Healthy World Digest, August, #30 B

* Why we stress supplements, exercise & lifestyle choices over meds

* The low carb diet controversy

* Colorful foods are best: Purple foods

* Delectable herbs for osteoarthritis

* Dry eyes and dehydration

* Recipe: Chicken & rice casserole

Hi again.

As promised, or threatened, following is this month’s bonus issue of Healthy World Digest, a little late but, hey, it's August.

* Why we stress supplements, exercise & lifestyle choices over meds

Where do I even begin? How about a quick list?

Medications treat symptoms, not disease

Really think those drugs are effective and safe? Note that long term studies and interactions of many medications are not really possible. With herbs, at least we have centuries of anecdotal evidence.

Drug companies keep negative results from studies secret.

This one really makes my ears red. Medical experts now make up conditions to sell meds and they find other uses for popular medications to keep the profits flowing. Hey, your kid doesn’t need a prescription if he’s a shy or a little hyper, OK?

Many drugs don’t work, like meds for moderate depression. That’s right, they flat out don’t work, at least not any better than a placebo.

Here’s some good advice. If you have to take drugs, take generic because results and side effects are better understood over a longer term.

Oh, and finally, when some fellow, in love with drugs, tells you that taking "too many" supplements just results in “expensive urine” first tell him to stick it and then tell him that the same thing happens with prescription drugs, so there.

Geez, this newsletter is so angry.

* The low carb diet controversy

Want to know the truth?

I wrote the title of this item (“The low carb diet issue“) some time ago but I forgot what I specifically wanted to say about the topic. But I’m pretty sure it was important.

Ok, here’s something about the so-called low carb diet that you should be very clear about.

All, ALL effective and respectable diets are essentially low carbohydrate diets.

Let them manipulate the protein and fat, let them rip off Dr. Atkins like the South Beach phony (that’s right, I said it because I don’t like to see fat cardiologists take credit for what Atkins outlined years ago), but they all stress carbs in moderation with little to no simple carbohydrates.

Even the diets that simply end up curtailing all calories essentially work by cutting back on carbs.

I remember my friend being on Nutrisystem and taking out his little, very little, serving of soon-to-be-microwaved soup for lunch. He raved about Nutrisystem. I said, “Oh, that looks good but what are you going to have for lunch?” He replied, “Ah, well…this…um…this is lunch.”

I furrowed my eyebrows and observed, “Mmmm, I think I know why Nutrisystem works. ..They just ask you to eat 1/3 the normal amount of food. Brilliant.”

You need Nutrisystem for that?

* Colorful foods are healthiest

Yeah, it goes back to survival. Colorful foods attract us, we eat ’em, they’re good for us, the more we eat them, the better our bodies use their nutrients, and so on.

Let’s go with purple foods which are rich in antioxidants.

Purple potatoes contain nutrients that help us avert heart disease.

Purple cauliflower contains nutrients that help us avoid cancer.

Oh, and did you know that you could mash potatoes for a great side dish. I’m sure you’ve had them before.

But here’s something you might not have heard of. You could incorporate some cauliflower into your mashed potatoes, adding some butter and salt as usual. Using some cauliflower helps cut back on carbs and it adds nutrients.

Just mash up some cooked cauliflower with your potatoes. Use about 1 part cauliflower to 1 or 2 parts potato. You should not know the difference between classic mashed potatoes and your new fangled ones.

* Delectable herbs for osteoarthritis

A very common problem especially as we age, osteoarthritis could be managed with some very common foodstuffs.

Let’s start with delicious pineapple. It contains an enzyme, bromelain, which helps prevent inflammation. The pineapple must be fresh or take capsules which contain bromelain.

And then there’s ginger. A small study showed that eating ginger could provide welcomed relief from pain and swelling. For more on this terrific herb, visit our page on the benefits of ginger

For more on managing arthritis visit our page on home remedies for osteoarthritis

* Dry eyes and dehydration

A common complaint, especially as we age, is dry and/or burning eyes.

Here’s a first line of defense. Just drink 2 glasses of water. Might help immediately and it can’t hurt.

For more, visit our page on dehydration and dry eyes

<b>* Recipe: Chicken & rice casserole</b>

Great news! I “discovered” a way to make a chicken casserole that’s easy, quick and healthy.

I just put a chicken of desired size in a fairly large, deep casserole pot, pour in a cup or two (I really don’t measure a thing) of cold, filtered water into pot. I then add salt, pepper, spices that I like into water and on chicken. If I want it curry style, I just throw in a bunch of curry powder.

I bake chicken for, oh about an hour or so. By this time there is a whole lot of thin gravy in the pot. I pour around a cup of rice (I like basmati or jasmine) in the pot and maybe some thinly chopped carrots, celery, onion, garlic and anything else I like in chicken.

Cover or don’t cover pot. In about 10 minutes, shut off oven, stir, cover, let sit 10 - 15 minutes and Walla.

Now, to make it really healthy, I put some chia seeds into rice mixture, about 1 - 2 tsps per cup or 2 of rice.

Now enjoy but do note that the chia seeds saps some of the flavor and the chicken itself might be a little flavorless since much of it’s flavor is in the rice mixture. I just chop up some of the chicken meat into rice and enjoy together.

Until September, be well.

tags: low carb diet, herbs osteoarthritis, dry eyes dehydration

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