Supplementing with vitamins has become big business. Americans spend an average of $17 billion per year on their supplements. I have been among them until recently. I took a break from my vitamin regimen after I learned that I was not properly absorbing my nutrients and was deficient in several areas. I wondered how that could be…

It seems that those of us with Leaky Gut Syndrome, a condition in which the lining of the intestines becomes more permeable than it should be, tend to be malnourished. Food molecules that normally wouldn’t pass through the intestinal wall, slip by and alarm our immune system. Consequently, microphages come to the rescue and attack the foreign invader and we develop antibodies as a result. The next time that same food passes through our system, whether it slips through the intestinal wall or not, our body says, “There’s that foreign invader again!” and goes in for the attack. More and antibodies develop until we have a whole slew of food sensitivities—but that is a subject for another day.

I have been wondering how a foodie like me, who eats whole grains, beans, greens, fresh fruits and vegetables could become malnourished. Ironic, huh? Well, after much reading and discussion with my functional medicine and osteopathic physicians, I have a few answers.

When people with Leaky Gut take supplements, their digestive systems work about as well with vitamins as they do with food. Some of the nutrients get metabolized and reach their intended destination and some fail. According to my doctor, it is the metabolic pathway that is to blame. If that isn’t functioning properly, we seem to get stuck in a rut of compromised health. He explained that going after the resulting food sensitivities and allergies is like trying to catch the fragments once a bomb has gone off. You may get some, but many more will elude you and you will go around and around chasing after them.

The key is healing the underlying malfunction of the system. That takes probiotics, targeted supplements to heal specific areas in the metabolic pathway, and an increase in certain vitamins. Most of us don’t get nearly enough of the nutrients our bodies’ desire from our food or multi-vitamins. Years of single crop farming, pesticides and synthetic fertilizer have left our crops fairly malnourished as well. And, like us, in their compromised state, they require intervention to keep them from dying. Fortunately, we can get tested for our nutritional deficiencies and specifically target them with the correct supplements.

It seems that the quickest way for someone with food sensitivities to get their fair share of nutrients is by juicing. Max Gerson, MD, discovered after World War II a regimen that could literally cure cancer. Of course everyone is different, and it can’t cure all forms and all people, but it seems to have prolonged the life of many patients. Gerson’s daughter, Charlotte, has continued his work both in the US and in Mexico. I decided to take a page from their nutritional book and began juicing carrots and apples every day during the holidays. My husband and I continue to drink a delicious, 8-ounce glass of organic juice to raise our level of nutrients every day. Next, we will add in a daily greens juice with an apple to make it more palatable.

As for the vitamins, I’ll take my C, B, minerals, magnesium, calcium, and fish oil, as well as a multivitamin. I need whatever nourishment can get through my system. I won’t rely solely on any one source, though. I am also careful to make sure I know what is in each supplement I take, so I don’t get lots of synthetic fillers that my body doesn’t recognize or use.

The bottom line is that we are an undernourished overweight society. Convenience and easy access has cost us much more than our dollar. It has long-term health costs and consequences we are only beginning to understand. We would probably all do well to take a page from Gerson’s book and nourish ourselves back to health through whole fresh foods, juicing and targeted nutritional supplements.

Planning is one of the keys to success. When we go to a party hungry, we’ll eat everything in sight. By snacking on an apple and a few almonds or hummus and carrots beforehand, we can nibble (key word) and feel satisfied.

Another tip is to change things up a bit when it comes to the family feasts. Do you really need to stick with Aunt Sandy’s 1950s version of cranberry mold with all that sugar? Could you use fresh cranberries, orange and lemon zest, and some agave nectar instead?

Asking our family members what they feel they “can’t do without” versus what “they have never really liked either,” will ensure that everyone gets their favorite dish. Each member will feel special that their request has been honored and you can spread the responsibility as well as the joy around.

We also seem to exhaust ourselves between working and shopping and cleaning the house and preparing the food (sounds tiring just mentioning it). How can you make it simpler? For example, if all agree to buy just one gift instead of several, those January bills won’t seem so large. Gift bags save a lot of time as well. As a special gift to yourself, can you get help with the cleaning?

