Author Archives: Lily Kiswani

About Lily Kiswani

I am an Integrative medicine practitioner. I transitioned into Integrative medicine after three decades of Gynecology practice and Endoscopic surgery. I was the first female Laparoscopic surgeon in India. I have co-authored a textbook, Endoscopic Gynecologic Surgery, available on Amazon. Now, after all these years, with the realisation that I can help people regain their lost health, I find myself inordinately excited and blessed to have this opportunity.

How to Choose Olive Oil

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 from Steven Wright

I think olive oil is delicious, healthy and a great addition to anyone’s diet. I enjoy it regularly, cook with it 20% of the time and honestly think it tastes WAY better than coconut oil.

Of course, that assumes you’re buying high-quality, non-rancid oil, which I’ve found to be extremely confusing and hard. In fact, if you think olive oil tastes kind of like canola oil or other manmade toxic oils (rapeseed, vegetable oil, soy, etc) — then it’s highly likely you’ve never actually tasted real olive oil.

How to Get Real Olive Oil

Visit any supermarket, gourmet store, or corner grocery and you’re likely to find an intimidatingly large selection of olive oils. Go online and the options multiply a hundredfold. Talk about a paradox of choice! I’ve spent what feels like hours in those aisles trying to figure out what bottle of olive oil to buy.

If the oil is fake, then it will likely not only taste like junk but also be harmful to my health, so it’s worth taking some extra care to figuring this out.

How can you choose the most nutritious olive oil for yourself and your family and avoid being duped?

Use the tips below to help you buy authentic extra virgin olive oil with confidence:

  1. The Olive Oil Secret: freshness is key to flavor and nutritional value. Forget about “use by” or “best by” dates. Look specifically for a harvest date on the label. Be suspicious of bottles that don’t include this information, as many don’t. Unlike wine, olive oil does not improve with age. Anything over a year old is past its prime.
  2. Purchase olive oil from a retailer that has a fast turnover. This increases the likelihood that the oils are fresh.
  3. Always buy olive oil certified to be “extra virgin.” The terms “pure” or “light” indicate that the oil did not meet international standards for “extra virgin” and has been chemically refined to mask defects. Also, ignore terms like “cold-pressed” or “first-pressed.” They are meaningless in today’s olive oil industry.
  4. Buy olive oil in dark glass bottles, tins, or other opaque containers. Clear glass bottles might be aesthetically pleasing, but they do not protect the oils from natural or artificial light. (Prolonged exposure to light hastens deterioration of the oil.) At home, store olive oil in a cool, dark place – not next to the stovetop.
  5. Look for the country of origin on the label. Spain, Italy, and Greece may be the world’s largest producers, but high-quality olive oils are also being produced in Chile, Australia, the US, Argentina, South Africa, New Zealand, and even Croatia. You can maximize the freshness of olive oils in your kitchen by seasonally alternating your purchases between countries in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. (In September, for example, oils from the Southern Hemisphere are the freshest in the world. In January, the freshest oils will be from the Northern Hemisphere.)
  6. Find the olive oils that create a peppery tickle in the back of your throat or even induce a cough or two. This reaction is common when the oils are fresh and their polyphenol levels (natural antioxidants) are high. If you are not experiencing a certain pepperiness and bitterness with the oils you use, they are likely old, rancid, or fake.
  7. Look past the packaging – fancy bottles mean nothing, and price is not always an indicator of quality. However, high-quality olive oil with character and personality will not be cheap: a lot of labor and expertise go into creating an excellent product. Winners of international olive oil competitions will almost always feature these honors prominently on their labels. Gold and silver medals are especially prestigious, as they mean the oils’ producers have been recognized for their excellence by trained palates.
  8. When you try an oil, know that color is not a predictor of flavor. A golden-hued oil will not necessarily be buttery tasting. An intensely green oil would seem to suggest pepperiness and pungency, but might be very mild on the palate. Even judges fall prey to color prejudices, which is why professional tasters use color-obscuring tasting glasses, usually blue or brown.

