Are Organic Eggs Really Healthier and Tastier and from Happier Chickens than Conventional Eggs? | | AlterNet

Are Organic Eggs Really Healthier and Tastier and from Happier Chickens than Conventional Eggs? | | AlterNet

Fascinating read about organic eggs, chickens who lay them and the USDA!

Pease Pudding Please

Who said that the traditional cuisine of Great Britain lacks tasty or vegetarian dishes? This Split Pea (Pease) Pudding recipe from Rose Elliot’s Vegetarian Dishes from Around the World is both yummy and veggie. In fact, it would be a great dish to bring to a pot luck gathering, make as a main dish to serve with roasted root veggies and sauteed brussel sprouts, or to use as a filling in a crepe.

Ingredients:

1 large onion, diced
1 cup of dried yellow split peas, rinsed (soaking for several hours or overnight is optional)
4 tablespoons butter or olive oil
salt and pepper
2oz frozen spinach, diced (optional)
dry thyme or dill

Directions:

In a saucepan with a lid cook the yellow split peas until soft but not mushy. This step may take 30-60 minutes.
While the split peas are cooking, on medium heat saute onion until golden and soft in butter or olive oil.
When the onions are golden, add frozen spinach, sea salt, ground black pepper and thyme. Mix well.
When the split peas are finished cooking, drain and add to the onions. Mix well and enjoy hot or at room temperature.

Simple and Amazing Fig Jam

I have a very prolific fig tree and, during this time of the year, can not keep up with the daily fig production. In the Roth household, we eat figs fresh with goat cheese, freeze them to use in smoothies throughout the rest of the year, dry in the dehydrator, and give away to family, neighbors, coworkers and friends. Despite all these efforts, there are still a ton of figs on the tree. So I am making fig jam that pairs nicely with plain greek yogurt, spread over french baguette or the russian way with my morning tea:)

Ideally I would love to find a way to preserve figs without using sugar. But my freezer is at capacity. While comparing recipes, I found that this particular version uses the least amount amount of sugar. It would make my home grown figs unhappy to share a jar with Splenda or gelatin:)

Ingredients:

3lbs of ripe washed figs, stems removed, and cut in halves or quarters
2 cups of sugar
juice and grated zest of 1 large lemon

3 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Directions:

In a large stainless steel pot, combine all four ingredients.
Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour stirring occasionally. Consider using a kitchen timer to avoid scorching the bottom of the pan.
Remove cover, turn the heat to medium high and continue simmering while stirring constantly until the jam thickens.
Let cool and keep refrigerated in tightly covered glass jars.
Enjoy!

http://yourdailythread.com/2010/08/17/natural-solutions-for-people-and-planet/

http://yourdailythread.com/2010/08/17/natural-solutions-for-people-and-planet/

Connect to nature, and to your health!

This is the second in a series by L.A. Naturopathic Doctor, Maya Roth, who shares with YDT how our own well-being and environmental health are connected–and what we can do to act on behalf of both.

Part Two: CONNECTING TO THE EARTH

Creating positive changes in your lifestyle will affect your health and the health of the environment. For example, we enhance our health by connecting with nature and reducing our participation in activities like watching TV and using the computer that put a strain on the planet’s energy.

Here are some tips to boost your well-being as you conserve resources while reconnecting to the earth:

Fitness

Implement an outdoor fitness routine 30-60 minutes most days like walking, hiking or bicycling. Exercise has been shown to improve brain function, reduce heart disease risk and high blood pressure, reduce stress, improve sleep, enhance physical appearance, build self-esteem and increase energy.

Vitamin G

Spend at least 20 minutes each day in green environments—gardening, bird-watching, or simply strolling through neighborhoods with abundant green space. Looking out on and being in green elements of the landscape around us affects health and well-being so much that scientists have dubbed it “vitamin G.” Vitamin G is associated with stress relief, improved attention, better self-perceived health and lower mortality risk.

Grounding

Strengthen your body’s connection to the earth by walking barefoot on the beach, lying or sitting on the ground, playing barefoot or camping. Grounding, the act of touching the earth’s negatively-charged surface to restore the body’s electrical balance, has been shown to fight inflammation and free-radical stress, which are at the root of diabetes, heart and degenerative joint disease. Daily grounding improves sleep and energy, speeds healing, and helps to manage stress.

