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# Healthy Living, Wellness & Nutrition Expert | Dr John La Puma

Transform Your Life With What You Eat and How You Live

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## Posts

- [The NYT Says Touch Grass. Here's Why That Works.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-nyt-says-touch-grass-heres-why-that-works/) - Today is the first week of the New York Times Well desk’s “Touch Grass” Challenge — a four-week series Jancee Dunn and the Well Newsletter, asking readers to step away from screens, go outside, and reclaim some of what chronic indoor life takes from them. I am one of the contributing scientific experts on the
- [What Physicians Learn When They Study Nature as Medicine at La Puma Farms](https://drjohnlapuma.com/nature-as-medicine-ucla-la-puma-farms-cme/) - Nature as medicine for physicians is now a CME course. Dr. John La Puma trains doctors to prescribe outdoor time at his regenerative farm in Santa Barbara.
- [Digital Obesity: How Ultra-Processed Time Is Wrecking Your Brain](https://drjohnlapuma.com/digital-obesity-ultra-processed-time/) - Digital Obesity affects your brain like too much sugar. Learn what is digital obesity and how Dr. La Puma's Ultra-Processed Time concept can help.
- [The Indoor Epidemic Book Launch: What This Book Does and Why It Matters](https://drjohnlapuma.com/indoor-epidemic-book-launch-day/) - The Indoor Epidemic book launch is here. Dr. John La Puma's evidence-based guide to outdoor time, and the 7% Solution is available now on Amazon.
- [It Was Never Just the Screens](https://drjohnlapuma.com/it-was-never-just-the-screens/) - It Was Never Just the Screens Your nine-year-old can’t see the board. The school sends a note home. You get glasses. Everyone moves on. Nobody tells you what just happened. The eye did not get weaker. It got longer. It physically stretched, like a balloon that will not shrink back. A stronger prescription next year
- [Indoor Epidemic: How "Analog Wellness" Can Transform Your Kid's Focus, Sleep, and Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/indoor-epidemic-how-analog-wellness-can-transform-your-kids-focus-sleep-and-health/) - If you are raising a child with ADHD or simply trying to keep your kids healthy in a screen-obsessed world, you already know the daily struggles: fighting to get them to sleep, dealing with morning grogginess, and constantly battling the effects of overstimulation. As a board-certified internist, I’ve spent years looking outside the traditional borders
- [WBUR Asked Me Why Clinicians Need Forest Therapy. Here's the Full Answer.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/wbur-asked-me-why-clinicians-need-forest-therapy-heres-the-full-answer/) - Martha Bebinger at WBUR called me for a story on forest therapy in medical training. She was writing about Dr. Susan Abookire, who has been taking Brigham and Women's residents across the street to Harvard's Arnold Arboretum for two-hour sessions in the trees. I told her what I believe: clinicians really need this. The boundaries
- [Healthy Bytes Newsletter Archive, 12.2010 - 08.2013](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bytes-newsletter-archive-12-2010-08-2013/) - Join us and receive Dr John La Puma's Healthy Bytes Newsletter archives through December 2010 filled with recommended products, services, research tools and tips. Here's a few bytes... Healthy Bites 2013 August Click for more…
- [Nature: The Original GLP-1 Agonist](https://drjohnlapuma.com/stepping-outdoors-why-environment-and-movement-matter-when-using-glp-1-medications/) - Outdoor exercise and GLP-1 medications like Ozempic work better together. Learn the clinical case for why environment and movement determine long-term results.
- [Beyond the Needle: Why Metabolic Health Needs the Great OutdoorsBuilding Your "Sustainable Health Playbook" from Day One on GLP-1s](https://drjohnlapuma.com/building-your-sustainable-health-playbook-from-day-one/) - Beyond the Needle: Why Metabolic Health Needs the Great Outdoors Modern indoor environments strongly influence movement, metabolism, and circadian regulation — shaping health behaviors more than we often realize. As Nature is the original GLP-1a, we need to know how to optimize metabolism and the hormone's action with sustainable efforts, including how to keep off
- [Prescribing Nature: My New Peer-Reviewed Paper on the Clinical Science of Outdoor Rx](https://drjohnlapuma.com/prescribing-nature-peer-reviewed-paper/) - I am pleased to share that my new peer-reviewed paper, “Prescribing Nature: Neurobiological Rationale and Clinical Guidance for Clinicians,” has just been published in Integrative and Complementary Therapies, a journal published by Mary Ann Liebert as part of SAGE Publishing.
- [Prescribing Wine: Palliative and Preventive Care](https://drjohnlapuma.com/prescribing-wine-palliative-and-preventive-care/) - My essay on prescribing wine in palliative care on Medscape has attracted lots of comments, and that's good: we need to put this issue on the table and make it part of our discussion about well-being as a goal of medicine, and as part of care near the end of life. Food can be good
- [Prescribing Wine Near the End of Life: Rx Well-being](https://drjohnlapuma.com/prescribing-wine-near-the-end-of-life-rx-well-being/) - My Medscape essay on Prescribing Red Wine in Palliative Care, which I've reproduced for you below, has attracted good stories and comments, and it is something I have thought a lot about, while also trying to decide whether to get labs on my 18 month old barrels of pinot noir and merlot now, or wait
- [The Indoor Child: How Indoor Life Rewires Attention and Mood](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-indoor-child-how-indoor-life-rewires-attention-and-mood/) - How indoor time affects children attention is backed by research. Here is what screens and lack of outdoor play do to developing brains.