I have always loved decorating the tree at our house. I put on holiday music and fix some spiced cider, carefully plant each ornament on the tree and decorate until the room sparkles. What are your favorite traditions of the season? How can you make the routine seem special? What would you like to hand off to someone else this year?

Heading off fatigue is part of the trick to really enjoying the season. It means making choices about when to join in and when to say “no.” Sometimes, it means just stopping by, rather than feeling obligated to stay all evening at a gathering. When we gauge our energy and respect it, we can delight in the special moments that we might otherwise have missed.

By remembering that this is your time to enjoy the season in ways that are most fulfilling to you, you will be able to be more available to your loved ones. A wise woman once asked me what I thought my family would prefer–a harried, exhausted mother who has the dinner on, but isn’t able to carry on a decent conversation or a woman who took care of herself and was able to really engage in the special times with her family.

And if, despite your best efforts, you end up overdoing it a bit and find the scale inching upward, you can always contact a health and nutrition coach in January to get back on track. Happy Holidays!

For more information, visit http://www.yourhealthpotential.com

If seasonal affective disorder or SAD, a mood-related reaction to less sunlight, is something that puts a damper on your spirits this time of year, a few simple and natural activities can help.

Sunlight used to be something we were exposed to on a daily basis when we were agricultural societies. Now that we are indoors a good deal of the time, many of us barely get enough light in summer, let alone winter. Indoor lighting that imitates daylight is a quick fix for the winter doldrums. Depending on need, you can also purchase a light box to give you the extra sunlight your body craves.

The vitamin D that we gain from sunlight on our skin improves mood, resistance to infection and cancer, and facilitates a myriad of other bodily functions. I get tested for vitamin D levels and supplement with a carefully chosen form of the vitamin. I want to be sure I’m not getting “filler,” which can be just about anything beyond the required 20 percent of the vitamin advertised as determined by FDA regulations. A guide to watch for is GMP (Good Manufacturing Process) on the label. This means the supplement company met basic quality standards in their manufacturing.

Most of us, whether we choose to act on it or not, know by now that exercise boosts our mood. It may raise seratonin levels in the brain when the exertion is at a high enough level to cause fatigue. I’m adamant about choosing exercise that we enjoy, otherwise our best intentions will dwindle away to an occasional outing, if we continue to exercise at all. When weather permits, I love to walk at a fast clip with my dogs, taking in the squirrel gathering nuts or the birds swooping down to settle on a branch overhead. Another favorite is bicycling, so I can see something different while I’m moving.  My backup when it’s raining is a Nordic Track while viewing an old Peter Gabriel DVD. What do you love that you could incorporate into exercise?

Another significant way to boost mood is through nutrition. Interestingly, it’s not just about the balance of nutrients that a whole food diet gives us. We can actually manage a predisposition to low seratonin through our food. For example, researchers found that chickpeas supply a hefty enough amount of tryptophan to raise our seratonin levels. This means eat your hummus! It is delicious, provides protein and makes you feel better. Of course, eating fresh, clean, whole foods that are pesticide-, GMO-, and radiation-free will supply the basic nourishment our bodies need to stay healthy and strong.

A last food-related way to improve mood is to become free of refined sugar–especially if you crave it! Sweets may seem to improve mood, but they always let you down with a crash (when you blood sugar takes a dive). For more information about how to get off sugar with a five-day freedom detox, join my free teleseminar, Sweet Success, on Tuesday, September 28 at 7 p.m. EDT. Watch for details and registration on my website, www.yourhealthpotential.com.

My husband and I recently tried to make things easier on my clients and me. We created a Health Log that has the food, activity, allergy, and self-care entries to help me to align my intentions with my actions. I know, it’s one more thing to fit into an already busy schedule, but I figured that with the categories already laid out, a quick update here and there would be easy. After I try it out for a bit and get some client feedback, I’ll be posting it on my website: http://www.yourhealthpotential.com.

So far so good in terms of my commitment to log in on a daily basis. What I am learning is that just having a category of self-care actually makes me think about it. As women, we often put ourselves last on the list of things to take care of, and that leads to quick-fix eating, online shopping, and other pacifiers that don’t really fulfill our needs. We often feel worse afterward, because we think we have been weak and indulgent. No so!