Bio: Maya Roth, ND is a licensed Naturopathic Doctor. She practices preventative medicine with emphasis on risk modification, lifestyle optimization and hormone balance. She is in practice at the Chiropractic Center of Los Angeles and specializes in natural family medicine, as well as subspecialties of women’s health, children’s health and environmental medicine. Dr. Roth encourages her patients to take responsibility for their own health and for the environment. She is the creator of Naturopathic Insights. Contact: Tel: (323) 935-9777 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (323) 935-9777 end_of_the_skype_highlighting; www.DrMayaRoth.com.

Images via Sydigill @ flickr

Safe and Eco-friendly Cookware

While observing the weekly family dinner prep and execution in my mother in law’s kitchen, I learned that in order to make the perfect meal, I not only need perfect (read local, seasonal, better than USDA organic) ingredients I also need the right equipment.

Since moving to LA, my kitchen armamentarium has definitely expanded - I am a proud owner of swiss peelers and serrated knives. No more peeling potatoes with a knife a la Minsk for me or slip-sliding tomatoes a la Trumbull on the cutting board. The right tools make vegetable prep easy peasy!

But the category of tools I really want to talk about is cookware. While most cooks enjoy working with cast iron and enameled (Creuset type) cast iron pots and pans, I refuse to buy cookware that I can’t easily lift from the cupboard with one hand. Cast iron is great for many reasons - it heats and cooks beautifully, it doesn’t leach toxic chemicals, it’s time tested, it is stove top and oven safe, it can even help your iron deficiency anemia. But in my kitchen cast iron doesn’t pass the “can I lift this empty pot or pan with one hand” test.

Let’s talk about cast iron alternatives! You already know that stainless steel is a safe cookware choice. That leaves three lesser known but adored by me cookware alternatives: stone, ceramic and clay.( I know that none of you would consider baking with toxic teflon, acidifying aluminum or non-biodegradable silicone. ) Since I am still on the lookout for the perfect stone pot, I will discuss my favorite clay and ceramic cookware.
La Chamba
I love Columbian clay La Chamba brand cookware. These traditional casseroles, pots and pans are hand made, light to lift and easy to clean, can be used on the stove top or in the oven, do not leach toxic chemicals, and distribute heat so well that soups and stews simply don’t taste as good when cooked sans clay pots.

Natural Elements
I am also enamored with Natural Elements ceramic muffin pans. Unlike their non-stick or aluminum counterparts, ceramic cupcake pans do not leach toxic chemicals and are easier to clean than stainless steel. I use them for bakingand for freezing individualized portions of risotto or polenta.

Le Flame
Recently I came across Danish Le Flame brand ceramics. These pots are super light and durable, chip and crack resistant, can be used on the stove top, in the oven or in the broiler, do not react with food and do not leach chemicals into food.

What are your go to eco-friendly and safe cookware choices?

Stay tune for next week’s review of my new ice cube trays!

The Story of Cosmetics

The Story of Cosmetics

Annie Leonard of the Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession with Stuff is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities and Our Health has made a new video called the Story of Cosmetics. This is a must watch for everyone!

http://yourdailythread.com/2010/07/13/food-solutions-for-people-planet/

http://yourdailythread.com/2010/07/13/food-solutions-for-people-planet/

Food Solutions for People & Planet

July 13, 2010 Written by Your Daily Thread Team

This is the first in a series by L.A. Naturopathic Doctor, Maya Roth, who shares with YDT how our own well-being and environmental health are connected–and what we can do to act on behalf of both.

Part One: FOOD

Frequently, the chemicals manufactured to ease our lives and increase our convenience actually harm our health and the health of the planet. But in our daily consumer decisions we can influence how many man-made toxins enter the environment and make their way into our bodies at the same time via our air, water and food.

As a Naturopathic Doctor, I teach my patients that by making good eating decisions to safeguard the planet, we as its inhabitants are rewarded with more vibrant health.

Here are some examples of choices we can make where meals are concerned:

Begin on the periphery

Select foods found on the periphery of the supermarket including produce, dairy, poultry, meat and fish. Avoid shopping the inner aisles that contain processed products and artificial ingredients. Not sure? Ask yourself, “Could I buy this product 100 years ago?” If not, then the product in question is not real food. (By shopping at your farmers’ market it’s even easier to guarantee you’re buying honest to goodness edibles.)