Above all, remember lesson #1, the biggest thing that matters for olive oil is FRESHNESS! And a peppery or bitter tasting oil is one of the biggest indicators of freshness.

Stay Healthy!

7 Nutrition Myths We Grew Up With in the 90s

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COREY PEMBERTON

 

7-Nutrition-Myths-We-Grew-Up-With-In-The-90s

 

Are you hanging on to any nutrition myths?
Buying into nutrition myths is harmful enough, but things get really dicey when people start repeating them.
Hear something enough times, and popular opinions turn into “facts.” It becomes off limits to question them – at least for the average person trying to get healthy.
But more scientific studies are published every day questioning nutrition guidelines we grew up with a few decades ago. Cold, hard evidence is trumping what’s popular.
Most mainstream nutrition groups haven’t updated their advice to match the latest science. But you don’t have to listen to them anymore.
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Here are seven common nutrition myths we grew up with in the 1990s:
1. Eating Fat Makes You Fat
This one is simple and easy to remember, two good reasons why this caught on during the anti-fat frenzy in the 1980s and 1990s.
But it just isn’t true.
Researchers found that a high-fat, low-carb diet was actually more effective for weight loss than a low-fat, calorie-restricted one . This nutrition myth ignores the fact that not all fats are created equal. Some fats will make you fat and unhealthy. But others aren’t unhealthy at all. They’re actually essential for your health. Healthy fats play a role when it comes to fighting inflammation, improving your cholesterol levels, stabilizing your heart, and many other key aspects of health. Following a Paleo diet—which emphasizes fats from animal products, avocados, coconuts, and other sources—gives your body the fuel it needs to stay full, energized, and healthy.

2. Low-Fat Foods Are Healthier
The “fat is evil” idea from the 80s and 90s is so dangerous because it ended up creating a bunch of other nutrition myths (like high-carb diets are better, saturated fat will give you a heart attack, and reduced-fat processed foods are healthy). Because so many people bought in to the idea that fats were bad, they were desperate for low-fat options whenever they went grocery shopping or out to eat. It didn’t take long for the food industry to take advantage. Companies started filling grocery store shelves with low-fat versions of cookies, crackers, and other food to cater to changing consumer tastes.
But the low-fat, processed foods were still junk foods. When food companies took the fat out, they ended up with products that tasted like cardboard. They added salt, sugar, and all kinds of other chemicals and preservatives to hide the bad taste. People ate less fat. But they were eating a heck of a lot more of the stuff shown to cause obesity, diabetes, and all kinds of other serious health issues so common today.
The verdict is in: “low fat” doesn’t mean healthy. It’s usually even worse for you than full-fat food options.

3. A Calorie Is a Calorie
While the amount of calories you take in and expend definitely matters, not all calories are created equal.
You could lose weight by eating Twinkies every day. But you’d rob yourself of key micronutrients, vitamins, and minerals. You might lose weight now, but you’d set yourself up for long-term health consequences.
Studies have shown that this style of weight loss—calorie counting and restriction—hardly ever works in the long term. It’s actually a recipe for yo-yo dieting and constantly changing weight.
The quality of your calories is hugely important. High quality calories actually go through different pathways than low quality calories, and they have a significant effect on fat loss and regulating your appetite.

4. Eat Small, Frequent Meals to Lose Weight
Supporters of this myth argue that eating often “stokes the fire of your metabolism” and makes it easier for the pounds to come off…
But it just isn’t true.
Numerous scientific studies have shown that meal frequency doesn’t affect the speed of your metabolism
The truth: as long as you’re getting enough quality calories, it doesn’t matter how many meals you eat a day.
Eat when you’re hungry until you feel full. And don’t eat when you aren’t. Nice and simple.

