Category: Blog

A very hungry hunter has his bow pulled back tightly. He focuses on his target with narrowed eyes and adrenaline courses through his veins making his heart beat rapidly. Did you see a scenario like this on the way home from work, or the grocery store today? Of course not! Modern food hunting is more like stopping to ask, “Where would I find the fresh meat?,” while pushing our slippery wheeled carts along slick floors.

At the meat counter you notice right away that all cuts of grass fed beef cost twice as much, so you look elsewhere for a better deal. Let me give you one reason to “hunt” grass fed verses grain fed beef this week when making your choices.

2-4 TIMES MORE OMEGA-3
“Meat from grass-fed animals has two to four times more omega-3 fatty acids than meat from grain- fed animals.” (1) Wondering why? Let’s take a look.

COWS DESIGNED FOR GRASS
If you”™ve had the chance to watch the documentary Food, Inc., then you might remember that half of the corn and most of the soy raised in this country goes to feed livestock. But cows are naturally ruminants, meaning they have a second “stomach” which is fertile ground for essential biological transformations, much like a compost pile. They are designed to eat fresh grass, not GM corn and soy. Also, “grass is a low-starch, high-protein fibrous food, in contrast to carbohydrate-rich, low-fiber corn and soybeans.” (2) The consequence for changing their natural diet is more discomfort for the animals, and a significant loss in nutrients like omega 3 oil, vitamin E, and CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), a newly discovered fatty acid which seems to have potent anti-cancer properties. (3) The old saying is true, “you are what you eat!”

HOW TO AFFORD BETTER MEAT
To overcome the cost obstacle of eating grass fed beef, here at Orange Tree Lane we”™ve come up with what I call the Bean Balance. I spend $8.00 lb.. to buy a more nutrient dense, hormone and antibiotic free meat from a cow raised in (hopefully) more humane conditions, and then another night that week we eat our $1.36 worth of beans wrapped in something like delicious burritos with all the fixings. It all balances out in the end, and we are all the better for it because beans are also extremely nutrient dense.

Next week we”™ll look at the benefits of meat as our only source of vitamin B12, and how that vitamin supports life itself. Enjoy the bean balance this week between Sirloin Salad and Black Bean Burgers. I’ve also done my best to copy the Apple Essence Chicken Salad at a favorite local restaurant, and you can use my this to serve with the leftover sirloin instead of the Quinoa and Greens. For that matter, you could make the home made lunch meat chicken which I have included a recipe for, and just use some of that to top the salad. So many choices!

Happy Hunting, and come leave a comment on the side.

I would love to hear your thoughts about the The Bean Balance,

PS- I found out later that I wasn’t supposed to be so close to the guy above when I took his picture. Do you think he minded?

For a very good and thorough article: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1200759-2,00.html

(1)& (3) http://www.eatwild.com/healthbenefits.htm
(2) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1200759-2,00.html

This information is solely for informational purposes. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. Neither Orange Tree Lane or any of its affiliates take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action or application of medication which results from reading or following the information contained in this information. The publication of this information does not constitute the practice of medicine, and this information does not replace the advice of your physician or other health care provider. Before undertaking any course of treatment, the reader must seek the advice of their physician or other health care provider.

(picture: spaghetti squash in recipe at end)

How refreshing, although tragic, to see the headline news today on Fox…”The Ultimate Sacrifice of Father, Soldier, Hero”, the report of a US soldier sweeping up a young Afghan child from the path of 16 ton armored vehicle but ultimately dying of his injuries from the incident. He leaves behind three small children here in the States. Was this wise? Doesn’t matter either way. At this point the only thing to think about is what motivated him to make that split second decision. Our thoughts, ideals, truths, and beliefs are ultimately played out in our life choices, and its the split second decisions which show them most honestly. “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) I surmise that his actions must have been motived by an unconditional love for human beings, a conviction rooted in the belief that human life has an exalted value above most everything else. It’s not often that any of us are called to do much beyond the mundane, but when the call does comes we can’t help but stop and react. When it comes to someone we have been privileged to observe, we would be foolish to miss the chance to reflect on this window into the soul of another. Would we do the same? Do we share the same conviction(s)? Are the roots of our core values more or less deeply entrenched in the soil of our character?