Zoom in on the source

Your kitchen is the source of most chemicals in your household. A water filter for the kitchen sink and a reusable stainless steel water bottle will help avoid exposure to toxic chemicals that leach from plastic and polycarbonate water bottles. Also, use glass, cast iron, ceramic and stainless steel cookware and storage containers in lieu of plastic, aluminum and nonstick-coated products. Replace your traditional toxic household dishwashing, cleaning, and laundry products with natural or homemade alternatives.

Focus on purity

Consume fruits and vegetables grown without toxic pesticides. Research shows that people who consume the “dirty dozen,” the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables, on average, eat 10 types of pesticides per day! Replace large and farmedfish that are high in mercury and other contaminants with small, wild alternatives. For example, consider substituting traditional tuna with canned wild salmon which has undetectable levels of mercury.

To learn more about naturopathic medicine for personal and planetary health and Dr. Roth, visit www.DrMayaRoth.com.

Bio: Maya Roth, ND is a licensed Naturopathic Doctor. Dr. Roth practices preventative medicine with emphasis on risk modification, lifestyle optimization and hormone balance. She is in practice at the Chiropractic Center of Los Angeles and specializes in natural family medicine, as well as subspecialties of women’s health, children’s health and environmental medicine. Dr. Roth encourages her patients to take responsibility for their own health and for the environment. She is the creator ofNaturopathic Insights. Contact: Tel: (323) 935-9777;http://www.DrMayaRoth.com.

Images via Dr. Maya Roth, RGBclicks @ Flickr and The White Mole @ Flickr

Raised tomato planter update

Remember this project? In May, we gave a heavy wooden bookshelf a new life as a raised tomato planter. Six Pole Black Krim heirloom tomato plants planted from seed in a 15oz cans made their home in the organic soil in the tomato planter. I think it’s time for an update....

Where To Find Really Healthy Eggs and Poultry (It's Not at Whole Foods)

Where To Find Really Healthy Eggs and Poultry (It's Not at Whole Foods)

Most labels on eggs and poultry sold in the supermarkets are misleading, as they are written by producers who are primarily interested in selling eggs and poultry and not in the providing the healthiest food options to the consumer. In this amazing article, Ari LeVaux teaches the consumer how to choose eggs and chicken meat. He also provides definitions of common eggs and chicken meat labels.

For instance, "Free-range applies only to meat birds, and means they have an unspecified amount of access to an outdoor area of unspecified size and quality. In the context of eggs, "free-range" has no meaning."

How many times at the supermarket did you choose eggs with the "free-range" label in lieu of the regular egg carton? The best decision is an informed decision, and this articles helps the consumer decipher between truthful and misleading claims.

Leona Valley is for cherry lovers!

What can be better than farmer's market bounty? Pick your own fruit!

For one short month of June, beautiful Leona Valley is bursting with sweet cherries! There is absolutely nothing like picking a firm and lustrous cherry off the tree and letting the flavor explode in your mouth.

Copeland's orchard organic Utah variety ... small and sweet!

Copeland's orchard organic Bing variety ... dark and sweet!

Copeland's orchard cherries!

Mr Stein of the Stein ranch in Leona Valley informed us that July is apricot month!

Allergies be gone! morning smoothie recipe

Ingredients:

Anti-inflammatory antioxidants:

•

• 1 cup of frozen organic berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cherries, currants, cranberries and strawberries)
• 2000 mg of vitamin C powder

Fluid to keep mucus membranes and tissues hydrated:

•

• 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk, rice milk, coconut or hazelnut milk or water

Source of anti-inflammatory easily digestible protein:

•

• 1-2 tablespoons or scoops protein powder (undenatured whey, rice or hemp)

Essential fatty acids to educate the body’s immune system to be more tolerant and less reactive:

•

• 1-2 Tbsp of fish, cod liver or flax oil
• 2 teaspoons ground flax seeds
• 1 tablespoon almond, pumpkin seed, cashew, or sunflower seed butter
• 1/4 -1/2 of an avocado

Source of minerals, and trace elements:

•

• 1 teaspoon spirulina, powdered greens or chlorella

Directions:

Blend until smooth adjusting nut milk as needed

Enjoy every morning before, during and after allergies season

Neither paper nor plastic!

Two Californian cities, San Francisco and Malibu, have completely banned plastic grocery bags of which only 5% are reused. Some other cities are considering similar measures, while the CA legislature is reviewing bill AB 1998, which would ban all carry out plastic bags and make only paper bags available at grocery stores. Opponents of the bill argue that paper bags are much worse for the environment than plastic bags because manufacturing and distributing paper bags releases three times the greenhouse gases of plastic bags.