- [The Urban Outdoor Rx: Nature as Medicine When You Live in a Concrete Jungle](https://drjohnlapuma.com/urban-outdoor-rx-nature-cities/) - How to get nature therapy in a city using morning light, green space, and blue space. Evidence-based urban Outdoor Rx for office workers and city dwellers.
- [Why Self-Regulation Breaks Down Indoors (and Improves Faster Than We Expect)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/why-self-regulation-breaks-down-indoors-and-improves-faster-than-we-expect/) - Why is it hard to focus indoors? Indoor environments deplete focus and willpower. Here is what the science says about self-regulation and recovery.
- [How Much Time Do Americans Spend Indoors: Why 93% of Your Life Is Making You Sick](https://drjohnlapuma.com/indoor-epidemic-93-percent-life-indoors/) - How much time do Americans spend indoors? 93%. Dr. John La Puma breaks down what that number means for your sleep, immunity, and longevity.
- [What Happened When Real People Started the Indoor Epidemic Protocol](https://drjohnlapuma.com/indoor-epidemic-week-one-stories/) - The Indoor Epidemic book Dr John La Puma is already changing lives. Real reader stories from week one — sleep, focus, mood, and energy transformed.
- [How Much Time Outside Is Healthy: The Research-Backed Answer](https://drjohnlapuma.com/outdoor-rx-7-percent-solution-science/) - How much time outside is healthy? Research shows 120 minutes a week is the minimum. Here is what the dose-response data says about outdoor time and your health.
- [How Nature Affects Longevity: Telomeres, Cortisol, and Your Healthspan](https://drjohnlapuma.com/longer-by-nature-telomeres-healthspan/) - Learn how nature affects longevity at the cellular level. Dr. La Puma shares the telomere science and outdoor protocol from his TEDx Santa Barbara Salon.
- [Not Anti-Technology. Pro-Biology. Here Is Why the Difference Matters.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/not-anti-technology-pro-biology/) - Most people don't need less technology, they need more biology. Here's how to balance technology and nature with just 17 minutes outside a day.
- [TV's Famous Food Products...$20 for Tween Sodas?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/tvs-famous-food-products20-for-tween-sodas/) - The Wall Street Journal reports "beverage companies spent $474 million to market sugary carbonated beverages to children ages 12 to 17 -- or nearly $20 per American teenager -- in 2006." This sort of sickening seduction of kids is worth about $1.6 billion annually to 44 companies. That's the same ad budget for General Electric.
- [Limiting Sugar: Just as Important as Saturated/Trans Fat...and Easier to Do!](https://drjohnlapuma.com/limiting-sugar-just-as-important-as-saturatedtrans-fatand-easier-to-do/) - UN Urges Sugar Limit for Healthier Living Mon Mar 3,10:28 AM ET Add Health - Reuters to My Yahoo! ROME (Reuters) - People should get no more than 10 percent of their calories from sugar, eat more fruit and vegetables and exercise moderately to cut risks of chronic disease, two UN agencies said on Monday. In Yahoo! Health Bioterrorism Guide
- [The Social Media Trial Won't Save Your Kids. The Backyard Might.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/social-media-trial-kids-backyard/) - A California jury just found Meta and YouTube negligent for designing platforms that addict children. A day earlier, a New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million for enabling the sexual exploitation of children. Twenty-nine state attorneys general are pursuing claims against Meta.
- [Why Your Environment, Not Your Workload, Is Driving Burnout](https://drjohnlapuma.com/environment-not-workload-driving-burnout/) - I just published a guest commentary in the Pacific Coast Business Times on a topic I think every business leader on the Central Coast, and beyond, needs to hear
- [The Science of Job Stress: Razor's Edge](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-science-of-job-stress-razors-edge/) - No one writes down on my medical practice questionnaires that they eat because they are stressed. People say that they eat for a reward, or are lonely or bored, or are happy or angry or frustrated, or because they want to. Scientists who study workplace health group say those feelings can mean "chronic stress." But
- [Healthy Bites: Cold Relief & Air-Cleaning Plants](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-cold-relief-air-cleaning-plants/) - Discover natural remedies for cold relief and the power of air-cleaning plants. Improve your health with these simple, plant-based solutions for a cleaner home!