Forgive me for moving on to nutrition. In no way to I means to trivialize this man’s sacrifice. Sharing his story is simply where my mind is because I am in that place of reflection, and it happens to be time to get this out this week. How we treat our bodies will influence how we live. If you eat randomly, there are most likely few convictions holding you back from thoughtless consumption. If you have become a bit more informed, you may have made a few changes in what you are eating. And then there are those who are 100% dedicated to the concept of “clean” and healthy eating. Let me tell you, in my humble opinion it has never been more complicated, but that is exactly why I love the article I am going to share below.

The author “Dr. Christian Renna is a nationally recognized expert in the field of contemporary preventive medicine and the founder of LifeSpan Medicine clinics.” (1) “Preventive” is the word I love here because my enduring belief and deeply rooted conviction about eating is that we are what we eat. Consuming chemically laced and nutritionally stripped food leaves us…chemically loaded and nutrient starved. It’s that simple. But life is complex, so here are 5 very easy to understand steps we can all take to move towards a healthier today and tomorrow.

Dr. Renna acknowledges that our health needs are all unique, but suggests that the following habits will bring greater energy and vitality to all. Huffington Post. Her advice is to master each task for two full weeks before adding on the next one.

1- SLEEP 8 HOURS A NIGHTT. (!!!! I think I did this once this year, but I am putting in an extra 10-15 minutes as I go and hoping to work back up to 8 hours.)

2- ELIMINATE THE “WHITE FOODS”…WHITE FLOUR…( I’ve got that one down pretty well, but now working on gluten because age has brought less tolerance for it, and so much research ties low grade allergic reactions to food to internal inflammation!)

3- …MILK ( Ditto here, although I have been paying extraordinary prices for raw milk and making it available to the kids, plus calcium supplements and lots of dark greens for all.)

4- …SUGAR (Don’t know that I will ever accomplish this one, but making some changes; liquid stevia to sweeten drinks, honey, molasses or sucanat for baking, less chocolate chips and more raisins or craisans in cookies, telling myself “no not now but later” and stretching the time between eating sugar, consuming much smaller amounts in one sitting, to name of a few of the ways I parent myself.)

5- EXERCISE REGULARLY- Start with 15 minutes daily and add minutes until you are up to 45 minutes of walking. ( I go to an exercise class one a week and get pushed to strengthen muscles much harder than I would ever push myself. I make exercise a social event by walking with friends 1-2 times a week on a fairly strenuous trail, and then do some running once a week on my own. I could do more, but this makes me feel good for now and fits into my schedule for now.)

I like the simplicity of it, and really, if you were to master each one of these 5 habits, I would bet you almost anything that you would be really happy with how you felt!

I’ve really enjoyed the menu this week that I am now sharing with you. I was especially pleased to be eating spaghetti squash in Super Spaghetti because I don’t think I’ve cooked it since I had this recipe last year at this time. I suggest tossing it with olive oil, salt and pepper and then mixing it with regular noodles if you are not sure about replacing pasta with squash, but this year I did just that and they liked it! You also don’t get much healthier or easier than Acorn Lentil Soup, so get out your crock pot and make one last warm soup before the weather really warms up!

I’ve shared you with a snippet of my journey to greater health, but I would love to hear about your journey too, and maybe in tackling any one of the 5 points above. So shoot me an email if you think about it and I would love to hear from you! molly@orangetreelane.com

(1) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/30/gwyneth-paltrows-advice-f_n_139301.html

I went to Costco today to find engine oil and noticed they do have some really good looking food. I used to buy things there, but I really struggled to find something I wanted. Why? Because I am fighting the forever battle to get quality ingredients, not just calories. You may call me a food snob, and I guess I have become just that. But before you think that I live on seeds and nuts, let me assure you that chocolate is my most favorite food group followed by breadbutterandjelly. I eat grass fed red meat once a week and would eat cheese in great amounts daily if my stomach could take it. Since their prices are so good there I was really looking for quality meat, meaning grass fed beef, or wild caught fish.
I found ORGANIC ground beef for 4 something a pound, a decent price, but ORGANIC does not mean grass fed, just fed organic corn and soy. Farm raised fish are also fed corn and soy, and there was plenty there at great prices, but the wild caught, smoked salmon was more than $15 a pound.

Sometimes the quest to find quality, affordable ingredients seems like an uphill battle! If you are in this venture with me, do you think we should lose heart? Absolutely not. Find your stubborn streak and employ it! My mother used to call me rubber face because when I set my mind to something my botttom lip would jut out and there was no changing my mind. It’s not always the best way to be, but in this case I don’t think there is any other way to get natural and healthy food.

I’ve been talking about inflammation a lot this all month, and did I mention that it is reversible? Reversing internal inflammation is one of the reasons I don’t give up my search. Let take fats for instance; some cause inflammation while others prevent it.