Both the "ban plastic" and "ban paper" contingencies make compelling arguments for doing away with carry out one-time use bags. Which leaves us with the only logical solution - ban paper and plastic to make way for reusable cloth bags!

My husband took this picture at Balboa Park aka Sepulveda flood basin on a Sunday morning after heavy rains ... the white specs hanging on tree branches are plastic bags .... this is where they end up after the basin floods. I hope this picture will give you the impetus to dig up or DIY some reusible canvas bags to carry out your groceries!

Elections

Today is June 8th - CA statewide direct primary election!

As I was poking holes in the primaries ballot at the nearly empty polling station, I thought about elections as a means for reform. Specifically, I questioned my ballot number (which was number 4) and why, despite high level of dissatisfaction with the current state of things in CA, don't more of us get out to vote? I did not find a satisfactory answer.

But my internal dialog turned to everyday voting, the kind that is done with dollar bills and takes place every time we choose to walk in lieu of driving, go hiking in lieu of watching TV, and buy better-than-organic pesticide-free local produce at the neighborhood farmer's market. We do not need an annual election day to vote for reform. On a daily basis everyone of us makes a choice or votes for a policy when we open our wallets.

So next time you take out and swipe your card, make your vote count and choose reform! Choose policies that benefit your family's health and the planet by voting with dollars for organizations and producers who are committed to making safest products and providing health-enhancing services!

Solid versus liquid

Next time you find yourselves in the personal care isle of your healthfood store, consider buying a solid bar of soap in lieu of liquid body wash.

If you are already using solid soap, you probably already know that a lot less packaging goes into wrapping a bar or a two-pack of bar soap than bottling a liquid bath gel or body wash. And we all know that less packaging = happier planet.

But did you know that solid personal care items may also be healthier for you? A solid bar of soap has no water and, therefore, doesn't need toxic preservatives to guard its freshness and extend its shelf-life the way liquid soap does.

Healthy-ish chocolate chip cookies

I looked over what seems like hundreds of chocolate chip cookie recipes and their corresponding reviews online to create this healthy-ish version. Why? Because you asked for an alternative to the traditional crisco-laden sugar-drenched chocolate chip cookie. This healthy-ish alternative is flourless and dairy-free. Please note, it contains oats and, therefore, is not gluten-free.

Ingredients:

1 cup of coconut oil or butter (same thing)

1/2 cup of organic sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup of almond meal

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3 cups oats

1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, cashews, macadamias, or almonds)

1 cup polyphenol rich chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 F

Heat coconut oil to liquefy it (it is already liquid in the summer).

In a large bowl cream together coconut oil and sugar. Beat in eggs and add vanilla.

Stir in almond meal, baking soda, salt until the mixture is creamy.

Mix in the oats, chocolate chips and nuts.

Roll the cookie dough into balls in your hands and drop onto a non-greased stainless steel cookie sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Raised Tomato Planter

Last Sunday I worked on a super amazing project that I am excited to share with you - a 6'x1'x1' tomato planter. This project began with an old solid wood bookshelf that was sitting in the garage. We tipped it on its side, added a bottom and two ends from scrap wood that was also found in our garage.

We drilled holes in the bottom of each section for water drainage and added three planks along the bottom to raise the planter a couple of inches off the ground.

We put the planter in the middle of the yard to maximize sun exposure. Then picked up 4 bags of organic soil and distributed them evenly along the six planter squares.

And finally, we planted tomatoes that I started 4-6 weeks ago from seeds in cans.

This tomato plant looks pretty happy in her new home:)

The cost of this project was about $25 which is what it cost us to buy 4 bags of organic soil. We had tape measure, scrap wood, wood screws, electric drill and electric saw on hand.

We spent the rest of the morning decorating the planter with positive messages:)

Allium

Allium sativum, which in most homes goes by plain old garlic, has so many culinary and medicinal properties. Today's post will be a showcase of my home-grown-supremely-pungent-freshly-picked-and-hung-to-dry garlic! Oh, also I am going to discuss those culinary and medicinal properties.

Back in the fall I bought a head of garlic at my local farmer's market, divided it into individual cloves and planted the cloves 6 inches apart in my home garden. In the early spring each clove produced lots and lots of garlic greens. I used these aromatic scallion-like garlic tops in everything from soups to salads.