- [Weekly Wows: Phosphatidylserine, Our Wild Calling, and Allbirds](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-phosphatidylserine-our-wild-calling-and-allbirds/) - What Supplements I'm Liking Is it possible that longevity is cool? Celebrities are now seen with copies of Dan Buettner's Blue Zones; Mike Roizen's and my own RealAge Diet; The Longevity Book by Cameron Diaz; and the new Lifespan by David Sinclair. I've been fascinated by how we can live healthier longer—and the stories that older
- [Healthy Bites: Soup Season & EcoMedicine for Dementia](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-soup-season-ecomedicine-for-dementia/) - Healthy Bites: 'Tis the Season for Soup We're currently in that lovely liminal period between the giant Thanksgiving feast and the December festivities of Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year's. With all these big cooking holidays at this time of the year, the thought of cooking yet another dinner can be exhausting. It's tempting to hole up
- [Weekly Wows: Dark Waters, pomegranates, and Food & Climate Change](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-dark-waters-pomegranates-and-food-climate-change/) - What Movie I'm Watching #DarkWaters is an eye-opening movie about the danger of chemical hazards around us. A brilliantly acted whistleblower drama steeped in the air of 1970s paranoia thrillers, it's also riveting, responsible and deeply unsettling. A first-rate film like Dark Waters is a rare and welcome chapter in the dramatic fabric of how one
- [Vitamin C for a Healthy Immune System](https://drjohnlapuma.com/vitamin-c-support-for-strong-immunity/) - Next week is Christmas, and a fair few of us might find an orange at the bottom of our stockings. So in honor of the orange, today we're paying tribute to the secret ingredient that makes it so special: vitamin C. Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble vitamin known for its role in
- [Festive Figs and Their Health Benefits](https://drjohnlapuma.com/festive-figs-and-their-health-benefits/) - One of the most ubiquitous foods during the festive holiday season is the fig. After all, have you eaten figgy pudding at any other time of the year? ​​​​​​​ Thankfully for us, festive figs are a very healthy fruit with a plethora of health benefits. Fig antioxidants can enrich lipoproteins in plasma, protect them from
- [How to Live Healthier in 2020](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-live-healthier-in-2020/) - Welcome to 2020. A new year and new—or renewed—resolutions. We're two weeks in now, which is a crucial time that can make or break those resolutions we set back on the 1st. So it's important to be planning for your best health in 2020 now. Whether you're determined to manage weight, reduce stress, strengthen relationships,
- [Stay Healthy during Winter with these Green Veggies](https://drjohnlapuma.com/stay-healthy-during-winter-with-these-green-veggies/) - For some people, green veggies can be a hard sell—and it can be even harder to psych yourself up for a salad and to stay healthy during winter and all you want is something warm and carby. However, if you're looking to avoid a carbo-load food coma and keep eating healthy during the chillier months,
- [Vibrant Winter Salad Recipe with Walnuts, Dried Cranberry and Lemon Vinaigrette](https://drjohnlapuma.com/vibrant-winter-salad-recipe-with-walnuts-dried-cranberry-and-lemon-vinaigrette/) - Now that we've sold you on healthy winter greens, it's only fair to provide a killer winter salad recipe to go with it. A healthy start to dinner, this winter salad is robust in flavor, color, and nutrition. Cranberries add color and sweetness against the vibrant dark greens and purple radicchio. Walnuts and raw broccoli
- [How to Keep a Food Journal](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-keep-a-food-journal/) - There are dozens of reason why you'd want to keep a food journal or a diet diary. Whether you need to monitor eating habits to manage a health condition or because you want to lose weight, keeping a diet diary is a powerful tool for gaining insight about what, when, and why you are eating.
- [What I Taught at Harvard: EcoMedicine and The Science of Nature as Medicine (Video)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-science-of-nature-as-medicine/) - Watch my Harvard lecture on EcoMedicine, where I explore how nature impacts personal health and the environment. Learn about nature therapy and its benefits!
- [8 Tips to Becoming an Informed Consumer of New Health Information](https://drjohnlapuma.com/8-tips-to-become-an-informed-consumer-of-new-health-information/) - Eat this, not that! Eat that, not this! One day a certain supplement or medication is great for you, but a week later you're being advised not to take it... With so much confusing (and often conflicting) information flying around, how can you become an informed consumer of health information? How can you judge the
- [From Ancient Herb to Modern Medicine and EcoMedicine](https://drjohnlapuma.com/from-ancient-herb-to-modern-medicine-and-ecomedicine/) - Did you know just how many of today's modern medicines were actually first part of "folk" apothecaries, often handed down from ancient knowledge? With the new emerging science of EcoMedicine, there is an emerging movement around ancient knowledge and nature therapy. Nature-as-medicine is emerging as a scientifically sound school of thought and a critical medical
- [Arsenic in rice: 4 Rice food safety tips](https://drjohnlapuma.com/arsenic-in-rice-4-rice-food-safety-tips/) - From Asian cuisine to gluten-free and other special diets, rice is a staple food for many people. Yet there are a couple rice food safety tips to know. Depending on where it is grown, rice can contain one of the world's most toxic elements: arsenic. Arsenic can be passed into the human body and build
- [EVOO vs Coconut Oil? The Healthy Truth](https://drjohnlapuma.com/evoo-vs-coconut-oil-the-healthy-truth/) - Depending on who you believe, coconut oil is either a nutritional miracle food or pure poison. Nearly 70% of Americans view coconut oil as a health food—but only about 37% of nutritionists view it that way. Coconut oil is 88% fat, most of which is saturated fat. However, the structure of fat in coconut oil
- [The Benefits of Taking Vitamin D Achieve Mainstream Medical Acceptance](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-benefits-of-taking-vitamin-d-achieve-mainstream-medical-acceptance/) - It's only within the last decade or so that a Vitamin D supplement became widely accepted by the conventional medicine community. Today, it's one of the most highly regarded supplements in both natural and conventional medicine and viewed as having health benefits. What prompted the change? Vitamin D made the jump to mainstream medicine through