HYDROGENATED OIL INFLAMES
Remember that your immune system is trying to protect you from invaders, so it starts the process of inflammation whenever something foreign is detected.
Hydrogenated oil is foreign to the body because it has been altered at the molecular level, and therefore it causes an inflammatory response. It is the fat used in commercially baked goods and almost all processed foods, and is therefore easy to find and avoid.

SOLUTION:You can fight this battle easily by cooking and baking more things for yourself using natural, healthy oils and fats. Many health food grocery stores sell every kind of baked good you could want without hydrogenated oils, and I have even found some at the larger grocery stores by reading labels. I remember I had to get tortillas at Henry’s, but I did find some sandwich bread at Albertsons with non hydrogenated oil.

OMEGA-6 INFLAMES
Another oil that causes inflammation is omega-6 oil, which is found abundantly in vegetable oils; corn, soybean, sunflower, and safflower. Omega-6 is not bad in and of itself, but our bodies are designed to use an equal balance of the polyunsaturated oils omega-6 and omega-3. Unfortunately, our modern diet is rich in vegetable oil and poor in omega-3 rich oily fish like salmon, flax seeds and walnuts, and this has created a very unhealthy ratio of about 20:1 of the two oils in most of us. (1) This unhealthy balance also triggers inflammation.

SOLUTION: When baking pancakes, cookies, or something like banana bread at home, replace the vegetable oil with an equal amount of olive oil, or combine the olive oil with some apple sauce. Trial and error will teach you the right combinations, or the Orange Tree Lane baked goods are all made without vegetable oil and the right balances have already been found.

SOLUTION: Eat oily, wild caught fish like salmon or sardines more often, and to learn to include ground flax meal in baked goods and flax oil in dressings and sauces because these ingredients are rich in omega-3 oil. (Now you will understand why so many OTL recipes include fresh ground flax meal and walnuts whenever we get a chance!)

FISH OIL MOST POWERFUL
Fish oil is the greatest concentration of omega-3 oil that you can get, and a daily supplement will help get your balance right again, thereby reducing inflammation. But there is a concern about mercury contamination in our oceans, which in turn gets into the fish who live there. That is why fish oil supplements are such a valuable asset to our health. They come in pill or liquid form, and if you read the labels carefully, you can find brands which purify it from all toxins, chemicals, and metals which get into the fish meat.

Adding fish oil and eliminating vegetable oil from you diet may be the most powerful change you can make to restore balance between the oils, omega-6 and omega-3, to reduce inflammation. (2)

REVIEW

Say No to:
– hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil in processed or commercially baked foods
– concentrated vegetable oils like corn, soybean, sunflower or safflower

Say Yes to:
-grass fed beef which has 2-4 times more omega 3 fatty acids than grain fed http://www.eatwild.com/healthbenefits.htm
– non-hydrogenated foods you find by reading labels and shopping at a health food grocery store, or making your own
– a daily fish oil supplement
– flax meal and oil, and walnuts

I hope you will see your local health food grocery store for PURIFIED fish oil supplements and to discuss a typical dosage for you. Costco may have some, but I didn’t get all the way over to that corner. If you do, look for “purified” on the label!

OTHER INFLAMMATORY FOODS- sugar, dairy, alcohol, white flour, artificial sugar and additives, stress

PS- If you are trying to figure out why I posted the picture of a baby porcupine with this post about inflammation, the only thing I can say is he is too cute for words and I couldn’t help but share. He has nothing to do with inflammation unless you consider getting poked multiple times by porcupine quills…I guess that could do it!

(1) & (2) http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/review/review_winter_05/endoplasmic.html

Good Reading: http://www.cbn.com/health/naturalhealth/drsears_wellness.aspx

http://www.supplementquality.com/news/fatty_acid_structure.html

This information is solely for informational purposes. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. Neither Orange Tree Lane or any of its affiliates take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action or application of medication which results from reading or following the information contained in this information. The publication of this information does not constitute the practice of medicine, and this information does not replace the advice of your physician or other health care provider. Before undertaking any course of treatment, the reader must seek the advice of their physician or other health care provider.