Over the last couple of week, the greens began to wilt and dry. This was my sign to harvest the garlic. Over the course of the winter with only a weekly watering, each little clove turned into a full head of garlic. After washing and drying the garlic bulbs, I braided and hung them to dry as my grandmother used to do. And voila ... Allium sativum in a braid!

Let's talk about the culinary properties of this lovely and supremely aromatic member of the onion mishpocha. Soups, stews, and roasted goodies just don't taste the same without a hint of garlic. Did you know that you can place a bulb of garlic in the oven while baking bread; then squeeze the bulb and spread the softened garlic on the freshly baked bread?

Allium's medicinal properties range from antibiotic, stimulation of perspiration, lowering of blood pressure, easing of tension, speeding up healing, balancing blood sugar and reducing cholesterol. Did you know that a clove of fresh pressed garlic can be mixed in an ounce of warmed olive oil to be used as drops for ear infections?

What is your favorite use of garlic?

My Alma mater - University of Bridgeport!

Garment Dyeing

Over-dyeing is a great way to recycle and reuse a garment that you are not ready to part with. The garment in question may be a perfect but worn-out skirt that you've had since college. Or maybe you can't find just the right color cami in the store and would like to create a custom shade. Or you would like to give a whole new life to your wedding dress. The possibilities are as numerous as the contents of your closet.

There are many garment dyeing techniques and brands of dye on the market. There are just as many fabric dyeing recipes and variations. It seems to me that most people never follow a recipe perfectly. Last week when looking at a highly rated oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe, I read through hundreds of comments that read something like this: "Great recipe! I added less sugar and substituted butter with margarine. The cookies came out just as perfect as the recipe said they would." or " I used less oats and more flour and the cookies turned out as awesome as all the other people said they would!" Just like the perfect oatmeal cookie, there is no one correct garment dyeing recipe. And like with the oatmeal cookie, there is a chance that the end product will come out lousy or fabulous despite incomplete adherence to the original recipe. The anticipation of the finished chewy chocolate chip cookie (or a perfect shade of green dress) is simply exhilarating. That's a chance I was willing to take! After some research and despite some protests, I dyed an ivory silk dress green. (It is worth mentioning that Chemistry was my favorite class in college!)

This is my version for water immersion method for a long ivory silk dress and is mostly here for me to remember what I did:

Ingredients:
1 2/3 oz. container of Procion MX teal powder dye (found at Blick Art Supply stores)
1 cup Soda ash aka sodium carbonate (also at Blick Art Supply stores)
6 cups Non-iodized salt (found at any supermarket)
6 gallons of lukewarm water (75-100 degrees)
12 gallon plastic storage bin (or a similar size glass, plastic, or stainless steel container that is not used for food)
2 large plastic yogurt containers (or similar containers that are not used for food)
2-3 plastic spoons
1 stirring stick (found at Home Depot or any paint store) or a wire hanger
2-3 old towels
a box of latex gloves

Directions:

Prewash the garment, if it has never been washed before, taking care to remove stains. Sadly, the dye will not cover up stains.
Fill the tub with lukewarm water and let your garment soak.
Line the bathroom floor with old towels and place the dye bath container on the towels
Fill the container with 6 gallons of lukewarm water
Dissolve 6 cups of non-ionized salt in the dye bath, taking care that all of the salt is in solution
Measure out 1 cup of soda ash and dissolve in hot water in one of the large yogurt containers, set aside
Put gloves on
Add 1 cup of lukewarm water to the second yogurt container, add the dye, and mix thoroughly making sure that there are no clumps
Add the dye water to the dye bath, taking care to stir constantly until all the dye is completely dissolved
Wring out your garment and add to the dye bath, leaving the water in the tub for rinsing
Stir with a wooden stick or your gloved hand constantly for 15-20 minutes to make sure that all garment surfaces are exposed to the dye.
Take the garment out of the dye bath and add soda ash taking care to dissolve the soda ash completely
Put your garment back into the dye bath and continue to agitate for 15-60 more minutes.
After 30-60 minutes in the dye bath, wring our your garment and rinse in the water used to soak it initially.
Continue to rinse until the water runs clear.
Hang your garment on the line to dry.

