Big Changes!!

2012 has started with a bang.  All the excitement of the new year, its an election year so we are inudated with campaign ads, and Paula Deen has come out as a diabetic.  Since I love food and cooking I was interested in this turn of events.  I am not sure what piqued my interest more, the fact that she was diabetic and refusing to change her menus or that she was actively getting paid to promote a new diabetes medication. 

The day she announced her diagnosis, I deci...

Growing up as an active teen and young adult I always had the thought of inflammation as exclusively an acute process. Minor traumas from running and horseback riding caused swelling, heat, redness, and pain. These are all the hallmarks of acute inflammation. This physiological process is important to the healing of the tissues and as long as the pain did not interfere with my daily activities I ignored it. Years later, while in medical school to become a Naturopathic Physician I learned abou...

Cannellini beans are also known as white kidney beans.  They are an amazing source of iron (2x more than beef!) fiber and other major and minor minerals. The nutritients these amazing legumes pack include molybedenum, this little element is responsible for detoxification of sulfites and other toxins which can cause headaches and fatigue.  Manganese is also a huge part of the modest cannellini bean, manganese is a big part of he...

Arugula greens are a nice way to start eating a new green. They are superbly flavorful, wonderful for waking the taste buds. Not only that, but looks can be deceiving. Arugula is not a lettuce at all! It is in the kale family, and rich in many minerals and vitamins, far exceeding iceberg or other lettuce, and perfect for salads and spring dishes. So why not?

Even if arugula is new to you, consider this:

- Arugula contains about eight times the calcium, five times the vitam...

@VivacityHealth was awarded 5th place in the Oregonian's FoodDay twitter contest.  Entries had to create a recipe and tweet it in less than 140 characters.  There were some great recipes that were created.  Check it out on http://www.oregonlive.com/foodday/index.ssf/2011/02/bruschetta_takes_top_tweet_in.html

and the chocolate hazelnut spread was further raved about being c...

A great smoothie recipe for breakfast or post exercise

2 ½-3 cups kale, raw chopped

½ avocado

2 cups frozen berries*

1T lemon juice

1-2T honey, preferably raw

1-2 dropperfuls ginger tincture (optional, nice for people with nausea who don’t like ginger and for people who don’t like cold foods as it can be warming in the stomach)

coconut milk to blend

blend and e...

Preventative medicine has different definitions depending on who you ask.  To many physicians it is getting childhood vaccinations and taking an aspirin daily.  Is this all there is?  What about diet and exercise and their role in preventing chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension?  While many people who have perfect diets and exercise may have diabetes and high blood pressure, chronic disease can be prevented in some people.

There is not a on...