A sudden explosion and warm air, dirt and rock blow into the face of a groggy miner being transported to his station early in the morning in January of 2006. An earlier group is trapped farther down, but lethal carbon monoxide levels turn back a first rescue attempt. Twelve frightened men wait in the dark 2 miles down, sharing life -giving oxygen from eight emergency tanks, hoping. Hours later families up above are told they are still alive. They clear the church and roll out the red carpet to welcome their beloved husbands, sons, brothers. But the men below understand what has happened to them much better, and they are preparing for a very different kind of homecoming. “We began to accept our fate. Toler led us all in the Sinner”™s Prayer. We prayed a little longer, then someone suggested that we each write letters to our loved ones.” Randal McCloy Jr. remembers that because he alone lived to tell, barely. Brain failure, heart failure, kidney failure, and liver failure just about took him home too. How did he recover?

The ambulance whisked him past the weeping, distraught loved ones of his lost friends to the trauma center of the West Virginia School of Medicine. Once there Dr. Julian Bailes could see the very fragile string tethering Randal to this earth. What do desperate people do in desperate situations? If they are wise, they make courageous decisions based on solid facts.

Fact: EPA and DHA, the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil, reduce inflammation. (1) Dr. Bailes believed in the power of this natural healer and started Randal on an unprecedented, radical dose of 30 grams per day. (The USDA recommends no more than 3 grams per day as a safe guideline.) Dr. Bailes credits the oil with reversing the inflammation to Randal”™s internal organs caused by oxygen deprivation, and with repairing the damaged tissue in his brain. (2) Weeks in a coma, 3 months of intensive rehab, and yet finally home and another child in the months to come were the good fate of this lone survivor under the care of Dr. Bailes and his healing prescription.

Our personal stories lack this kind of sensation of course, but internal inflammation like Randal”™s is a real danger to all of us. It”™s called silent inflammation because it doesn”™t cause pain like when we sprain an ankle or stub a toe. Dr. Barry Spears of the Zone Diet puts it this way. “It has a damaging effect on arteries, which can lead to heart attacks and strokes. It destroys nerve cells in the brains of Alzheimer”™s patients. It depresses the immune system and helps promote the formation of cancerous tumors. In essence, silent inflammation is the polar opposite of wellness. It lays the groundwork for chronic disease.” (3) The American Heart Association has even been discussing whether testing for internal inflammation markers should become standard protocol for cardiac care because the connection to heart health has become so clear. (4) Let”™s continue this discussion next week for better understanding about how inflammation works and what we can specifically do to avoid it through diet.

You can READ MORE right now about what causes inflammation in all of us in the Dr.”˜s Corner.

Have you chosen your favorite flavor yet?

Molly

READ MORE ABOUT RANDAL”™S RECOVERY: http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/blog/2006/03/true-medical-miracle.html

READ MORE ABOUT THE ACCIDENT: http://www.mensjournal.com/down-in-the-sago-mine

(1) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15698426 (2) http://www.cbn.com/health/naturalhealth/drsears_mccloy.aspx (3) http://www.cbn.com/health/naturalhealth/drsears_wellness.aspx
(4) http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/review/review_summer_02/txtalumridker.html

You may have already heard the amazing story of Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He went incognito down into a New York subway and played some of the world”™s most intricate pieces of music on a 3.5 million dollar violin for 45 minutes straight. Whereas the night before he had played the same music to a sellout crowd at $100 a seat, this crowd barely noticed he was there because they were so busy hurrying to catch their trains. A few children tried to stop but were pulled away by their parents. Some adults threw change in to his case or stopped for just a minute to listen, but for the most part, he was overlooked. What does that say about the human condition…that we find it challenging to catch trains? I don”™t think so.

Some things are so easily overlooked, not because they are not beautiful or inspiring, but because we are trying to keep it all together, to catch trains. But who wants to keep overlooking the research that points to omega 3’s “anti-aging effects on brain structure and function, from cognition and memory to mental health and Alzheimer”™s prevention”. (1) If omega-3 oil really does help your brain cells communicate better, and if it really can lower your blood cholesterol numbers and help prevent heart disease (2), then aren”™t we a bit like those busy train catchers if we don”™t stop and pay attention?

Take a look at the Omega-3 Club who posed for their annual photograph this week so you can see what they are with your own eyes. Then use one of the 5 suggestions below to infiltrate your diet on a daily basis in some way or another with more omega 3 fatty acids. I prefer the fish oil pill because I can just add it to the other supplements I take, but after consulting with your doctor about how much to take, just do it. It even comes in lots of fruity flavors for goodness sakes!

