It’s starting. I’m hearing stories of how stressed people are getting about the holidays. They’re worrying about the expectations surrounding gifts and family get-togethers, over-indulging, and having way too much to do with only two more weeks to get it all done.  Given the numerous ill-effects that stress has on our health, including our immune system (one of the reason why so many people get sick at this time of year), if we can’t find ways to minimize our stress, we can at least do a few things that will help our bodies and minds deal with it.

I first heard the expression “bless it, don’t stress it” about 15 years ago from Dr. Dorothy Marshall, co-founder of the Marshall Health Clinic and the International Academy Health Education Centre.  I was, and still am, very fortunate to be under her guidance and mentorship.

Early on, Dr. Marshall shared two valuable pieces of advice that I do my best to embrace every day. The first one was “bless it, don’t stress it” and the second one was to “strive for progress rather than perfection” –  two things that many of us tend to forget – especially over the holidays, which is likely a time when we could benefit from them the most.

Last year, my December Tip of the Month, The Twelve Tips of Christmas, offered twelve nutrition-related tips aimed to help you enjoy all of the treats and indulgences that come with the holidays without totally blowing it. With a focus on “progress rather than perfection”, incorporating even just one of those twelve tips would be meaningful.  I’ll be recycling the twelfth tip, Bless It, Don’t Stress It, in this month’s post.  So, apart from the common advice that often gets shared at this time of year, including getting enough sleep, keeping up with your exercise, and continuing to strive for healthy food choices, here are five tips that can help you stay merry.

 1. Get a Stress-Busting Treatment

Many natural modalities have been shown to enhance the body’s ability to cope with stress. These include, and are not limited to, massage, acupuncture and reflexology.  A lot of people love this option as they can relax while someone else does the stress-busting work for them.  The first time I went for a foot reflexology session, I loved it so much that I decided to get training so I could offer this amazing treatment to others. Reflexology is so much more than a ‘foot massage’. While it definitely is a treat-for-the-feet, when properly done, reflexology offers numerous health benefits that affect the entire body, including releasing tension, reducing stress, and promoting relaxation.  If you would like to gift yourself or someone you know with a health-boosting, stress-busting reflexology session, you can purchase a gift certificate here. Simply select the ‘Custom Amount’ option from the drop down amount menu, enter $60, then follow the instructions to complete the purchase. In a few quick steps, you’ll be all set with a unique gift idea that will make someone healthier and happier!  Interestingly, wishing others health and happiness has been shown to reduce our own stress, so whether you gift yourself or someone else with a reflexology session, either way, you benefit! This leads nicely into the next tip.

2. Send Some Loving Kindness

A few months ago, I read an article in Dr. David Williams’ Alternatives newsletter that was all about balancing our stress response.  The newsletter shared many new research findings related to this topic, including something called ‘Loving Kindness Meditation’. Researchers at the University of North Carolina found that this type of ‘meditation’ strengthens the vagus nerve. A critical role of the vagus nerve is to help the body recover from stress. The stronger our vagus nerve is, the more efficiently our body recovers from stress.  So how do you go about loving kindness meditation? It sounds pretty easy.  First, find a quiet place, make yourself comfortable there, close your eyes, focus on your breathing, and visualize someone you know – it may even be you! Next, focus your attention on everything you like about that person (let’s call them John) so that you start to feel warm and fuzzy towards them.  Next, you repeat the following:  “May John feel safe; May John feel happy; May John feel healthy; May John feel at ease.” Once you’ve sent John some heart-felt virtual loving kindness, you can shift your focus to someone else and repeat the process. According to the article, doing this at least once a day can strengthen the vagus nerve. Pretty cool, huh?

3. Give and Receive Hugs

Stress of any kind makes our adrenal glands secrete cortisol, which is our main stress hormone. Elevated cortisol levels can have numerous ill-effects on our overall health and well-being, including sleep issues, depression, feeling overwhelmed, and weight gain or difficulty losing weight. Research has shown that there is a hormone that can suppress cortisol, and that hormone is oxytocin. Most people associate oxytocin with promoting uterine contractions; however, recent research is calling oxytocin ‘the love hormone’ … and believe it or not, both men and women can stimulate its production by giving and receiving hugs. One of my daughters is studying Neuroscience and recently shared a link with me regarding a Ted Talk on oxytocin. It was so interesting, I watched it a couple of times. Having an Italian background, giving and receiving hugs comes naturally to me, so I love that hugging  has been shown to be an oxytocin-promoting (aka stress-busting) activity. I’m sending you a virtual one right now!

4. Try a Cup of Calmness

There are a lot of herbs that help our body deal with stress. Three very effective ones are valerian, hops, and passionflower. They are all available as teas, either as single varieties or as blends. Try having a few cups during the day instead of automatically going for another cup of caffeinated coffee. While many people think of coffee as a ‘pick-me-up’ during stressful times, one of the things caffeine does is stimulate your likely already overworked adrenal glands to pump out more cortisol (remember, cortisol is our main stress hormone and levels are likely already up there without the help of coffee).  If you’re not a tea drinker, these herbs are also available in supplement form. A product that delivers good results is V.H.P. by Biotics Research Canada.