First, any behavior, misguided or not, is driven by a genuine need to feel better. If we actually think about how we were feeling just prior to our “slip,” we can usually decipher the motive for our behavior. For example, this morning I awoke feeling sunburned and tired from too long a day at the beach yesterday with my sister. I didn’t listen to myself  as I was thinking, “I’ve probably had enough sun,” and I paid the price. I also have a talk about getting off the sugar roller coaster that’s coming up tomorrow at a local Country Club. I don’t like the idea of going to talk about health and being sunburned–doesn’t fit with what I feel is taking good care of myself, you know?

So…as I was reading my email this morning, one of my favorite shoppping sites indicated that the were having a sale and, voila! Out popped my credit card. I could rationalize this all day, but the fact remains that I hadn’t intended to buy any clothes today and spent money I could have used on something I do need. I won’t actually have the outfit for tomorrow’s talk, but I admit I felt instantly better thinking about being dressed in it. However, a more direct and less expensive solution to my feelings might have been journaling and working them through. Later, a planned treat, like an Epsom Salts and Baking Soda bath to relieve the sunburn and relax might be just the right pick-me-up.

The key is to interrupt the action with another solution. I often rehearse with my clients what they might do in a social situation, for example, when someone automatically serves them dessert. If they have practiced a graceful way to refuse, they won’t feel cornered between their desire to improve their health and their desire to please their host. Any discomfort in such a situation is only momentary, anyway. I have found that people don’t really care what we are eating, as long as they can enjoy their food and know we are content.

One more thought on the subject–whether it’s logging into a health journal or writing down how we feel, I know positive action leads to more of the same. It is the way we actually change situations in our lives that we are frustrated about. If I were to continue to focus on my “slip” and make myself feel worse, I am almost guaranteed to do it again and again and again. Whereas, if I use it to think through what is happening with me and what I want to do next time, I’m much more likely to act differently. It’s a matter of becoming our own best friends. We comfort ourselves when we’re down and encourage ourselves when we start to change.

Then, in another few months when we look back, we will see amazing progress and growth. That, in itself, is life-changing and empowering. So, go for what you want in your life, no matter how big or small and record your successes. Penning a few notes along the way help create big gains in the end.

A very common flavoring to meats and vegetables like garlic and onions can hammer me with a migraine ( a typical delayed onset food sensitivity). The tough part is that not only can’t I order a dish made with these vegetables, but I can’t have meat cooked on the same grill either. To my garlic loving family, this definitely puts a damper on meal time. That’s why I wanted to bring this up.

If you have food allergies, there are a few alternatives to the standard seasonings and maybe it’s time we educated our close friends and relatives about what we can enjoy with them. For instance, I use horseradish root as a seasoning substitute for garlic and onions. It adds a delicious flavor to all kinds of dishes. I recently made veggie lasagna for my husband’s birthday and our friends and family raved about the dish!

Another common food sensitivity is wheat or gluten. Our breads now routinely contain 10 times more gluten than they did 40 years ago, and more people are becoming sensitive as a result. Some people find that they can better tolerate sprouted wheat like Mana bread. Others opt for brown rice or another gluten free bread. Tortillas made with corn or brown rice are a great substitute for wheat and arrowroot powder may be used as a thickener instead of wheat flour.

If you have difficulty with dairy, try coconut milk ice cream (heavenly!), almond, hemp or rice milk and sheep’s or goat’s milk yogurt. The proteins in the sheep and goat’s milk are usually better tolerated than those in cow’s milk. A delicious breakfast combination is fresh berries, a dash of cinnamon, half a banana and goat’s milk yogurt. Goat cheese  with fresh herbs is another option that tastes great in a salad or sandwich.

A fourth category that can cause an adverse reaction is eggs. I buy only farm fresh eggs and avoid the “wash” that may cause irritation. If eggs don’t work for you, though, you can always substitute organic tofu and scramble it in olive oil with sea salt and pepper.

Traveling with your own tried and true foods is always helpful when possible. I usually bring snacks like apples, almonds, dates, gojiberries or brown rice cakes, because they travel well.  However, more restaurants and inns are becoming aware of the growing number of people with food allergies. In fact, our inn in NH questioned us about food allergies before we arrived, so every morning I had options on what to eat for breakfast. If you let your server know that you have food allergies, many places are happy to prepare your food free of the aggravating ingredients. The more we ask for what we need, the more restaurants will become accustomed to “special orders.”