Pictured from left to right: walnuts, flax oil, coffee grinder, whole flax seeds, lemon flavored fish oil, fish oil capsules, salmon

5 WAYS TO GET MORE OMEGA 3 IN YOUR DIET:

1. Put the fruit flavored fish oil in a morning fruit shake or glass of orange juice.

2. Regularly replace some of the flour in a baked recipe with some fresh ground flax meal. 1/4 c. is usually safe, but you can try more. It just depends on what you are making.

3. Make salmon a monthly or weekly treat and each more fish. Remember that beans are a great budget balance for the price of fish..

4. Make our Oatmeal Nut Cookies which have 3 c. walnuts, and add walnuts to other baked goods like cookies, muffins and pancakes as you do flax meal.

5. Make our Caesar Salad dressing using either anchovies or sardines, both omega-3 suppliers.

(1) http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2010/aug2010_Omega-3-Fatty-Acids-Increase-Brain-Volume_02.htm
(2) http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/993.html

This information is solely for informational purposes. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. Neither Orange Tree Lane or any of its affiliates take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action or application of medication which results from reading or following the information contained in this information. The publication of this information does not constitute the practice of medicine, and this information does not replace the advice of your physician or other health care provider. Before undertaking any course of treatment, the reader must seek the advice of their physician or other health care provider.

Why would anyone go without solid food and just live of of the juice of vegetables and fruit for a set time? If you happened to watch the documentary I have been talking about called Sick, Fat, and Nearly Dead then you know that it’s author and star Joe Cross lost a tremendous amount of fat and got off a truckload of prescription drugs by juicing for 60 days. He followed this fast with a much healthier lifestyle which included many fruits and vegetables as he had not done before.

Restoring health and weight loss are two common reasons for juice fasting. The Gerson Institute here in San Diego uses the juice of fresh, organic vegetables and some fruit to fight cancer, and they have a 60 year track record of helping restore the immune system so that it can fight cancer itself without radiation. As for weight loss, just watch the video and you will see Joe seem to disappear in front of you.

The premise of juicing is that the healing powers found in fresh, raw organic produce can be consumed in large doses and quickly when all of the fiber has been removed by a juicer it is easy to drink a lot. The juicing takes care of most of the digestive process before it even goes down your esophagus, thus making the vitamins, minerals and enzymes available for the business of healing, cleaning and eliminating.

Like I said before, I’ve been juicing to replace a meal here and there for awhile now, but I decided to do a bigger cleanse over a period of days to see what effect if any it has on my digestive system. If nothing else, it’s a good way to give it all a break and a spring cleaning! So today is my second day. I’m still alive. This morning I had a 16 0z. cup of apple, orange, grapefruit, blueberry and blackberry juice. I felt hungry around 11:00 so I had a green drink of green apples, kale, cucumber, celery, fennel bulb and basil. To be perfectly honest I felt such a strong desire to eat something solid a few hours later that I had some dried dates, so you could say I am not a juicing purist. For dinner I plan to have some broth along with another vegetable juice including a sweet potato because I have never juiced one and I’ve found quite a few recipes online that include it.

So there you have it. Some people experience had aches, a filmy tongue, bad breath, nausea or lack of energy within the first three days of fasting. (1) I haven’t experienced anything of those symptoms yet here at the end of day two, but that could be because I am pretty caffeine free and withdrawal from that certainly causes headaches. The only thing I notice is the strong desire to sink my teeth into a big piece of bread slathered with butter. I need to think about something else now.

I think the safest advice I could give anyone about juicing would be to suggest adding it to the diet you already have.

* If you make protein shakes then add juiced vegetables instead of high sugar fruit juices for the liquid.

*If you come to the afternoon and reach for the coffee pot for some energy, juice instead and you will feel refreshed and energized from the dose of vitamins, minerals and enzymes. (Remember that raw fruits and vegetables provide these same nutrients but in less concentration.)

When it comes to starting any kind of true fast from solid food, be sure to consult a doctor before because it can seriously aggravate current health problems like hypoglycemia and diabetes.

I’m going to leave you with the greens juice recipe that I really liked today…

2 green apples
3 cups spinach leaves
8 leaves swiss chard or kale
1 whole cucumber
4 stalks celery
1/2 fennel bulb
1 bunch basil

(1) http://www.naturalnews.com/027576_juice_fasting_weight_loss.html

Right behind my computer on a counter top sits a large aquarium inhabited by two, very small desert tortoises. In September they started scratching endlessly in the sand and then they disappeared into a little burrow for a long winter nap. But winter is busy winding itself up, so we helped them wake up with a bath in some slightly warm water to help them rehydrate right away. Another sign of the season change is the jasmine bushes someone had the foresight to plant next to the trash cans on the side of our house. Once a year it is an absolute delight to go hang out by the trash cans and breath in their magnificent perfume mingling with the sweet smell of orange blossoms budding on the trees. Lacrosse practice has started, my cumquat tree is covered with almost ripe fruit and the little sticks left on the pruned rose bushes are blooming with dark green and red leaves. Spring is coming!