- [How to Build Your Immunity Naturally Against the Coronavirus](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-build-your-immunity-naturally-against-the-coronavirus/) - How to build your immunity against the coronavirus, Naturally: because coronavirus is novel, much more contagious than common colds and can survive on surfaces for nine days, depending on the surface, we have much work to do in fending off this nasty virus. For many people, it is a matter of when they get it,
- [The Unexpected Benefits of Regular Exercise](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-unexpected-benefits-of-regular-exercise/) - The evidence couldn't be clearer: Exercise is the best prescription for a healthy life. Exercise aids in the prevention of chronic disease, enhances brain and nervous system function, and helps us manage stress at every age. It's so potent for our well-being that many medical organizations are now educating physicians about the proper type and
- [The Benefits of Magnesium in the Body](https://drjohnlapuma.com/benefits-of-magnesium-in-the-body/) - Magnesium is well-known for the role it plays in the structure and function of nerves and muscle tissue. And it's absolutely essential for nearly every chemical reaction that takes place in the body. Why do we need magnesium? Magnesium is especially helpful for helping you meet physical demands. For example, when you put your body
- [Scarcity and the Crisis Standard of Care](https://drjohnlapuma.com/scarcity-and-the-crisis-standard-of-care/) - With 15 colleagues in my Harvard Medical School Media and Medicine intensive (made longer by the coronavirus, and more intensive too) co-signing and editing, I wrote an Op Ed for USA Today on the coming scarcity of ventilators and critical care resources, including clinicians themselves. The National Academy of Medicine calls our approach a “crisis
- [Sauna Therapy: Sweat Out the Toxins with this form of EcoMedicine](https://drjohnlapuma.com/sauna-therapy-sweat-out-the-toxins-with-this-form-of-ecomedicine/) - During times of high stress, especially physical stress, the body is in danger of accumulating metabolic build-up. Add to this all the toxins that get into the body through soil and water, the food supply, the air we breathe, and medications we take, and you've got a perfect storm of physiological debris that can impact
- [Maca Root is Part of a High Energy Diet Plan for Athletes](https://drjohnlapuma.com/maca-root-is-part-of-a-high-energy-diet-plan-for-athletes/) - Maca root (Lepidium meyenii Walp) is a cruciferous root vegetable prized by the indigenous Andean people as a remedy for stress, improving energy, and enhancing libido in men and women. It can be a great part of a high energy diet plan for athletes. Popularly known as "Peruvian Ginseng," Maca is in a class of
- [Celebrate Nurses This World Health Day](https://drjohnlapuma.com/celebrate-nurses-this-world-health-day/) - Today is World Health Day, and according to the World Health Organization, this year the mission will be to "celebrate the work of nurses and midwives and remind world leaders of the critical role they play in keeping the world healthy." Globally, 70% of the health and social workforce are women, and nurses and midwives represent
- [The Health Benefits of Eating Onion](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-health-benefits-of-eating-onion/) - With so many of us stuck in quarantine or social distancing, we've had to get creative with the types of vegetables we pick up from the store. A lot of us have pivoted away from leafy greens to hardier veggies that will stay good in a dark cupboard or crisper for longer. This means that
- [10 Ways to Decrease Stress](https://drjohnlapuma.com/10-ways-to-decrease-stress/) - This Thursday, April 16th, is National Stress Awareness Day. A lot of us might be more aware of our stress than ever these days. We've got more stressors—and more time to ruminate on them. But as you probably know, ruminating endlessly on your stress is a surefire way to feel worse, not better. Having awareness of our
- [The Health Benefits of Sweet Basil](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-health-benefits-of-sweet-basil/) - A favorite herb in many types of cooking, basil—particularly Italian sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum)—is a nutritionally potent herb, beneficial for health and home. Include basil in your diet, home medicine kit, and your garden (easy to grow: check out these two organic seedlings, shipped to you free, Clovers Garden Sweet Basil Herb Plants- 4"-7" Tall-
- [How to Make Your New Home Garden Organic with EcoMedicine](https://drjohnlapuma.com/start-an-organic-garden-at-home-with-ecomedicine/) - Nobody likes social distancing, but one of my personal favorite "silver linings" to this moment in time is how many people are turning towards home gardening and how to make your new home garden organic. Starting a home garden is great for so many reasons—it's good for your mental and physical health, it gets you
- [Quarantine Chef: How to Can Your Own Vegetables and Fruit](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-can-your-own-vegetables-and-fruit/) - At this point in your self-isolation journey, you might have tried a number of new things: home-gardening, regrowing veggies from scraps, making your own bread from scratch. But have you tried canning your own vegetables and fruit yet? Canning is a wonderful way to provide your family with nutritious food from your garden all year
- [How to Improve Your Health with Phytonutrient Foods](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-improve-your-health-with-phytonutrient-foods/) - An interesting question that people commonly ask about food and nutrition: Is there that much difference between foods grown 30 years ago and foods grown today? The answer is YES. Decades ago, conventionally grown fruits and vegetables were much richer in vitamins and minerals than the varieties most of us are consuming in the 21st
- [How to Naturally Treat Seasonal Allergies](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-naturally-treat-seasonal-allergies/) - Ah, springtime! We welcome the pleasant weather, the scent of new blossoms, and opening our windows to the rush of fresh air. But along with that, we invite in pollen, grass, mold, and spores. Seasonal allergies can be annoying but there are ways to naturally treat them. For those who are allergic, our bodies launch
- [How to Improve Respiratory Health with Superfood Moringa](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-improve-respiratory-health-with-superfood-moringa/) - If you're into "superfoods," you may already know about Moringa. While Moringa is a superfood known to treat malnutrition in various cultures, you might be surprised to learn that its greatest impact is actually on how it improves respiratory health. This clinical 2008 study has shown that the leaves and pods from the Moringa tree
- [Fight Allergies With Watercress, an Ecomedicine Solution](https://drjohnlapuma.com/fight-allergies-with-watercress-an-ecomedicine-solution/) - Watercress blocks 60% of histamine release—learn how this leafy green helps fight allergies naturally and supports immune health. Includes a quick recipe!