5. Eating High-Cholesterol Foods Will Raise Your Cholesterol
Put down the red meat! Put down the egg yolks!
Are you crazy? Those things will jack up your cholesterol. You don’t want to end up with heart disease.
This was common advice in the 90s. Companies that sold egg whites and substitute meat products made a killing from it, but it didn’t do a thing for anyone’s health. The idea was that eating high-cholesterol foods would cause the cholesterol levels in your body to soar. And if you did this often, you’d put yourself at risk of a serious (potentially fatal) heart problem.
This just isn’t true.
Why not?
Because around 75 percent of your cholesterol is made inside your liver . Cholesterol helps your body make hormones, vitamin D, digest food, and all kinds of other key functions. It’s so important your body makes it all the time. Despite what the nutrition myth says, scientific studies have shown that eating high-cholesterol foods has very little impact on cholesterol levels for almost everyone . Finally, it might not even matter even if high-cholesterol foods did increase your cholesterol levels. More studies have seriously disputed the idea that high cholesterol is a solid marker for heart problems .

6. Meal Timing Matters
You’ve probably heard breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
And you’ve also probably heard how you shouldn’t eat after six, seven, or eight p.m.—especially if you want to lose weight.
Conventional thinking is that eating first thing in the morning gives you energy and primes your metabolism to burn quickly throughout the day. But plenty of people (including myself) have started skipping breakfast once they switched to Paleo, whether it’s part of an intermittent fast or just because they aren’t hungry when they wake up.
If anything, skipping breakfast if you aren’t hungry can make you more focused because your body isn’t bogged down digesting food. So the reality is straightforward: eat in the morning if you’re hungry, and don’t if you aren’t.
The other side of this myth—the idea that you shouldn’t eat after a certain time in the evening—doesn’t hold water either. Supposedly, calories consumed close to your bedtime are more likely to end up as extra body fat because your metabolism slows down while you sleep.
This isn’t true, either . Creating an artificial limit for yourself where you have to stop eating (even if you’re hungry) doesn’t help you lose weight. It just sets you up to be cranky, tired, and more likely to binge when you finally do eat.
Let your instincts be the guide. Eat when you’re hungry, and don’t force yourself to eat when you aren’t just because you’re “supposed” to.
7. A High-Carb, Low-Fat Diet Is the Healthiest Way to Eat
The idea that a high-carb, low-fat diet is the recipe for health is probably the most widespread nutrition myth around. It’s also probably the most dangerous.
In the 90s it was the food pyramid. Now, it’s MyPlate (which is slightlybetter, but still pretty awful). But there’s a common theme: grains and carb-heavy foods play a key role. But fats are something to avoid.
Yet scientific evidence has destroyed these guidelines. Studies have found that a low-carb, high-fat eating pattern—the exact opposite pattern of what the mainstream groups usually recommend—is far more effective when it comes to weight loss, as well as fighting type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome .
People who continue buying this myth put themselves on a path towards obesity, diabetes, and a host of other serious health problems.
________________________________________
Back to the Basics
Nutrition myths come and go, but the foundations of a solid diet are constant.
Focus on produce, animal products, safe starches, and nuts. Avoid grains, refined sugars, and processed foods.
That’s all there is to worry about. Tune out all the other noise, and watch your energy shoot up, health problems disappear, and the pounds melt off.
Have you ever bought into any of these nutrition myths? How did you break free of them? Leave a comment below and share your experience!

4 Big Fat Weight Loss Lies

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By Yuri Elkaim

If you’ve struggled to lose weight and keep it off, it’s NOT your fault because…

When it comes to fat loss advice, there’s no shortage of FALSE information being thrown your way every day that is not helping you lose weight and keep it off.

Here are the some of the biggest Fat Loss Lies that continue to sabotage your weight loss efforts.

LIE: CARDIO IS KING

According to a study in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, 20 weeks of daily cardio training led to significant decreases in thyroid hormone and metabolic rate.

Since your thyroid governs your metabolism, you want to avoid anything – like too much cardio – that will negatively impact it.