JUICING VEGETABLES TO GET MORE ENZYMES
Another lively thing I’ve noticed lately is the benefits of juicing vegetables. My standard drink has been a combination of (in order of volume) carrots, celery, green apples, beets and radish. I was inspired by the documentary “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” to take advantage of this very efficient way to ingest a massive amount of vitamins, minerals and digestive enzymes instead of relying on a less absorbable multivitamin. Result? I”™ve been using these drinks to replace a meal here and there for the past 6 weeks, and after paying very close attention to how it makes me feel I can honestly say- Energized! Along with an increased amount of energy I have also noticed that my complexion seem clearer than ever. I”™m thinking that the abundance of digestive enzymes in raw food, and then juiced into my cup, may be my benefactors.

WHAT KILLS ENZYMES
Do you know what an enzyme is and what it does? First, you have them inside because you were born with the potential to make a certain amount of them, and what they do is break down everything you eat into small, usable parts. Food also has them for the purpose of helping us to digest the food we are eating, but unfortunately, the normal temperatures we use to cook food kill all of them in the food. If you eat very little raw food, then your natural stores of enzymes are constantly being depleted to digest the cooked and processed food you eat.

WHAT ENZYMES DO WHEN NOT DIGESTING
So juicing gives a mega dose of intact enzymes which are ready to do their work in the digestive system without using the body”™s reserves. Apparently there are other jobs those enzymes can get busy doing whenever they are not needed for digestion, kind of like a mother out doing errands while someone else takes care of her children.

One exciting job that you might want your enzymes to be about is the elimination from your body of damaged cells which can no longer do their job yet they still use the nutrients you eat to sustain their life. An accumulation of these free loader cells is thought to accelerate the aging process, and none of us want to support that! (1)

The coming of spring reminds me of new life in the form of flowers, turtles, new sports seasons and so many other things that you will see too if you start to look for them. My experience with the accelerated amount of enzymes I have gotten through juicing vegetables is a feeling of greater energy and smoother skin, both signs of life and vitality within.

TO LIFE!
This week’s menu will help get fresh vegetables on your table in a few ways. First the kale salad recipe shows you how to soften this tougher green without applying any heat, fresh Beet and Walnut Salad with bleu cheese also isn’t heated but is a real crowd pleaser. Lastly, one of our extra recipes this week is a three ingredient, fresh vegetable tray that will go before or with any of the entrees.

JUICING INSPIRATION
If you are interested in trying it yourself to get the benefit of greater vitamins, minerals and digestive enzymes, check out the site from the documentary I mentioned here.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/409781-digestive-enzymes-to-slow-aging/#ixzz1nG3bwuXE

Imagine trying to have a relationship without an arm. Yes, you can imagine it being done, and probably very well even though you may not know someone personally in that situation. What about eyes, or feet, or knees? Yes, yes, yes, but what about a brain, or a heart? Gotcha there. An article on Fox News today about country music legend Glen Campbell”™s fight with Alzheimer”™s states that 10 million Americans today are fighting the same fight and that it is now the battle most feared next to cancer.

Maybe that”™s why omega 3 oil is called “omega”, or Greek for “the end” because life would be impossible to carry on without it. The synapse connections in your brain that enable communication between brain cells are 60% made up of the omega 3 fatty acid DHA. If your diet is deficient in omega 3 fatty acids, then how is that affecting you?

Let”™s start with a few facts:

1- The whole human brain is composed of 60% fat
2- Omega 3 fatty acids are building material for individual cell membranes and enable the best communication
3- Better communication reduces risk of suicide, depression and violent and impulsive behavior. (1) (2)

And that is only the beginning. Omega 3 fatty acids:

– contribute to healthy visual and neurological development
– reduce incidence of Alzheimer”™s and cognitive impairment with age
– help in treatment of mental illnesses like bipolar and schizophrenia
– reduce inflammation which causes coronary heart disease
– reduce incidence of heart attack and stroke
– reduce pain with rheumatoid arthritis (3)

The American way has become the corn, wheat and soy way, meaning these are the crops grown in highest amounts. Massive amounts of these genetically modified grains are then used to manufacture inexpensive, processed food and to feed industrially raised animals for inexpensive meat. Omega 6 fatty acids are prevalent and omega 3 fatty acids are scarce in this food chain, yet this is what most of us are eating”¦processed food made with and meat fed with these grains. The omega 3 fatty acids we need to bring a healthy balance are found in wild caught fatty fish like salmon, sardines and herring.

