5 Foods for Fat Loss

Eating for fat loss can be easy. It’s just about finding out what sort of healthy foods you actually like and enjoy. Like most, I have tried many diets in my lifetime. What I realize time and time again is that diets just don’t work! It’s all about being able to make healthy food choices and incorporating them into lifestyle changes for good…not just for the next 3 weeks! Here are some of my top 5 food choices that I love to eat, because they taste good but more importantly keep me feeling great.

1. Eggs and egg whites
Eggs are high in protein and nutrient rich minerals such as selenium to support your immune system and B vitamins for energy. This is one of favorite foods for breakfast because it jump starts my metabolism and helps keep me full all morning. As a way to reduce fat and cholesterol, I stick with egg white omelets and add some green veggies, onions and tomatoes for flavor.

2. Leafy Greens
Green Leafy vegetables are nutritional powerhouses chock full of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. Rich in vitamin K, these greens can help keep blood vessels flexible and healthy, protect bones from osteoporosis, and regulate inflammation. The only leafy greens I used to eat were broccoli and spinach. But I have grown to step outside the box and try greens such as kale, collard greens, bok choy and brussel sprouts. Just because you’ve never had them before, doesn’t mean you can’t give them a try. You might not love them all, but find the ones you do and be creative. High in fiber and low in calories, you can enjoy just about as much as you can fill up on.

3. Lean Protein
For lean protein I love chicken breast, ground turkey and fish. These foods are low in fat, high in protein and loaded with nutrients. Chicken can be prepared in so many ways-sautéed, stir fried, broiled, grilled. I try to mix it up with different marinades and seasonings. For fish, I love a wild caught Salmon or local Cod. Fish are loaded with omega-3 fatty acids which are an integral component for brain and heart health.

4. Quinoa
I found out about this amazing grain when I was living in Oregon. I am amazed at how many people have still never heard of it. Quinoa is an ancient grain that originates from South America. Not only is quinoa high in protein, but the protein it supplies is a complete protein, which means it includes all nine essential amino acids. It has fewer carbohydrates than most other grains and cooks in about half the time of regular rice. Quinoa is an excellent source of complex carbohydrates that can be enjoyed hot or prepared as a cold salad.

5. Healthy Fats
This includes things like Olive Oil, Almonds and Avocados. Most people wrongfully think if they want to lose fat, they have to eat only “fat free” items. The problem here is to substitute; most people fill up on carbohydrate loaded snacks that do not leave them feeling satiated. What modern research is showing is that it is not fat that is bad for us, it’s the type of fat and quantity consumed that matters. The human body uses fatty acids for a multitude of purposes from building cell membranes to performing key functions in the brain, eyes, and lungs. Just be careful with quantity of these “healthy fats”, and keep total fat intake to 20-35% of calories consumed.

By: Alyson Adams, L.Ac.

Lessons from The Tao Te Ching

Here is one of my favorite passages from the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu written in the sixth century B.C.

Chapter 41

The wise student hears of the Tao and practices it diligently.
The average student hears of the Tao and gives it thought now and again.
The foolish student hears of the Tao and laughs aloud.
If there were no laughter, the Tao would not be what it is.

Hence it is said:
The bright path seems dim;
Going forward seems like retreat;
The easy way seems hard;
The highest Virtue seems empty;
Great purity seems sullied;
A wealth of Virtue seems inadequate;
The strength of Virtue seems frail;
Real Virtue seems unreal;
The perfect square has no corners;
Great talents ripen late;
The highest notes are hard to hear;
The greatest form has no shape.
The Tao is hidden and without name.
The Tao alone nourishes and brings everything into fulfillment.

This philosophy of Lao Tsu is simple, follow the natural order of things. People come and go in and out of our lives. We attain possessions while losing others. Often we get caught up trying to constantly gain and achieve more and more. Instead of always seeking more, take a moment to appreciate the beauty that is all around you. If we can see the world with an open and inviting mind, infinite possibilities can exist.
-Alyson Adams, L.Ac.

The State of Health Care

The healthcare field used to be one that was designed to help people. That was the only goal. A doctor would keep the people in his area healthy and would be provided for in return- money, food, whatever the family could give. There was not as much complication of competing industries. It was simple. Doctor. Patient.

Nowadays, receiving healthcare is much more complicated. I don't know if anyone ever thought that the most asked question in healthcare would be, "Will my insurance cover that?"

I can understand the plight of the patient- I am one too! In fact, throughout medical school, I was uninsured. I did what I could do stay healthy, but I went 2 years without a physical or bloodwork and 4 years without a visit to a dentist (I'm happy to report, I've seen one since, and still have no cavities!). We paid out of pocket for the birth of our son because our insurance plan wouldn't cover a midwife. Healthcare has become so expensive that many of us are unable to provide this basic need for ourselves and our families. And it's all our fault!!

Medicine has come a long way from the bucolic times I describe. Our ability to save lives has increased immensely. But so has our need for those interventions! We have focused so much on technology, medications, and advancement that we have let go of the basics. Our health insurance doesn't usually cover services that teach us how to live well- how to stay healthy and avoid needing to utilize these life-saving surgeries, medications, and interventions. So, we don't emphasize them. And we are the ones who are suffering for it. And paying the bill for it!

The Center for Disease Control estimates that 90% of our healthcare dollar is spent treating conditions that are completely preventable. 90%! Can you imagine if we could cut that number even in half?!? Not only driving insurance costs down, but also being surrounded by people who were healthier- less cancer, less depression, less heart disease and diabetes, less arthritis.

In my opinion, the state of healthcare today is actually a model of sick-care. We don't know how to teach people to stay healthy or to intervene early on in illness to be able to get back to normal.

This is what naturopathic care specializes in! We work from the ground up. We teach people to go as far as they can on their own, through diet and lifestyle interventions. We then add in interventions as needed, which may include natural products or pharmaceutical medicines. But the point is that our goal is never only to be disease-free. It is much more than that. The goal is to bring you to your state of OPTIMAL health! This is wellness-based health care. It is true HEALTH care. And it's what we need in order to save our wallets and more importantly, save our lives!