- [Can Procyanidin Provide Home Allergy Relief?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/procyanidin-provide-home-allergy-relief/) - Allergy sufferers suffer. And they are always on the lookout for something safe and effective to relieve—and even prevent—symptoms. If you're looking more powerful and natural ways to fight your sniffling symptoms, consider a powerful antioxidant called procyanidin, which eases allergy symptoms at home naturally. Most of us are aware that antioxidants are critical to
- [The Dangers of Gut Imbalance (And 4 Things You Can Do to Improve Gut Health)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-dangers-of-gut-imbalance-and-4-things-you-can-do-to-improve-gut-health/) - What is the microbiome? The human body is home to over 100 trillion microorganisms, the majority of which are found in the gastrointestinal tract–also know as the "gut." Taken as a whole, this community of microorganisms, their genes, and the functions they encode are referred to as "the microbiome." During the past two decades, some
- [What Makes Nuts So Good For Your Health?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-makes-nuts-so-good-for-your-health/) - From breakfast to dinner to snacks, tree nuts are popular across the globe. They can be eaten whole (fresh or roasted), in spreads and butters, used as a source for gluten-free flour, and blended into smoothies or dessert recipes. Nut oils are used for cooking and are even found in skincare and haircare products. But
- [How To Make Nut Milk At Home](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-make-nut-milk-at-home/) - Learn how to make delicious nut milk at home with this easy guide. Includes recipes for cashew milk and tips for creating different nut milk varieties.
- [How Cinnamon can Improve your Gut Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-cinnamon-can-improve-your-gut-health/) - Cinnamon is a much-beloved sweet herb used in cooking. But you might not know that cinnamon has been used for centuries to improve gut health and treat a variety of health concerns such as fever, menstrual problems, congestion, sore throat and cough, and gastrointestinal distress. That's right: this unassuming dessert spice is actually an anti-microbial,
- [2 Ways to Improve Gut Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/2-ways-to-improve-gut-health/) - Stomach trouble is one of those issues that can be quite hard to pin down. Because the gut is so interconnected with our diet, our mental health, and so much more, it can be hard to tease apart what exactly the source of our sour stomach is—and, more importantly, what to do it about and
- [Why You Should Be Eating Radishes](https://drjohnlapuma.com/why-you-should-be-eating-radishes/) - With its peppery, almost spicy flavor, radishes may not be one of the most popular garden vegetables—but they are one of the most nutritious. For centuries, radishes have been used in Ayurvedic Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine to treat fever, sore throat, bile disorders, inflammation, and bacterial and fungal conditions. Plus: they make a striking
- [The Health Benefits of Garlic-Roasted Radishes](https://drjohnlapuma.com/health-benefits-of-garlic-roasted-radishes/) - Bring out the sweetness, and maximize the health benefits of radishes by roasting this jewel-hued veggie in garlic. Roasting draws out a mildly sweet juice that tempers the peppery flavor of radishes. The garlic and butter (or ghee, if you prefer) blend perfectly with this hidden sweetness, giving the roasted radish a delectable aroma and flavor.
- [Why Friendship is Important for a Healthy Life](https://drjohnlapuma.com/why-friendship-is-important-for-a-healthy-life/) - Here's another fun one, folks: apparently this Thursday July 30th is International Day of Friendship! And considering how friendship is important for a healthy life, this is a day worth celebrating! The International Day of Friendship was proclaimed in 2011 by the UN General Assembly with the idea that friendship between peoples, countries, cultures and
- [The Health Benefits of Tumeric](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-health-benefits-of-tumeric/) - You've definitely heard its name. You might have seen it on the board at your local smoothie shop, in powdered form on your spice rack, or even at the store in its original rhizomatic root form. But you might not be so sure what turmeric actually does—or the health benefits and why it's so good
- [What Your Gallbladder Does & How to Maintain a Healthy Gallbladder Diet](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-your-gallbladder-does-how-to-maintain-a-healthy-gallbladder-diet/) - On the right side of your abdomen, just under the ribcage, is the gallbladder. A small pear-shaped organ, it supports the body's detoxification process and, working with other organs, is crucial to the digestion of certain foods, particularly fatty foods. It's important to understand wht a gallbladder is and how to maintain gallbladder health. The
- [The Health Benefits of Eating Beets](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-health-benefits-of-eating-beets/) - Any way you slice them, beets are a versatile part of a healthy, natural diet. Beets contain a variety of vitamins and minerals, including several of the B vitamins, vitamin C zinc, selenium, manganese, phosphorus. Also rich in antioxidants (lutein, betalain, and zeaxanthin), beets support the body's ability to eliminate toxins and free radicals. Like
- [Comparing 8 Home Low Testosterone Tests and At-Home Hormone Tests](https://drjohnlapuma.com/comparing-8-home-low-testosterone-tests-and-at-home-hormone-tests/) - Of the eight home low testosterone tests and hormone tests readily available online, the questions I'm asked more than any other: what works? and how well? And should I just eat two Brazil Nuts a day if I think my testosterone level and selenium levels are low? And can women use them accurately too? I
- [Ditch Sustainable Agriculture for Regenerative Agriculture](https://drjohnlapuma.com/ditch-sustainable-agriculture-for-regenerative-agriculture/) - You've definitely heard about sustainable agriculture or sustainable food systems before. Sustainability is a popular idea amongst environmentally conscious folks and can be applied to food, health, nature, industry, and more. The general idea behind sustainability is to leave your little corner of the world no worse for the wear than when you found it.