If you would like to know more about food allergies and how to detect them, feel free to visit my website at http://www.yourhealthpotential.com/articles/2010/news1003A.htm or contact me through the site. Summer picnics and cookouts can be fun for everyone with a little planning and communication.

I like to give my clients a breakfast experiment that I learned at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City a few years ago. Every day for a week they try a different kind of breakfast and note how they feel and when they get hungry again. By the end of the week, they have gained a new awareness of which foods support their energy and which foods make them crash and burn.

It’s the sugar highs and lows that seem to cause problems for most of us, though. If we start our day with a cup of coffee and boxed cereal, for example, that caffeine and sugar combination sends us out the door full of energy. On a typical work day at about 10 a.m. we find our energy lagging and start seeking our first pick-me-up. It’s usually another cup of coffee and something sweet to get that blood sugar rising fast, since it just dipped into the danger zone.

We get the boost we needed from that quick-fix and do all right until lunch. The taste for sugar is going strong at this point, so it doesn’t take much to be persuaded to go to a fast-food restaurant for a heavy dose of more fat, salt and sugar in the way of chicken nuggets, fries or a burger. We may even have decided to be “good” and opted for the salad–if only the dressing weren’t loaded with fat, salt and sugar, too!

All’s well in our body’s energy department until around 3 p.m., when we need another quick-fix food. This time a candy bar is in order. Since there are all sorts of “healthy” bars available today, we can convince ourselves that the raisins, nuts and seeds make all that sugar, salt and fat okay. Up goes the blood sugar again–just in time to keep us out of the danger zone.

Dinner may be a bit late, since we have an extra report to get out or the kids to pick up at soccer practice or just need a little R & R with some cheese and crackers and a glass of wine. In any case, we feel rushed when we do start cooking and rely on whatever short-cuts we can use to get the meal together fast. A box of pasta with cheese sauce or frozen veggies in their own special sauce make the fast food tastier. (They threw more fat, salt and sugar in the sauce, so we wouldn’t notice that it otherwise tastes like cardboard). We defrost some chicken breasts in the microwave and voila! Dinner is served.

The cravings are in full force a couple of hours later when the TV is blaring and every few minutes we see a food or pharmaceutical commercial. We just can’t resist a few cookies from the cookie jar or that pint of ice cream in the freezer. We guiltily slink off to bed, thinking we’ll do better tomorrow.

I know once you’re on this blood sugar roller coaster it’s not easy to get off. That’s where a healthy breakfast comes in. Starting your day with a low-glycemic/high fiber smoothie is a great place to begin. Blend fresh or frozen berries, maca, ground flaxseed and protein powder, plus a little agave nectar or yacon syrup if you need it for sweetness, water and add some ice to make it thick and rich. (I throw in a fresh-from-the-farm egg every now and then for protein). It keeps me energized and satisfied all morning; plus, without the caffeine, there is no drop in energy to drive me toward the mid-morning muffins.

It’s one meal and one change that can make all the difference if you want to feel and look better. The rewards are great, too. No more mood swings, fatigue, extra pounds, acne, or a host of other symptoms and conditions brought on by the sweet stuff. Besides, when the new you starts getting compliments, success never tasted so sweet!

We no longer care so much what others think, and seem to get a powerful urge to express…be…do…whatever our heart desires. It is only when we try to squash this drive to live authentically that we run into trouble.

I tried to keep plugging away at a job that I no longer felt passionate about and I was getting chronic symptoms like backaches, migraines, a pinched nerve and IBS (let alone the hot flashes and weight gain of menopause) until I took action.

When I pursued my passion for nutrition, commuting to the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in NYC, the four-hour train ride on weekends and extra studying during the week should have exhausted me, but instead I felt revived and refreshed by the people I met and the information I learned. I felt even better when I began losing weight and balancing my hormones with whole, fresh food.

I learned that steadying my blood sugar with beans and whole grains helped me to reduce my cravings for sweets. Without all that sugar, my hot flashes weren’t so frequent or intense. I also supplemented with Evening Primrose Oil to balance out my hormones.