  5. Bless It, Don’t Stress It

When you do have the occasional holiday indulgence, it’s important that you thoroughly enjoy it. Stressing over it will set off a negative emotional and physiological cycle that won’t do you any good. Shifting from stressing to blessing can be as simple as what you say to yourself or others; for example, which sounds better to you: “I think I’ll treat myself to a piece of cake” versus “I think I’ll cheat and have a piece of cake”.  I’m not implying that you can eat desserts and drink eggnog with every meal for weeks and just wish the ill effects away; after all, the definition of a ‘treat’ is something that is out of the ordinary – something that we do once in a while, and thoroughly enjoy. Remember, in the end, it’s likely not a few days of holiday indulgences throughout the year that are going to do you in … just as going on a diet for a few weeks in the New Year isn’t likely going to lead to meaningful changes that will last a lifetime.  By keeping moderation in mind, and reviewing my December 2012 Tip of the Month, I trust you’ll be able to eat, drink, and stay merry over the holidays.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Yours in health,

Anna

November is National Diabetes month, so perhaps you would think that this month’s tip is going to focus on what you can do to prevent or reverse diabetes (yes, both are possible); however, it’s not. This month’s tip is intended to make you aware of the numerous other health issues you may be experiencing right now that are associated with eating sugar and anything that turns into some form of sugar, including grains, rice, corn, starchy foods, and anything that is made with them.

Sugar is Hiding Everywhere!

Start reading the labels on packaged goods that you purchase, and you’ll likely discover that sugar is listed as an ingredient at least once – and likely multiple times – as there are so many forms of sugar being used now: corn syrup, rice syrup, agave syrup, dextrose, maltose, maltodextrin, barley malt, evaporated cane juice, fruit juice concentrate, mannitol, glucose-fructose, high fructose corn syrup (often cited as the WORST offender), blah, blah, blah, blah, blah! The list goes on and on; in fact, earlier this week, someone sent me a picture of the ingredient label of a well-known table salt, and sugar was listed! That’s just one reason to use natural, unprocessed sea salt! I’m not saying that we can never eat or drink anything with sugar in it ever again, but chances are most of us should be cutting back a little…or maybe a lot.

Scary Stats

While I’m not focusing on diabetes, we shouldn’t ignore the fact that according to the Canadian Diabetes Association, more than 9 million Canadians are living with diabetes or prediabetes. That’s just over 25% of our population! How can we ignore that? We also shouldn’t ignore the fact that Adult Onset (Type 2) diabetes is no longer an adult disease, as it is being diagnosed in children at an alarming rate, and that Alzheimer’s disease is now being referred to as Type 3 diabetes. Why on earth is this happening, and what can be done about it?

It’s Not Just About Diabetes

In my opinion, the issue with sugar consumption and blood sugar balance isn’t just whether or not you get a diabetic or prediabetic diagnosis, but rather if your nutritional and lifestyle choices are moving you towards healthy or unhealthy blood sugar levels – it shouldn’t be about a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ diagnosis! Do you really want to wait until you are diagnosed with diabetes or prediabetes to take action?

Over the years, I’ve read a lot of studies that linked various health conditions to sugar consumption and blood sugar imbalances. What if I told you that some of these studies showed that blood sugar issues can:

• suppress your immune system, making you more susceptible to catching colds and flus, and increasing the risk of more serious diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer
• weaken your bones and lead to osteoporosis
• raise ‘bad’ cholesterol numbers and decrease ‘good’ cholesterol numbers
• affect behaviour, learning, and mood
• cause issues with the digestive system, including increasing the risk of food sensitivities, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis
• cause multiple nutrient deficiencies which will have widespread consequences throughout the body
• increase your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease
• make it virtually impossible for you to lose weight

The last point is especially important given the epidemic we are seeing with people being overweight or obese (both are risk factors for numerous other health issues). Interestingly, the hormone that balances our blood sugar, insulin, has a lot to do with our ability to burn fat and lose weight. Why? Because insulin is known as a ‘fat-storing’ hormone; that means it is physiologically impossible to burn fat/lose weight without balancing our insulin level, which depends on our blood sugar level.

Ready For An Ounce of Prevention?

You’d be surprised at the number of factors that affect our blood sugar and insulin levels including what, when, and how we eat, what we drink, how we handle stress, lifestyle choices, and supplements.

For more information that will help you balance your blood sugar and insulin levels, which will in turn positively impact so many areas of your health, I invite you to attend a workshop I’ll be holding on Tuesday November 26^th, from 7pm-9pm at the International Academy Health Education Centre, 380 Forest Street, Ottawa ON. As usual, you’ll get loads of practical tips and tools that you can start putting in to practice right away. You’ll also receive informative handouts and an opportunity to win one of several great door prizes. For more information or to register, click here.

In the meantime, here are a few nutritional tips that can help to balance blood glucose and insulin levels, and a recipe that incorporates all of them!