- [The Health Benefits of Reading](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-health-benefits-of-reading/) - We're all familiar with the cozy feeling of being curled up with a good book, be it a thrilling novel or a vicarious adventure through ancient history told with just enough spice to make you forget you're reading about true events. What you may not know is that reading is more than an escape—it's also
- [Using Herbs in a Regenerative Way](https://drjohnlapuma.com/using-herbs-in-a-regenerative-way/) - Assessing your consumption and making choices based on actual need is essential to being a good steward of Earth's resources. Regenerative use of herbs means researching how the plants are sourced, harvested and stored and determining what you will use in a reasonable amount of time. Choose readily available, easy-to-grow herbs with many uses.
- [What is Hydrotherapy, an EcoMedicine Practice?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-hydrotherapy-an-ecomedicine-practice/) - Long-time readers of this blog know that I’m a huge advocate for ecomedicine and nature therapy. In fact, the biggest problem I have with nature therapy? Not enough people know about it… including hydrotherapy. Welcome to another installment in “What is EcoMedicine?”, a series of well-researched scientific blogs on the kinds of nature therapy which
- [Mudding Treatment: An Ancient Treatment to Relieve Stress and Pain](https://drjohnlapuma.com/mudding-treatment-an-ancient-treatment-to-relieve-stress-and-pain/) - Explore how ancient mud treatments with minerals like sulfur and magnesium can reduce stress, relieve pain, and improve skin health. Learn more today!
- [Natural Approaches to Managing Osteoarthritis with EcoMedicine](https://drjohnlapuma.com/natural-approaches-to-managing-osteoarthritis-with-ecomedicine/) - "Oh, my aching joints!" There's good reason why we hear this so often. Osteoarthritis, known as OA, is the most common musculoskeletal disease in the world and a prevalent factor in work absences, temporary or permanent disability, hospital admissions, and use of pain-management drugs. While OA can develop in any joint, the knee is most
- [Organic Bone Broth Recipe for Nature-Based Wellness](https://drjohnlapuma.com/organic-bone-broth-recipe-for-nature-based-wellness/) - There was a time when all soup broth was made fresh, with vegetables, herbs, meat, and the bones from the animal, be it fish, poultry, or steer. But as soup became a canned convenience food, bones were often left out of preparation. Today, bone broth has made a resurgence as a natured-based wellness recipe for
- [What is Earthing? What is Grounding?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-earthing-what-is-grounding/) - Today, we’ll be asking and answering the questions: what is earthing? What is grounding? Welcome to another installment in my “What is EcoMedicine?” series, part of my goal to create a compendium of well-researched scientific blogs on the various kinds of nature therapy–which together form the new science of EcoMedicine. EcoMedicine maintains that your personal
- [8 Reasons to Love Your Kidneys (and 5 Ways to Keep Them Healthy)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/8-reasons-to-love-your-kidneys-and-5-ways-to-keep-them-healthy/) - Healthy kidneys are essential—not just for the urinary system but for the entire body. They remove waste and help maintain the body's internal environment (also known as homeostasis). There's so many reasons to love your kidney and some easy practices to keep them healthy! Unfortunately, not everyone has healthy kidneys—and very few people are even
- [Is a High Protein Diet Unhealthy for Your Kidneys?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/is-a-high-protein-diet-unhealthy-for-your-kidneys/) - Healthy kidneys can efficiently process protein. However, over-consuming protein can add unnecessary strain on these organs. If you have risk factors for kidney disease, or have an undetected problem, the strain created by consuming a high protein diet could result in a serious acute or chronic kidney disorder. What do the kidneys do with
- [What is Light Therapy? The EcoMedicine Practice to Treat SAD](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-light-therapy-ecomedicine-practice-to-treat-sad/) - What if I told you that the right kind of light could help cure your depression, improve your sleep, and even mitigate the symptoms of dementia? This form of ecomedicine might be what you need to treat seasonal affective disorder — more commonly known as the aptly-acronymed SAD. Welcome to another installment in my “What
- [How Vegan Persimmon Cookies can Improve Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-vegan-persimmon-cookies-can-improve-health/) - Persimmon is an Asian specialty or "rare" fruit, available in several varieties, classified broadly by sweetness or astringency. Two of the most common are Fuyu and Hachiya. This might just be your new favorite winter fruit and with our vegan persimmon cookie recipe, you can improve your health and have dessert too! Persimmons are packed
- [Find Out What You Really Want Before 2021 with Shadow Journaling](https://drjohnlapuma.com/find-out-what-you-really-want-before-2021-with-shadow-journaling/) - As the year comes to a close, a lot of people are taking this time to take stock and make plans for the future. But how can you set yourself up for success in the new year if you don't really know yourself or what you desire? The best way to find out what you