So many women have spent most of their lives caring for others, that when they finally do have the time to care for themselves, they have forgotten how. That’s where the quick fix comes in. When you are last on your list, popping something sweet, rich, and decadent into your mouth becomes an easy reward or pacifier. The problem is that the need for expression, nuturing, friendship, support or relaxation still isn’t met. It is just stuffed down and waiting for the next piece of candy or some wine with cheese and crackers.

My yearning to help women feel stronger and healthier developed into a business, through which I could guide those who want to lose weight, eliminate cravings and live a life that supports and excites them. Someone recently wrote on FB that the best thing we can do for the world is to “be ourselves.” That is what we were created to be and, actually, who are we NOT to be. So, if you are connecting with this at all, the time is now! It may take a temporary “pause” until you know just how you want to surge forward. But don’t let anything stop you. Your whole being is ready to soar once you start listening–and the world needs you!

The whole idea here is that we need to feed our spirits too. I will never forget a meditation class that I took a few years ago. One class was focused on meditative or mindful eating. Our instructor gave us each a large strawberry dipped in chocolate. We couldn’t eat it right away. We each had to hold it. Smell it. Look at it carefully. We had to fully absorb the experience with our senses. Finally, we could taste it–fully.

I remember closing my eyes and biting into that juicy, ripe strawberry with its hard, crunchy, chocolate outer coating. Nothing compared to that intense burst of flavor. Every one of my senses was alive and alert to the experience. I enjoyed it so much, the memory is etched forever in my mind.

While I don’t expect every meal to be quite that memorable, savoring the experience makes it so much more enjoyable. When we sit down to dinner now, we no longer watch the evening news (too depressing). The kids have all moved on, so it’s my husband and me sitting side by side at our kitchen counter. I usually silently bless my food before I eat it. I’m appreciating the energy of the food that is supporting my energy. We had decided that this is our time together, so we agreed not to answer the phone if it rings. We eat with some conversation and some quiet  in peaceful comfort.

Whether it’s a delicious special something in that 10 percent category or a tasty, nutritious meal, the ritual of coming together and eating in an unhurried, mindful pace gives us nourishment for mind, body and spirit. Bon Apetit!

It would be wonderful if this blog served to inspire women (and the men who love them) to share their stories of great transformation in their lives. For example, I had two big birthdays in my adulthood that prompted me to make major changes in my life.

When I turned 30, I left a six-year relationship and moved from Michigan to Massachusetts for a new job in health care public relations. I had promised myself that if I got the job I wanted I would quit smoking, so I did. I also cut my hair, found a new apartment and started that new job. It was one of the best things I’ve ever done, because I had to grow and change as a result.

I went through a period of mourning for that relationship, which was never quite what I wanted. Suddenly, I had to re-examine who I was as an independent woman and that was hard.

When I turned 50, I was running a community health center as a CEO. I had been there 14 years and I was feeling like I needed to do something that had a greater impact on people’s lives. I could no longer tolerate aspects of my life and work that didn’t fit with who I was, so I began searching the internet for something that would resonate with me.

I discovered the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN) in New York City and read every word on their website. This was it! They had experts in health and nutrition from around the world and I could earn my certification in nine months. I took the train from Providence to New York on the weekend once a month for two days of classes. Sunday nights I would head back to Massachusetts to start my regular work week.

I always thought I ate a healthy diet, based on what I learned from my mother. But I had gained several pounds over the years that were difficult to lose. I went to a well-known weight loss program that helped me lose some of the weight before I plateaued and decided that at my age this must be where I was destined to stay.

Was I wrong! From what I learned at IIN, I began eating whole foods and explored food allergies, eliminating a couple of mainstays from my diet and voila! The weight literally fell off. I have been back to the same size I was in high school ever since.

I started thinking more clearly and people noticed improvements in my skin and hair. When they asked me what I was doing, I told them I was eating better. They shook their heads in disbelief.

After about six months of building my new business, Your Health Potential, I left my 14-year position. I was thrilled to be pursuing my new passion–to help women enjoy healthy, nourished bodies, experience abundance and fall in love with their lives!

The journey as a soul-inspired entrepreneur has been exciting, sometimes scary, and greatly rewarding. I recently finished my certification in life purpose coaching to help women discover and pursue their own life purpose, along with learning the business strategies that can help them attain financial success.

I would love to hearing about your seminal moments and what you have learned along the way. I invite you to join me in supporting each other on our journeys toward full bloom magnificence!