General recipe:

1 gallon water - 1 c of salt - 1/6 c soda ash - 1 Tbsp dye
Usually 3 gallons of water are used for 1 lb of dry fabric/garment

More garment dyeing resources:

http://fabricdyeing101.blogspot.com/
jacquardproducts.com
ritdye.com
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing.shtml

Gloomy Sunday Split Pea Soup

While the weather on the east coast has been heating up, today was a gloomy sunday in Los Angeles. This day reminds me of Gloomy Sunday, a beautiful film set in lovely Budapest in the 1930's.

Ingredients:

2 small yellow onions, finely diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 large carrot, diced

1 zucchini, diced

1 large potato, diced

1 cup of dry green or yellow split peas, picked over and rinsed

1 lemon (zest and juice)

6 cups of water

olive oil

cumin

paprika

salt

pepper

2 Tbsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos (optiona)

1/4 cup quinoa (optional)

Directions:

Saute onions in a soup pot in plenty of olive oil on medium heat until golden brown.

Add lemon zest, cumin, garlic and lots of paprika and mix well with the onions.

Add carrot, zucchini, potato, split peas (and quinoa) and let saute until the veggies are well coated in olive oil.

Add water, cover and bring to boil; put the heat on low and cook for 30-60 more minutes until the split peas are soft.

Take off the heat.

Add lemon juice, salt, pepper, Bragg's liquid aminos.

Puree in a classic blender or use an immersion blender.

Enjoy with toast and avocado!

Nature Cure Cook Book

At a local library book sale, I came across Nature Cure Cook Book, penned in 1918 by Henry Lindlahr, MD, one of the pioneers of the Nature Cure movement and of Naturopathic Medicine. In fact, Dr. Lindlahr's Philosophy of Natural Therapeutics is a required text in the first semester of naturopathic education.

Before delving into specific remedies, Lindlahr warns that "even the most wholesome foods, in the best possible combination, cannot be properly digested and assimilated if the digestive organs are in a sluggish, atrophic condition. In such cases these organs must be made alive and active through natural methods of treatment." This remains one of the most fundamental principles in naturopathic medicine.

The Nature Cure Cook Book divides all food elements into five categories: starches (St), sugars (S), fats/oils (F), proteins (P), and minerals (M). Each recipe denotes which food elements it contains. This type of notation enables the patient to remain on the prescribed diet. For example, the patient who is prescribed a low-carb diet will know to exclude recipes that have starches and sugars and go straight to the Dandelion and Orange Salad recipe which contains minerals, fat, and protein.

Nature Cure Cook Book: Dandelion and Orange Salad (M,F,P)

Wash the dandelion leaves in very cold water to make them crist; cut into shreds with scissors; peel and chip sweet oranges in proportions of 1 orange to each cup of shredded dandelion.

For a dressing, rub the salad bowl with a garlic, cut a stalk of leek into fine rings, add a little salt, a dash of cayenne pepper, and add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Stir well, add the orange and dandelion, toss together with a wooden fork and spoon. Cover with sliced hard-boiled eggs. This salad should be served as soon as mixed.

Zuquinoa (Zucchini + quinoa)

As a memeber of the squash family, Zucchini is not a well received vegetable in my household. However, thinly sliced and sauteed with onions in some good old olive oil, it is really tasty and flavorful. Quinoa is another common under-utilized staple that works really well with sauteed zucchini. For this recipe you can use the common solid green zucchini or its shorter speckled sister. You can substitute quinoa with red quinoa, brown rice or wild rice. You can add some kick with cayenne pepper, or sweeten it with extra paprika. It is all up to you. Give this easy-peasy recipe a try!

Ingredients:
4 zucchinis, peeled and cut into very thin rings
2 medium onions, peeled and cut into very thin slices
1 cup of dry quinoa
about 1/2 cup of olive oil
1/2 bunch of cilantro, finely chopped
2 Tbsp ground cumin
2 Tbsp paprika
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt
pepper

cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions:
1. In a large cast iron pan, on medium heat, saute onions in plenty of olive oil until golden brown.
2. Add cumin, paprika, salt and pepper and mix well.
3. Add sliced zucchini and let saute until the zucchini is coated in olive oil and soft.
4. While the onions and zucchini are sauteing, rinse 1 cup of quinoa; cook in a rice cooker until fluffy.
5. Add quinoa to the onions and zucchini mixture and mix well.
6. Add lemon juice, cilantro and adjust salt and pepper.
7. Enjoy!