- [4 Easy Ways to Green the Indoors with EcoMedicine](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-greening-the-indoors-with-ecomedicine/) - What if I told you that the right plant inside your home or office can reduce stress, improve productivity, and save you a bundle in medical expenses? Greening the indoors is an ecomedicine practice which can be integrated into almost any lifestyle. Welcome to another installment in my “What is EcoMedicine?” series, part of my
- [Reduce Anxiety with the Benefits of Passionflower](https://drjohnlapuma.com/reduce-anxiety-with-the-benefits-of-passionflower/) - For centuries, the unusual looking violet and white passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) has been used as a calming botanical treatment. Passionflower is an ecomedicine option to reduce anxiety and stress. Its use dates back to the Aztecs in Central America who used parts of the vine to treat insomnia. Native Americans used it to soothe inflammation
- [10 Types of Medicinal Herbs](https://drjohnlapuma.com/10-types-of-medicinal-herbs/) - Explore 10 medicinal herbs like rosemary, thyme, and tulsi with science-backed benefits—from stress relief to better memory.
- [10 Ways to Find Your Peace in 2021](https://drjohnlapuma.com/10-ways-to-find-your-peace/) - Finally, 2020 is behind us! The New Year brings a sense of hope, but even as we move into 2021, "normal" still has new meaning when it comes to how we work, live, and interact with the people in our lives. So how can we find our peace in 2021? The pandemic has drained us.
- [What is Healing Breathwork in Nature?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-healing-breathwork-in-nature/) - What if I told you that a specific kind of healing breathwork could boost your immunity, help you process pain and trauma, reduce your anxiety and stress levels, help you overcome your addictions, improve lung functioning, and generally improve your joy, happiness, confidence, and self-esteem? Today, we’ll be asking and answering the questions: what is
- [How to Reduce Stress Naturally with the California Poppy](https://drjohnlapuma.com/reduce-stress-naturally-with-the-california-poppy/) - I think it's fair to say that stress is a problem for almost everyone these days! And if you're anything like me, you're always looking for natural ways to reduce stress and bolster your health. One surprising natural stress reliever you might not know about? The California poppy. (And no, it's not that kind of
- [10 Culinary Medicinal Spices to Include in your Diet](https://drjohnlapuma.com/10-culinary-medicinal-spices-to-include-in-your-diet/) - What if I told you that your favorite kitchen spices like cinnamon, black pepper, and ginger are more than just mouthwatering flavor-boosters—they might actually help you lose weight, have better sex, fight cancer, and even live longer? These 10 culinary medicinal spices could be a significant form of ecomedicine in your life. Welcome to another
- [7 Health Benefits of Dancing](https://drjohnlapuma.com/7-health-benefits-of-dancing/) - Whether you shut the door and close the blinds to move to the beat of your favorite tunes, participate in a formal dance class, or simply "get jiggy" with your kids, dance isn't just fun — there are health benefits for the mind and body too! The beneficial effects of dance are largely universal for
- [What are Care Farm Best Practices?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-are-care-farm-best-practices/) - You may have heard of care farms before, especially if you read last year’s popular blog on care farms. It’s a fantastically innovative idea bridging health and nature that I think we’ll see a lot more of in the coming years. But when a farm environment is also offering therapeutic health services, how do we
- [The Many Health Benefits of Spearmint](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-many-health-benefits-of-spearmint/) - We all know the refreshing, lively scent of spearmint. The best part is, it's good for mind and body too! Whether you steep it for tea, add it to a salad or a stir-fry entrée, or diffuse it in a relaxing essential oil blend, spearmint (Mentha spicata) has many surprising health benefits. It has been
- [What is Sound or Music Therapy? What are Soundscapes? ](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-sound-or-music-therapy-what-are-soundscapes/) - What if I told you that the right kind of sound or music could reduce pain and stress, help with symptoms of depression and schizophrenia, improve the social skills of children with autism, and even aid folks with dementia? Welcome to another installment in my “What is EcoMedicine?” series, part of my goal to create
- [Holy Basil: An Herbal Stress Remedy](https://drjohnlapuma.com/holy-basil-an-herbal-stress-remedy/) - In a recent blog on medicinal herbs, we touched briefly on the power of holy basil or Tulsi basil. This plant indigenous to India has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for centuries and claims a whole slew of benefits such as being anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic, antidiabetic, hepatoprotective, hypolipidemic, antistress, and immunomodulatory. Today, we're going to
- [What is Surf Therapy?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-surf-therapy/) - What if I told you that catching a tasty wave isn’t just a great way to hang loose—it’s also a bonafide therapeutic technique that can help reduce symptoms of depression, stress, PTSD, and more? Welcome to another installment in my “What is Ecomedicine?” series, part of my goal to create a compendium of well-researched scientific
- [The Health Benefits of Green Peas](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-health-benefits-of-green-peas/) - Green peas are rich in fiber, iron, and antioxidants—plus, they support gut health and the planet. Discover why peas deserve a spot on your plate.
