with Elizabeth B. Voss, HLC, HHP, NC

Cooking without meat or using animal products can be exciting and rewarding.

The video link below demonstrates the preparation for a vegetable potpie with vegan crust. This recipe includes a colorful array of fresh vegetables, but no animal products.

Preparing a great vegetarian home cooked meal may require a large amount of time and energy, but aren’t the results worth it in the long run? This same principal can be applied to your special life goals. Put aside your fears and apprehensions, roll up your sleeves, do the hard work (if necessary), and enjoy life.

Video Link: Fun with Vegan/ Vegetarian Cooking with Elizabeth B. Voss, HLC, HHP, NC

For additional educational video clips submitted by AHHA members, visit the American Holistic Health Association’s Self Help Videos section.

Judy E. Buss

Half of the people on antidepressant medications in this country are on them, most likely, because they attempted to use their new, state-of-the-art electronic kitchen devices. To use these “miracle time-savers,” they were forced to study 597 pages of operating and dismantling instructions. Truth is, the machines are the brainchildren of engineers who have never cooked or washed dishes! The gadgets require a great deal of time to assemble, take apart after use, wash, dry, re-assemble, and put away.

A major reason for our nation’s health crisis is the fact that folks are overscheduled and have taken a permanent leave of absence from cooking, or they never learned the art from their busy, overscheduled mothers.

Preparing fresh, nutritious fare is imperative for good health. Basic, inexpensive ingredients can be transformed in minutes into hundreds of body and soul nourishing dishes. 90% of cooking can be achieved without a single machine. The remaining 10% can be skipped. Keeping our kitchen equipment streamlined, and using simple cooking methods makes meal preparation enjoyable, speedy and rewarding. This is the essence of the KISS Method, as in: Keep It Simple, Silly!

The time we believe we save by not cooking, and instead, consuming “meals-on-wheels” of impoverished takeouts of junk, fast, canned, or frozen imitation food, is spent suffering at doctors’ waiting rooms or undergoing costly and unpleasant tests and surgeries. Friends, with each plate of food we consume we are sicker or healthier – the choice is ours!

Most soups do not need to be uniformly smooth. They actually taste better when left chunky or only partially mashed. Use a hand masher: this wonder-device doesn’t even need a battery! Do not buy exotic, often expensive ingredients, such as special oils, vinegars, sauces, or condiments, if they will only be used once or twice.

Limit your oil supply to two kinds of olive oil: cooking (also labeled “pure olive oil”) and extra virgin. Olive oil is also nutritionally superior to most other oils. Likewise, wine vinegar and/or apple cider vinegar are all the vinegar(s) needed.  Basic kitchen utensils, the same ones our grandmothers used, will cover all bases.

Great news: You do not need an electronic banana peeler or balsamic carrot juice; use the KISS method – Bon appétit!

Kale With Ginger Dressing                  
(Serves 2)
5 cups raw kale
1 tablespoon ginger root, peeled, finely grated
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely grated
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds

Wash kale, remove stems, shred. Steam the kale 10 minutes or until wilted. When done, remove from stove and briefly rinse with cold water. Drain. In a bowl, combine ginger, oil, garlic and soy sauce. Add kale, mix well. Toss with sesame seeds. Serve hot or cold.

“Mission Nutrition” Tips and Recipe from Judy E. Buss, Health Columnist, Nutritional Cooking Instructor.

Excerpted from Judy E. Buss’ article, first published in the “Feeling Fit” Magazine, Sun Coast Media Group newspapers, Florida.

Stay tuned for more Judy E. Buss’ “Mission Nutrition” words of wisdom and recipes.

Rama Kant Mishra

Millions of Americans of all ages are affected by sleep problems, many with severe, chronic sleep deprivation. While there is substantial awareness about the need for proper nutrition and exercise, many people tend to shrug off lack of sleep as not being of much consequence, and, as a result, go through life with both mind and body always performing at less than optimal levels.

Recent research indicates that pervasive sleep deprivation can lead to more serious health problems than just a dull clouded feeling the next morning — including obesity, high blood pressure and diminished resistance to infections.

The article link below includes ten easy ways to get your sleep based on an Ayurvedic approach.

Article Link: A Good Night’s Sleep by Rama Kant Mishra

For additional articles, visit the American Holistic Health Association’s Self-Help Articles Collection.

The study found those who eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, grain cereals, legumes, and nuts have a much higher chance of having a healthy heart thanks to the high levels of antioxidants in this diet.

Research Article Link: “Antioxidant-Rich Diet May Lower Heart Failure Risk” from the April, 2013, issue of Natural Standard’s Integrative Medicine Newsletter posted with permission.

For additional research results, visit the American Holistic Health Association’s Special Updates eReport Archives and note Featured Research item in each issue.

with Christiane Northrup, MD

Our emotions are our aliveness. The words you use to describe your emotions actually describe your needs.

The video link below explains how all human behavior is an attempt to get a need met. Listen to your stories and listen to what your needs are. Know that it is okay to need love, friendship, intimacy, validation…

We all need to forgive and let it go. Forgiveness is the aliveness and joy when you are no longer telling the same old story that keeps you down.

Video Link: Needs with Christiane Northrup, MD

H. Robert Silverstein, MD, FACC

Virtually all the diseases and malfunctions in the body have direct causes. Each person has particular genetic weaknesses and strengths that play a major role in the cause of disease. Most diseases occur if, and only if, susceptible people make lifestyle choices that trigger the expression of that genetic tendency.

