Andy D’Addario, LPC

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Want to Get Healthy? Try a Meal Delivery Service

If you’re like a lot of people, you’ve tried every diet known to man in an effort to get healthy and lose weight. But at the end of the day, none really got you the results you wanted.

It’s not really your fault. For most people, following a strict or fad diet is complicated. There are very specific rules and restrictions, sometimes extra powders or supplements and required and grocery shopping can be a nightmare!

If you want to keep your life simple AND get healthy, then signing up for a meal delivery service makes a lot of sense. Here’s why:

It’s So Easy, You’ll Stick With It

If a diet is hard, no one is going to be able to commit for the long-term. But when you sign up for a meal delivery service, it makes your life EASIER not harder. No complicated grocery lists and preparing weird foods that are supposed to be good for you. Nope. Just sign up, choose your meals, they’re shipped to your door, heat, eat. It really doesn’t get simpler than that!

Portion Control

This is a biggie! Many people pack on the pounds and get unhealthy simply because they eat too much food. Even too much healthy food will cause a person to gain weight and potentially develop chronic illnesses such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

Meal delivery services are great because the meals are already prepared for you in portions suitable for an average adult. No going back for seconds or thirds, and no mindless eating way too much.

It Saves You Time

Obviously a meal delivery service is a great way to save yourself a lot of time, both at the grocery store and at the stove. And you can now spend this time at the gym or out for a run or bike ride with the family. That’s killing two birds with one stone!

You’ll Also Save Money

Not only will you save money because you’ll forgo buying groceries at the store you don’t need (we’re talking about YOU impulse buys), but think of all the money you spend going through drive-throughs or eating out at restaurants. If you added it all up, you’d most likely spend less each month with a meal delivery service than you do shopping and eating out.

And you know what? When you get healthy and lose weight you’ll need some extra cash to buy a new wardrobe!

There are a lot of meal delivery service companies online so spend some time seeing who offers the best meals at the most affordable price. And obviously, choose a reputable service that offers healthy food options.

 

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Using Adaptogens for Stress/Sleep

If you’re like most people, you deal with your fair share of stress. And often, this stress leads to an inability to get the quality of sleep necessary for optimal health and well-being.

Often, people turn to harmful substances to deal with stress. Whether it’s drinking too much or eating processed “comfort” foods, these unhealthy stress beaters tend to make matters far worse.

It’s a much better idea to use a natural substance with a long history of helping balance the body and mind.

Enter: adaptogens.

What Are Adaptogens and How Do They Work?

You most likely use certain plants and herbs in your life already for their benefits. Green tea for antioxidants, ginseng for memory, and ginger for its natural pain relief.

Well, adaptogens are herbs that can help you deal with the effects of stress. But they do so in a very unique and powerful way. These first work to reduce your body’s stress response and then they support your overall health by helping your body achieve balance and harmony, otherwise known as homeostasis.

The long and short of it is, adaptogens can make you feel less anxious, stressed, and depressed. They have even been known to completely turn a situation around and make the person feel energetic, motivated, and optimistic.

Some of the most widely used adaptogens are:

  • Rhodiola rosea
  • Bacopa monnieri
  • Schisandra
  • Ashwagandha

Adaptogens for Weight Loss and Insomnia

When our bodies react to stress, we are thrown into a “fight or flight” response. Certain hormones like cortisol and adrenaline are produced and pumped out into the bloodstream to help our bodies deal with the danger in our environment. Our heart rates and breathing increase and our blood flow is directed away from our brain and digestion and toward our arms and legs.

This is great for fighting an attacker or running like heck from a hungry bear, but it’s not great for our overall health. Over time, cortisol can help us pack on the weight, especially around our middle. And adrenaline can make it hard for us to relax enough at night to get a good night’s sleep.

So when adaptogens help our body deal with stress, they also help our body deal with the negative effects of the stress response. This means improved sleep, the potential to lose weight around your middle, and better overall health.

As with any supplement, it’s best to speak with your doctor before adding something new to your regimen. This is especially true if you are currently taking medications. Having said this, many doctors do not support the use of non-prescriptive supplements to treat mental health conditions and other diseases.

You may want to find a nutritionist who can help you determine which adaptogen is right for you and what dosage to try.