• Eat more high fibre foods, especially vegetables. Dietary fibre, especially those that are water-soluble, such as pectin, have been shown to have anti-diabetic and insulin-regulating properties. Foods high in pectin include: apples, pears, citrus fruit, carrots, beets, cabbage, onions, artichoke, okra, fennel, and squash; in fact, research is being done regarding the use of pectin from certain types of squash as a food additive.
• Eat more healthy fats, especially coconut oil. Coconut oil has been found to help regulate blood sugar levels, improve insulin sensitivity, increase metabolism, and promote weight/fat loss.

• Add cinnamon. Research has shown that as little as ¼ to ½ teaspoon of cinnamon per day can lead to approximately a 20% drop in blood sugar.

• Use natural, unprocessed sweeteners. For those times when you do want to add a little sweet to your life, use sweeteners such as local raw honey or pure maple syrup. Remember that these are still sweeteners, so they should be used in moderation.

There are so many other great things you can do to promote healthy blood sugar and insulin levels, which in turn will promote a healthier more vibrant life! I look forward to sharing them with you at my workshop.

Take control of what you can!

Yours in health,

Anna

For those of you who follow Perfect Resonance on Facebook, you know that I’ve posted a lot of photos of my veggie garden this season. I love being able to grow my own vegetables, not only for the obvious nutritional benefits, but also for the enjoyment I get from spending time in the garden.

For me, there’s no better way to start the day than spending some peaceful time in the early morning connecting with nature in my own backyard.

Because I’m Italian, it’s no surprise that much of my garden space is devoted to tomatoes. Even though I’m eating tomatoes at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, my tomato plants are so prolific this year (thanks to healthy seedlings and some gardening tips from local Master Gardener Tom Marcantonio), I can’t keep up with ways to serve fresh tomatoes!

There’s no way I want to waste a single one of these beauties, so I’m preserving whatever I don’t use fresh right now in order that I may enjoy their vine-ripened goodness in sauces, stews, soups, and more, throughout the snowy, sub-zero months to come.

Yes, they are coming…

Canning & Freezing Tomatoes Just Like My Mom and Dad

My mom and dad always canned tomatoes, and I did it for a couple of years too. It was pretty labour intensive and time consuming, so I’ve adopted a hassle-free preserving method that suits most of my tomato-including recipes just fine, and that is to simply freeze them whole. All you need are: whole local vine-ripened tomatoes, freezer bags or freezer-storage containers, and most importantly, freezer space.

My Quick 5-Step Process

Step 1: Pick or buy vine-ripened, local tomatoes.

Step 2: Rinse them in the sink under running water to get all the dirt off.

Step 3: Dry them thoroughly, and cut out the core, as well as any bruises or spots/scars (basically, cut out anything you wouldn’t want to eat if you were going to eat them fresh).

Step 4: Place the tomatoes on wax paper or parchment paper lined cookie trays (or any other freezer-friendly dish or tray that will fit in your freezer) so that they are not touching and place the trays (with the tomatoes on them!) in the freezer until the tomatoes are frozen solid. Depending on the size of the tomatoes, they should be frozen in 3 or 4 hours. You can leave them overnight too.

Step 5: Transfer the frozen tomatoes into freezer bags or containers, seal well, label the freezer bags/containers with the date, and immediately return them to the freezer and store until you need them.

Enjoying Frozen Tomatoes

Whole frozen tomatoes should keep for up to a year, but it’s best to use them within 6 months or so. It’s also best to thaw the tomatoes out before using them. Simply place them in a bowl until they are completely thawed, then drain off any excess water.

Be aware that frozen tomatoes lose their texture, so when you thaw them, they’ll be pretty mushy. They may also lose a bit of their flavour, but overall, they’re perfectly fine for use in cooked dishes that call for some tomatoes. If you don’t want to use the skin, just run lukewarm water over the frozen tomato and you should be able to pull the skin off pretty easily.

Why Bother Freezing Tomatoes?

Why do I bother doing this when I can buy tomatoes at the grocery store all year round?

Unfortunately, since fully vine-ripened tomatoes are quite delicate, many commercial operations harvest them when they’re still green so that they can be more easily packaged and shipped. These green tomatoes are exposed to ethylene gas to turn them red, so they look ripe without actually having gone through a natural ripening process which allows them to reach their full nutritional value. That’s one of the reasons I freeze my own tomatoes. In fact, at certain times of the year, it’s likely that store bought canned tomatoes will be higher in nutritional value than the fresh tomatoes available in the produce department.

There’s nothing better than eating locally and in season! Tomatoes are among the easiest vegetables to grow, so if you’ve never tried it, consider planting some next year. They do very well in pots if yard space is an issue, and remember that they do like full sun.

I recently posted my Tomato and Basil soup recipe on my Facebook page. It’s delicious! To learn about the amazing health benefits of tomatoes, why people with arthritic conditions may have to avoid them, and one of my favourite ways to enjoy them, check out my September 2008 Tip of the Month.

Yours in health,

Anna