The article link below lists items that can be used to proactively avoid the conditions that encourage disease, in a person who has the propensity.

Everyone should feel empowered to change the course of their medical history which otherwise may seem inevitable.

Article Link: Your Genes Don’t Have the Final Say by H. Robert Silverstein, MD, FACC

For additional articles, visit the American Holistic Health Association’s Self-Help Articles Collection.

Those who oppose the Senate committee’s draft legislation, released April 26, claim that the unannounced agenda is to enable the FDA to entirely remove competing compounded medications from the marketplace and force patients to use more expensive patented drugs.

ISSUE: Is giving the FDA more power over compounding pharmacies the answer to making safer compounded medications?

To help you research this matter, we have compiled the following online articles:

PRO
Draft bill gives FDA authority over some pharmacies (4/26/13)
by Toni Clarke
Reuters

FDA chief vows to get ‘aggressive’ with compounding pharmacies (4/16/13)
by Monte Morin
Los Angeles Times

CON
Don’t Empower the FDA to Take Away Your Access to Compounded Medications (5/7/13)
Alliance for Natural Health USA

GOP lawmakers balk at giving FDA more authority over compounding pharmacies (4/16/13)
by Jonathan Block
ModernHealthcare.com

with William Collinge, PhD, MPH and others

One of the most helpful forms of support you can offer a loved one with cancer is the use of touch. A simple 20 minute massage can reduce symptoms and side effects of cancer in half.

The video link below shows you that caregivers can learn some basic skills for touch and massage to use with their loved ones who are cancer patients.

Pass your love and good wishes through your hands.

Video Link: Touch, Caring and Cancer with William Collinge, PhD, MPH and others

For additional educational video clips submitted by AHHA members, visit the American Holistic Health Association’s Self Help Videos section.

Judy E. Buss

One of the folk traditions around the world on New Year’s Day is eating cabbage for good luck. There are compelling health reasons however, for consuming cabbage and any of its relatives all year round. Members of this family also include: arugula, broccoli, collard greens, kale, horseradish, bok choy, Brussels sprouts, rutabaga, radish, turnip, cauliflower, wasabi, kohlrabi, watercress, and mustard.

Few foods can compete with cruciferous vegetables for their nutritional value. They offer a high concentration of vitamin A, C, K, all the B vitamins, as well as powerful antioxidants such as beta carotene and lutein. They are also rich in potassium, manganese, and fiber. Cruciferous veggies are champion cancer fighters containing glucosinolates, a group of natural compounds which aid in detoxifying a wide variety of cancer-causing toxins before they assault healthy cells.

People suffering from an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) should eat these veggies mostly cooked. Cooking destroys the thyroid suppressant (goiterogens) activity. Everyone else, in order to fully benefit from these health-boosting nutritional celebrities, should eat them both cooked and raw.

The best cooking methods are to briefly sauté or steam the vegetables. Cruciferous veggies offer an enormous variety of culinary possibilities when all parts of the plants are used: flowers (as in broccoli and cauliflower), stems, seeds, roots (such as turnip roots, and rutabaga), and leaves. Some steaming suggestions: peel, halve, and sprinkle turnip roots with pepper and steam 15 minutes; or peel and cube a rutabaga and steam 20 minutes, then drizzle with olive oil on your plate; lightly sprinkle cauliflower florets and chopped stalks with ground nutmeg and steam 15 minutes; Brussels sprouts can be steamed whole, or halved and sautéed with olive oil, chopped garlic, and an herb, and mixed with cooked grain or pasta, etc.

When making one of coleslaw’s numerous versions, drowning the salad in a truckload of mayonnaise is unhealthy and unsavory. A healthier and tastier dressing such as vinaigrette (made from olive oil, wine vinegar, salt, and pepper) is a better choice. Or, make an Oriental dressing adding soy sauce.

Sauerkraut, kimchi, and other fermented cruciferous veggies play a special role in a healthy diet. They are known to promote good digestion by beefing up the all-important intestinal flora. Improve your health luck: pay lip service to cruciferous vegetables! 

Coleslaw With Walnuts
(Serves 3)
4 cups shredded cabbage
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup roasted walnuts, coarsely chopped

Dressing:
2 tablespoons wine vinegar or juice of 1 lemon
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely grated
1/2 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
Salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon honey (optional)

In a large bowl whisk together the dressing. Add all other ingredients – mix well.

“Mission Nutrition” Tips and Recipe from Judy E. Buss, Health Columnist, Nutritional Cooking Instructor.

Excerpted from Judy E. Buss’ article, first published in the “Feeling Fit” Magazine, Sun Coast Media Group newspapers, Florida.

Stay tuned for more Judy E. Buss’ “Mission Nutrition” words of wisdom and recipes.

Bernard Siegel, MD

The word “patient” actually means “submissive sufferer.” In your relationship with your doctor, do you consider yourself to be a patient or a partner in your healthcare?

The article link below explains how doctors can create a better relationship with those they serve and how medical education shapes future physicians abilities to be compassionate.

Discover how great your relationship with your physician can be.

Article Link: The Doctor and the Patient: Relationship, Partnership or Marriage by Bernard Siegel, MD

For additional articles, visit the American Holistic Health Association’s Self-Help Articles Collection.