referred to as The Complete Book of Dehydration is undergoing some final revisions and a name change and will be available soon. Please comment on my below to suggest a title.  If your title is chosen, you’ll win a copy of the book and the web class recordings.  Everyone who submits an entry will receive a coupon for $5 off on the purchase of the book. The DVD Home study kit will be completed before the end of summer, assuming we have no additional glitches.  We’re very excited about it.  Gluten-free, dairy-free eating becomes a joy when you have these delicious whole, living foods treats to look forward to. Remember to suggest a book title for our amazing collection of foods you can make in your dehydrator. Here’s a working list of the chapter titles: Getting to Know Your Dehydrator Seasoned Nuts and Seeds Fruit Roll=ups and “Candies” Veggie Crisps Pizza Crackers Flat breads and Tortillas Breakfast cereals Desserts and Sweet Treats Warming, Fermenting and Sprouting in the Dehydrator Entrees and Side Dishes “Cheese Yogurt” and other Dairy Substitutes Seasonings Fillings and Condiments to complete your dehydrated meals Is a hot title popping out at you?  Comment below and submit your suggestion.  You’ll receive a $5 off coupon and a chance to win a free copy of the book and access to the online video recordings. Love, Health and Joy to you, Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo

New Findings About Vitamin D, An Often Overlooked Cause of Fatigue, Depression and Chronic Disease

Vitamin D is being researched more and more and deficiencies have been found to be rampant in our Western World. Vitamin D is called the Sunshine Vitamin because your body can make it when exposed to sufficient sunshine.

Vitamin D3 is actually a steroid hormone formed when your skin is exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation. UVB converts a cholesterol derivative in your skin into vitamin D3.

Controversy abounds about just the right amount of sunshine needed to produce adequate Vitamin D, and most experts are now recommending testing and supplementation for those that are low.

If you live in the tropics and spend most of your time outdoors, chances are good you have plenty of vitamin D. If you live in Alaska, or Seattle, chances are that you don’t. For those of us in between, how do we know?

A simple blood test can test for vitamin D levels. I’ve been recommending that you can rely on mother nature if you are exposed to sun over 25% or more of your body 20 minutes or more each day. On the days when this is not true, take a supplement. Liquid D3 seems to be the most effective.

Today I ran across an article by Dr. Joe Mercola and I was shocked at the title, which said that exposure to sunshine could decrease your vitamin D levels.

Turns out that window glass  filters out the majority of UVB radiation, but it minimally filters out UVAs. Vitamin D3 is formed from exposure to UVB rays.   UVA radiation destroys vitamin D.

Whoa, hold on. Being indoors not only keeps you from making the Vitamin D you need but destroys the Vitamin D you already have! Wow.   This is actually a clever method that nature has to prevent Vitamin D overload. It helps destroy excess vitamin D when you’re outside a lot.

When you are outside, you get BOTH UVA and UVB, so there is a balance. When you’re exposed to sunlight through windows you get the UVA but almost no UVB. To make matters worse, UVA increases oxidative stress. So working indoors and driving in a car can lead to health challenges. All the more reason to retire to the beach.

UVA is a primary player in skin cancer. It also what causes you to tan and leads to photo aging of your skin.

Dr. Leonard Smith discovered that increasing his vitamin D levels resulted in the resolution of skin conditions such as moles and basal cell carcinoma.

Vitamin D and Showering

Another interesting tidbit about Vitamin D that Dr. Mercola wrote about was the association between Vitamin D levels and showering with soap.

It turns out that the Vitamin D3 formed on the surface of your skin does not immediately get absorbed into your bloodstream. It actually takes up to 48 hours to absorb the majority of the vitamin D you made as a result of sun exposure.

So, if you shower with soap, you’ll wash away a lot of the vitamin D3 your skin generated. Since you are not likely to want to go so long without a shower, Dr. Mercola recommends that you reserve the soap for your armpits and groin, and wash the rest of your body with plain water. I usually do that anyway, so I’m happy to hear that there’s a benefit beyond saving money on soap!

In summary, here’s how to ensure that you get adequate Vitamin D levels:

• Get safe outdoor sun exposure or use a tanning bed, 20 minutes a day. Just be careful to avoid getting sunburned.
• If you can’t or won’t get adequate sunlight, take a liquid Vitamin D3 supplement. Just be sure to get your vitamin D levels checked regularly, to be sure you are dosing porperly. You can get the testing done without a doctor’s prescription at www.directlabs.com.
• If you shower after sun exposure, avoid soaping exposed areas for for at least two days, to maximize the absorption of vitamin D in your skin.

Vitamin D needs to be taken seriously. Deficiencies can lead to many health challenges including heart disease, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, hypertension, arthritis, depression, inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, PMS, Crohns Disease, cancer, MS and other autoimmune diseases.

So go have some fun and get your vitamin D levels optimized.

Love, Health and Joy,

Dr. Ritamarie