Currently the Western diet has a ratio of anywhere from 15-30:1 omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids, while many authorities identify a ratio of 4:1 as the boundary of healthy. (4) (5) I never knew what omega 3 oil was or where to get it until well into my 40s, so if you feel baffled by the whole issue don”™t feel bad. I really want you to be at least aware of the national deficiency we have, and to begin your journey of correcting the imbalance in your own life.

DAILY DOSAGE
The USDA recommends up to 3 grams per day of omega-3 fatty acids. There could be some side effects for some people, so allowing a doctor to recommend a safe dosage for you is the most prudent way to go. Other than eating fresh fish or taking a fish oil supplement, there are a few vegetarian options as well; walnuts, walnut oil, flax meal or flax oil, green vegetables like kale, spinach and most other greens and Brussel sprouts.

QUALITY MEANS EVERYTHING
Quality means everything with these fatty acids collected in fish oil supplements because they are often stripped of their nutrient qualities during the extraction and refining process when exposed to heat, light, and chemical residue.
Look for capsules or liquid which are designated
“¢ Modified expeller pressed
“¢ Refrigerated
“¢ No-light black bottles
“¢ Expiration date
“¢ Organic

Get more omega 3 this week by using grass fed beef to make your Lazy Carnivore Lasagna and stashing some flax filled Power Balls in your car for an energy boost when you need it away from home. Or read more options at Lots of Fruity Flavors.

Modern man faces modern challenges, and finding a healthy balance of nutrients in the foods available to us is something good we can do for every relationship we have, starting here at the “end” with amazing omega 3 fatty acids.

(1) (2) http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2006/oct/17/prisonsandprobation.ukcrime

(3) http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/othernuts/omega3fa/

(4) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12442909

(5) http://www.csuchico.edu/grassfedbeef/research/Review%20Grassfed%20Beef%202010.pdf

When I was in high school a really high tech gadget called a pager came on the market and onto the waistband of every really “cool” person. Anyone born after 1975 would probably read this and picture a cave man with a pager clipped onto his or her animal hide diaper, but in all reality, this was cutting edge technology almost just yesterday. My point? Only 30 years later we would be lost without full phone and computer contact with us everywhere we go. Things change so quickly.

CHANGES IN FOOD SUPPLY
In that context, think about our food supply. Before the advent of industrialized farming close to 70 years ago, our food supply was naturally more organic because of where and how it was grown. Produce purchased at the little corner market came from Farmer Bill in the next town over, grandma”™s garden produced sweet tomatoes and buckets of blackberries, or the fish monger at the market place had something for you fresh off the boat.

MAKING OURSELVES SICK?
The easy availability of massive stores filled with highly processed food and produce shipped in from all over the world is unprecedented in human history, but most of us don”™t give it a second thought”¦but maybe we should. It”™s all you”™ve ever known, but does that mean it is good, or the only way? I am not done learning, far from it, but out of my obsessive pursuit of things nutritious I have some to the conclusion that we are, in many instances, making ourselves sick with what we do eat and don”™t eat. Therefore I have become whole-heartedly committed to keeping my family well and bringing along anyone else I can convince to join me.

TAKE TIME TO CARE FOR YOUR HEALTH
It is very possible that someone who lives a long and healthy life in this modern day will have to be someone who takes the time to care about where their food comes from and become knowledgeable about what their body needs for enduring health. I totally understand that at the end of a busy day it”™s always a bit more relaxing to take a look at Oscar night fashion on the red carpet or check messages on Facebook, but these days I truly believe our health depends on the extra effort required.

GRASS FED COWS HAVE MORE OMEGA 3
For example, did you know that cows who are fed grass have a much healthier balance of omega 3 to omega 6 oil than cows which are fed the industrialized menu of corn? (2) This is just one example of a modern change we all need to be aware of for our health’s sake. An ever growing body of research points to omega 3’s crucial role in “anti-aging effects on brain structure and function, from cognition and memory to mental health and Alzheimer”™s prevention”. Scholarly publications put it this way, “People with lower omega-3 levels may be more likely to suffer from a host of cognitive impairments including dyslexia, ADHD, and cognitive decline. (1) Statistics show that Americans now need anywhere from 10-30 times more omega 3 fatty acids than they are getting, so obviously our food and diets are coming up very short in this vital nutrient.