 

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5 Foods to Keep Your Immune System Strong

As the events of COVID-19 continue to unfold, many of us are focusing on how we can keep ourselves and our families as healthy as possible. While social distancing and increased hand washing can be very effective at stopping the spreading of the Corona virus, it is equally important to keep our immune systems strong.

With this in mind, here are some of the absolute best foods you can eat to help support your immune system:

1. Blueberries

Blueberries are loaded with powerful antioxidants. In fact, they contain a type of flavonoid called anthocyanin, which has antioxidant properties that can boost your immune system. A 2016 study found that flavonoids play an essential role in the respiratory tract’s immune defense system. The researchers found that people who ate foods rich in flavonoids were less likely to get sick with respiratory tract infections and the common cold.

2. Turmeric

Turmeric is the aromatic spice that makes curry yellow. It is also often used in alternative medicine thanks to its active compound curcumin. Curcumin has been shown to improve a person’s immune response because of its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.

3. Spinach

Popeye knew that spinach would help him be stronger. But I wonder if he knew how good it was for his immune system. Spinach contains vitamin C & E, as well as beneficial flavonoids and carotenoids. Not only are vitamin C & E great for the immune system, but research shows flavonoids may help prevent common colds in otherwise healthy people. So, it stands to reason it may help protect against other viruses as well.

4. Citrus Fruits

Most of us, when we feel an illness coming on, reach for more vitamin C-rich foods. But what is it about vitamin C specifically that makes it so good for our immune systems?

Vitamin C is believed to increase the production of white blood cells. These are the cells responsible for attacking foreign invaders like bacteria and viruses.

Some popular citrus fruits high in vitamin C include:

  • grapefruit
  • oranges
  • tangerines
  • lemons
  • limes
  • clementines

Unlike other animals whose bodies do produce vitamin C, humans must get their vitamin C from the foods they eat or through supplementation. So be sure to add more citrus fruits to your diet.

5. Red Bell Peppers

We can’t talk about vitamin C without mentioning that ounce for ounce, red bell peppers contain even more vitamin C than most citrus fruits. So if you prefer veggies to fruits, then be sure to eat more red bell peppers.

While this is not an exhaustive list of immune-boosting foods, it will get you started eating right so you can stay healthy during this pandemic. It’s also important to stay hydrated and eliminate sugars and trans fats from your diet as well.

SOURCES:

https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/foods-that-boost-the-immune-system

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322412

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Should I Go Gluten-Free if I Don’t Have Celiac Disease?

Starting about five years ago, gluten-free diets became all the rage. People who weren’t even sure what gluten was were cutting it out of their diet, most likely to be trendy or fashionable.

But maybe these people were onto something? Is it possible that we should all be giving up gluten, even if we don’t suffer from celiac disease?

Go with Your Gut

A study done by researchers at Columbia University and published in the medical journal Gut, found that even if you don’t have celiac disease, gluten protein from wheat, rye, and barley can trigger an immune system response that causes similar symptoms to the disease.

This is why so many of us complain of bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea, headaches, fatigue, anxiety, and/or “brain fog” when we eat wheat products. The researchers determined that while only a certain percentage of the population has celiac disease, many of us have gluten sensitivity. This means when we eat gluten, damage occurs to the epithelial cells that form the tissue lining the gastrointestinal (GI) tract as well as activation of the immune system in response to microbes that originate in the GI tract. (Did you know that 80% of the immune system is in the GI tract?)

The Link Between Gluten and Depression

Beyond gut health, it seems that gluten may also impede our mental health.

In a study, patients diagnosed with non-celiac gluten sensitivity were put on a gluten-free diet for a few days. Then they were asked to eat a food item containing wheat gluten.

The results?

While the subjects did not complain of any GI upsets, a whopping 90% of participants reported feeling more depressed after incorporating the gluten into their diet.

While the researchers aren’t exactly sure why gluten effects the mood to this extent, some are suggesting the protein somehow depletes the brain’s stores of serotonin.

Certainly more studies are needed, but for now it would appear that gluten can have a significantly negative impact on gut and mental health even for people who have not been diagnosed with celiac disease.

 

Are you or a loved one suffering with depression that is not related to gluten sensitivity? If you’d like to explore treatment, please be in touch so we can discuss how I may be able to help.

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