LIE: START YOUR DAY WITH CARBS

Have you ever had a bowl of cereal or oatmeal for breakfast and felt hungry less than an hour later? Other than the extreme hunger, constant cravings, and low energy that eating carbs creates, it also leads to a rise in blood sugar, which stimulates the release of your fat storing hormone, insulin.

Also, cortisol levels are at their peak in the morning which helps you naturally wake up in the morning. And, its presence in the morning helps regulate blood sugar and facilitate fat loss. However, if you elevate your insulin levels in the morning, by eating carbs, then you blunt your natural cortisol response, increase insulin, and upset your natural hormonal cycles. Not good!

LIE: You Can Walk Your Way Thin

Walking is like breathing. It should happen on a daily basis without a thought. But the truth is that walking alone is NOT going to help you lose a significant amount of weight.

To lose weight by walking, the average person will burn about 100
calories per mile (about 2,000 steps). Thus, to lose just one pound (3,500 calories) per week, you’d have to walk at least 10,000 steps per day to create any noticeable caloric deficit. This simply isn’t likely for most people.

However, you can walk less and get faster fat loss results by walking uphill or wearing a weighted vest to increase the resistance your body is moving against.

LIE: You Have to Eat Every 2-3 Hours

Our Paleolithic ancestors never had this luxury but for some reason we’ve been led to believe that our modern body – which has not evolved at all – needs to constantly be fed to keep our metabolism happy.

Here’s the deal: if you eat every 2-3 hours, you train your body to become a “sugar burner” (not a “fat burner”), in which you end up craving more sugar, carbs, and food throughout the day, which makes it near impossible to lose weight.

Furthermore, constantly eating keeps your insulin levels high, which can eventually lead to insulin resistance, increased fat storage, type 2 diabetes, and even heart disease.

How about this: eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re 80% full?

Be Informed and Stay healthy.

6 Health Benefits of Medjool Dates

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1. Decrease Cholesterol

Medjool dates are wise choice when it comes to maintaining healthy cholesterol levels. When you eat them, you increase your insoluble and soluble fiber intake, which in turn can significantly lower cholesterol naturally.

2. Prevent & Relieve Constipation

Dates have high levels of soluble fiber, which keep bowel movements regular by adding bulk to stool and helping it move faster through the intestines. Next time you’re looking for a natural constipation relief remedy, try having a few Medjool dates.

3. Natural Energy Booster

Consuming a few Medjool dates or including them in a snack is an excellent idea when you’re looking for a healthy surge of energy. Worldwide, dates are used for an afternoon pick-me-up to ward off tiredness. Instead of reaching for another cup of coffee, try a green smoothie recipe that includes some Medjool dates!

 

The Medjool dates guide - Dr. Axe

 

4. Reduce Triglyceride Levels

Medjool dates can give your heart a healthy boost. A  study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found Medjool dates are high in antioxidative properties in vitro. Ten healthy subjects consumed 100 grams daily of either Medjool or Hallawi dates for four weeks. According to the study, the consumption of Medjool dates reduced blood triglyceride levels by 8 percent.

5. Alternative Natural Sweetener

A delicious fruit, like a Medjool date, provides a truly satisfying alternative to eating a candy bar or brownie loaded with refined sugar.

6. Boost Bone Health

The significant amounts of key minerals found in Medjool dates make them superstars when it comes to strengthening bones and fighting off painful and debilitating bone diseases like osteoporosis — thus, add dates to your osteoporosis diet natural treatment plan.

Dates are high in calcium and a food high in phosphorus, which work closely together to build strong bones and teeth. Eating Medjool dates regularly is one way that you can up your intake of calcium and phosphorus.

 

Medjool dates nutrition - Dr. Axe

The sticky texture of Medjool dates makes them excellent for binding ingredients together whether you’re making a granola bar or tart crust.

Medjool dates can also make a delicious appetizer or snack when stuffed with various ingredients like goat cheese or paneer. Since Medjool dates don’t need to be refrigerated, they make a perfect tasty and healthy addition to a gift basket alongside some nuts, dark chocolate and other dried fruit.