A Different View of Vinyl

Last month, I began talking about environmental pollution and how in nature everything is connected (when we harm the environment, we harm our health). Let's go further by talking about indoor air pollution. Potential home owners are warned to check a home that they are considering buying for indoor pollutants such as mold, asbestos, and radon. However, as soon as the house is closed on, the new owners may unknowingly introduce new indoor pollutants. Because most Americans spent about 90% of their time indoors - indoor pollutants present a big health risk.

The topic of today's post is indoor air pollution or off-gassing created by polyvinyl chloride (PVC) found in vinyl shower curtains and mattress covers. If you who are not familiar with the term off-gassing, think back to the day you bought a new see-through shower curtain or a shower curtain liner and hung it up. The strong plastic smell is the off-gassing of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). These particles are neurotoxins and endocrine disruptors. Moreover, when vinyl is manufactured and destroyed, dioxins (chemicals that cause reproductive problems, cancer, and birth defects) are released into the air. Judith Helfand's documentary Blue Vinyl is a good examination of the toxic effects of PVCs used in production of vinyl siding, shower curtains and toys.

If you are in the market for a new shower curtain, consider these alternatives to the smelly vinyl version:

• Hemp
• Cotton
• Polyester

After some research and price comparison, I picked up a basic washable polyester shower curtain. It has been over a year and this curtain looks as good as new. I wash it every few weeks in the washing machine and let dry on the line in the sun. No water soaks through and there is no evidence of water/soap build up.

Has anyone used a hemp or a cotton shower curtain?

Fluoride

A while back a I received a question about the fluoride content of toothpaste. As a doctor and a consumer, my first concern is the safety of the product in question. When choosing toothpaste, I usually go with a fluoride-free version.

Why fluoride-free?

Research shows that fluoride strengthens the tooth enamel and helps to prevent dental cavities. However, in comparison to the health risks fluoride poses in all other areas of the body, cavity prevention is a minor benefit. Cavities are caused by sugar ingestion, which softens the enamel and allows for greater bacterial invasion into the tooth. Cavity prevention strategies should take dietary choices and mouth milieu into account. In other words, cavities are not a result of a fluoride deficiency in the body, but of a high-sugar diet and a loss of protective bacteria in the mouth.

Wholism is one of the basic principles of naturopathic medicine. If I examined the effects of fluoride on the tooth, and overlooked all the other body parts, I may agree with proponents of water fluoridation. However, when we examine the research on the effects of fluoride on the whole body, fluoridation looks risky. Fluoride has many adverse effects on the body including lower thyroid function and increased risk of bone fractures.

What should you do?

• Because some people never develop cavities, while others find themselves regularly in the dentist's chair, talk to your wholistic dentist about the best toothpaste choice for you.
• Familiarize yourselves with information for and against the use of fluoride (see links below).

More resources on fluoride:

The Fluoride Deception

FluorideAlert.org

American Dental Association

• Brush and floss your teeth regularly, after every meal and before bed.
• Eat a whole foods diet; eliminate sugar, juice, and soft drinks.

Go Further!

Over the weekend, I watched Ron Mann's 2003 Documentary Go Further starring Woody Harrelson. Woody and his friends bicycled alongside a bio-diesel bus from Seattle, WA to Los Angeles, CA with an important message. Their message is one of personal transformation and environmental responsibility, in a nutshell, to go further. The message of this project was really poignant, for me, and the images really nostalgic.

Last summer, I drove from LA to Seattle and back to attend the annual convention of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians which took place in Tacoma, WA. On my travels through Washington, I passed mile after mile of tree stumps, and truck after truck carrying lumber. (Clear-cutting was one of the concerns depicted in this movie). I spent hours on the pristine and completely deserted beaches of Oregon, also depicted in the documentary. And ever since moving to Los Angeles, I make a weekly trip to the local farmer's market for the no-spray, local, better-than-organic produce. Organic farming in California is another cause this movie touched on.

In Go Further, Woody and his friends show that everyone us of us can make a difference and that change begins with each one of us. The first step is the awareness of the connection between the food we consume, our health, and our environment. Once we understand this connection, we can change the way we eat and demand change in how our food is produced.

12 Mile

The 25th Los Angeles Marathon was in full swing this morning as I made my way to yoga class. The 12 mile marker on Sunset Boulevard was a spectacular sight - as participants of all ages representing various causes were being cheered on by the public.

As I recover from my hour long yoga class, I am amazed and inspired by the endurance and perseverance of the LA Marathon participants, who took up to 12+ hours to finish the race. Congrats to all the participants and great job to the marathon staff!