So I’ll pick up the conversation next week about these wonderful omega 3 fatty acids found mostly in fatty fish like salmon, herring and white canned tuna. Hey, I’m paging you now and here’s the message… “Don’t ignore omega 3” by tuning in next week for more.

(1) http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2010/aug2010_Omega-3-Fatty-Acids-Increase-Brain-Volume_02.htm
(2) http://www.mercola.com/beef/health_benefits.htm

I was shocked, absolutely shocked. I thought the Kardashian reality show would really be about them, but instead I found a humiliated ex olympian pretending to be surprised by pooping chickens relocated to his million dollar bath tub, while his overly made up, adult step family lounged around the family room downstairs looking at each other…in the middle of the day. They talked about inane, scripted things that made them look so stupid I don’t know how they live it down in their other real life. If you thought the “fairytale wedding” was a farce, their “reality” show epitomizes form (the appearance of value) over substance (actual value) at it’s Hollywood best.

QUALITY HAS CHANGED
But before I get too condescending towards this bunch, is it possible that our very own groceries are a part of the Kardashian clan… appearing to be real, but under scrutiny coming up deficient? What I mean is, because of chemical pesticides and fertilizers used in modern, industrialized farming methods, our soil has been depleted of many minerals and living microbes which used to find their way into our food. Though vegetables and fruit may be engineered to look more beautiful than ever, but they are deficient in the micronutrients they are supposed to have for our benefit. In other words, the beautiful, flawless apple you just bought from your local grocery store does not contain many of the life giving micronutrients which were present in the apple Eve took a bite of.

“In 2003, News Canada reported that fruit and vegetables contain far fewer nutrients than they did 50 years ago. Potatoes, for example, had lost 100% of vitamin A content, 57% of vitamin C and iron, and 28% of calcium. The report examined data from the US Department of Agriculture involving vegetable quality. Over the entire 20th century the average mineral content in cabbage, lettuce, spinach and tomatoes, declined from 400 mg to less than 50 mg.” (1)

AMERICAN DEFICIENCIES
According the the United States Department of Agriculture, 9 out of 10 Americans are deficient in potassium, 8 out of 10 in Vitamin E, 7 out of 10 in calcium, and 5 out of 10 in Vitamins A, C, and magnesium. (2) And Kim’s “fairytale wedding” ended 72 days later in a bitter divorce. What will be the outcome of our unseen diet deficiencies?

ORGANIC IS BETTER QUALITY
In order to eat fresh produce that has not been stripped of its nutrients, the savvy shopper is forced to wander over to the organic table.

“Virginia Worthington, a clinical nutritionist who earned her doctorate in nutrition at Johns Hopkins, published a review in 2001 of 41 studies comparing the nutritional value of organic and conventional produce. After tallying the data across all the studies, Worthington concluded that organic produce had on average 27 percent more vitamin C, 21.1 percent more iron, 29.3 percent more magnesium and 13.6 percent more phosphorous than conventional produce.” (4)

That is why Organic Food is the fourth and final table leg of Orange Tree Lane, because I believe it is an important shift that all of us need to make in order to give our bodies more nurturing food.

RECIPES THIS WEEK
As always, this week I especially enjoyed the Fish and Greens recipe because it is so nutritious and simple to make with wild caught fish and organic kale. I used the leftover tofu tartar sauce to make the best tuna salad ever! This week I made a few more of my regular favorites, like the scrumptious, yeasty Overnight Blueberry Pancakes and my husband’s annual Fresh Apple Cake for his birthday. And finally, making extra Sweetheart Chicken was so easy to put on top of Angel Hair and Cherry Bows the next night.

If you haven’t already, find the organic section of your store’s produce department and just look at what they have there, or go to your local farmer’s market and look there. Then the next week you can start by replacing just apples or potatoes with the organic alternative because those two are heavily contaminated in the growing process. If you remember the Kaizan way, one step at a time will eventually get you there, and in a good mood too.

Don’t let your menu live the Kardashian way, but eat the Orange Tree Lane way instead by incorporating more of Table Leg #4, Organic Food.

(1) & (2) http://caltonnutrition.com/micronutrient-deficiency-pandemic.aspx
(3) http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2012/01/24/new-study-plant-rich-diet-reduces-mortality-from-heart-disease-stroke/
(4) http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/03/25/HOG3BHSDPG1.DTL&ao=all