Last but not least, when Medjool dates are made into a paste, they become an awesome, nutrient-dense sugar substitute. Date paste can be used one-to-one in most recipes, unlike stevia, and it adds bulk for baking.

How to make date paste:

  1. Soak Medjool dates in hot water until soft. If the water reaches room temperature and the dates aren’t soft enough, soak in hot water again.
  2. Reserve the soaking liquid, as it’s integral to making a good paste!
  3. Add the soaked dates to your food processor, along with one tablespoon of the soaking liquid. Blend until smooth. Add more water as needed to create a thick rich paste.

You’re looking for the consistency of peanut butter. Use the paste in your favorite cookie or cake recipe to cut out refined sugar and boost the nutrients. You can also use date paste to sweeten your favorite muffins and pies.

Be Healthy!

 

WHY CAN’T I LOSE WEIGHT??? CONQUER CORTISOL WITH 3 SIMPLE LIFESTYLE PRACTICES

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Why Can’t I Lose Weight??? Conquer Cortisol with 3 Simple (But Powerful) Lifestyle Practices

Adapted from DR. ANNA GARRETT

There you sit, staring at what seems like your millionth chicken salad (with dressing on the side). Day after day…chicken salad. You’re barely eating enough to keep a bird alive and exercising like a crazy woman.

And yet, the needle on the scale continues to creep up.

You wonder what you’re doing wrong.

 

The good news is that you may be doing nothing “wrong”. The bad news is that cortisol may have climbed into the driver’s seat on the bus…and you’re going to have to put her back where she belongs.

Cortisol can be your best friend or your worst enemy. If a speeding train is heading toward you, she’s your BFF for sure…a rush of cortisol will spur you to jump out of the way.

But in overdoses, cortisol is the “mean girl” in your body’s neighborhood.

Cortisol is released in stressful situations. On a short-term basis, this is healthy. Long-term, it leads to chronic illness, body breakdown and weight gain. Unfortunately, something can be stressful to your body without you actually FEELING the stress in a big way. Three excellent examples of this are lack of sleep, eating at irregular times and overtraining.

In all of these cases, your body goes into “fight or flight” mode and begins to produce more cortisol and hang onto fat. YOU, on the other hand, notice the weight gain and begin to cut back even more on food and exercise harder. You lie awake at night wondering what the heck is going on and your body never has a chance to repair itself. This sets up a vicious cycle that cannot be broken by pushing through it.

What’s a Girl to Do??

We often hear about stress management as it relates to cortisol. But there are other strategies that can help keep the “mean girl” under control. Best of all, these things are free and will really improve the way you feel (and your ability to get to your natural weight).

  1. Get enough sleep. There are reams of data that prove sleeping less than 6 hours a night leads to weight gain. We don’t need more studies. We need to go to bed. Seven to eight hours a night is ideal.
  2. Eat on a regular schedule. Your body expects to be fed at regular intervals. When that doesn’t happen, it thinks it’s going into starvation mode. Cortisol rushes in to save the day by preserving fat stores…this is the exactly what you DON’T want! Include plenty of protein to keep blood sugar swings to a minimum.
  3. Be gentle on your body. When I trained for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day in 2011, I walked MILES and MILES every week. I did not lose an ounce. But after it was over, I immediately lost 8 lbs. I asked my trainer what was up with that? He said I had been overtraining (more cortisol). When I stopped, the weight came off.

The message here is that flogging  your body with more workouts isn’t the answer. Add in some yoga or a contemplative practice or try gentle exercise like walking to tame your cortisol levels.

Using these 3 practices is a great start toward achieving your weight goals because unless you conquer cortisol, your efforts will feel like slogging through molasses.

Want to know more about hormone testing? I offer this in my practice. If you’d like to explore ways in which we might work together, let’s talk. I offer a complimentary 10-minute call to discuss your needs and how I can help you. You can schedule that at the bottom of this page.

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