- [Walk to Wellness Challenge | Walking for your Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/walk-to-wellness-challenge-walking-for-your-health/) - Overview The Walk to Wellness Challenge will get you in shape physically and mentally for the best summer yet. With predictions that the world could start opening up as more people are vaccinated, it’s time to ensure you have the mindset and physical stamina to enjoy the start of the roaring 20s. Even if your
- [3 Natural Solutions to Anxiety](https://drjohnlapuma.com/3-natural-solutions-to-anxiety/) - That pounding heart, sick-feeling gut, quickened pulse: anyone's who has ever suffered from anxiety knows those awful feelings. (And I'd venture to say that those of us who hadn't suffered from anxiety previously might have gotten a taste of it this past year during the coronavirus pandemic!). But there are natural solutions to anxiety. You
- [4 Benefits of Pet Therapy](https://drjohnlapuma.com/4-benefits-of-pet-therapy/) - There are about a million good reasons to get a pet, whether you want a mouse hunter, a couch cuddler, or an adventure buddy. But did you know that having a pet is actually good for your health? That's right: pets can actually work just like medicine to help us heal. There are many benefits
- [What is Yoga in Nature? The Health Benefits of Yoga in Nature](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-yoga-in-nature-the-health-benefits-of-yoga-in-nature/) - Discover how yoga in nature reduces stress, boosts mental health, and alleviates chronic disease symptoms. Take your practice outdoors for enhanced benefits!
- [3 Reasons Why Forest Bathing is Good for Your Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/3-reasons-why-forest-bathing-is-good-for-your-health/) - You might have heard about forest bathing before and know that it's supposed to be good for your health — but you might feel a little in the weeds on the particulars. Why is forest bathing is good for your health? How, exactly, is walking around a bunch of trees supposed to be just as
- [What is Makrut Lime (Thai Limes)?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-makrut-lime-thai-limes/) - Makrut lime (citrus hystrix), the fragrant, powerful and easy to grow citrus tree, has many medicinal and culinary uses. Also known as "kaffir lime", that name is controversial: "Kaffir” means infidel in Arabic, from “kafara”; "kaffir" word is used by white Afrikaners as a pejorative for Black people. The tree is native to tropical Southeast
- [8 Simple Ways to Help The Earth—And Yourself—Stay Healthy](https://drjohnlapuma.com/8-simple-ways-to-help-the-earth-and-yourself-stay-healthy/) - Explore 8 simple ways to boost your health and help the Earth, from using eco-friendly cleaners to growing your own food. Make a positive impact today!
- [3 Health Benefits of the Ocean](https://drjohnlapuma.com/3-health-benefits-of-the-ocean/) - Growing up in Santa Barbara, I've loved the ocean my whole life. But it was only as an adult that I realized that — just like the ocean itself — there was more going on under the surface than I thought! If you also feel more relaxed or happy in the presence of the ocean,
- [Digital Distraction: 3 Reasons To Ditch The Phone and Get Outside](https://drjohnlapuma.com/digital-distraction-3-reasons-to-ditch-the-phone-and-get-outside/) - Digital addiction is a real thing — and something those of us who grew up without connected devices would have never imagined. Sit inside and stare at a screen alone rather than play outside with our friends? Not in a million years. But babies entering the world today may see an iPhone before they see
- [What is Regenerative Agriculture?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-regenerative-agriculture/) - You’ve probably heard of sustainable agriculture. But have you heard of regenerative agriculture? Welcome to another installment in my “What is EcoMedicine?” series, part of my goal to create a compendium of well-researched scientific blogs on the various kinds of ecomedicine out there. Since there are so many kinds of ecomedicine out there, I want
- [How to Get the Benefits of Exercising in Nature](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-get-the-benefits-of-exercising-in-nature/) - By now, you've probably heard the news (unless you've been living under a rock): exercise is good for you! And if you're a regular on this blog, you'll also know that nature is good for you too. (That's what ecomedicine is all about!) So it might not surprise you to learn that — guess what?
- [3 Reasons to Get Close to a Tree](https://drjohnlapuma.com/3-reasons-to-get-close-to-a-tree/) - Who doesn't love a good tree? We can climb them, sit under their shade, and enjoy their beauty as they change throughout the seasons. We see and pass by a lot of trees in our lives as we walk down shaded streets, hang out in the park, or even tend to the ones growing in
- [7 Ways the Use of Hydrotherapy Reduces Stress](https://drjohnlapuma.com/7-ways-the-use-of-hydrotherapy-reduces-stress/) - I think it's fair to say that most of us would love to learn more natural, simple ways to reduce our stress! Might I suggest looking into hydrotherapy? Hydrotherapy (or "water cure") refers to the therapeutic use of water to stimulate the body's healing force. Many beneficial changes take place in the body in response
- [Why Nature Sounds Are Good For Us](https://drjohnlapuma.com/why-nature-sounds-are-good-for-us/) - Babbling brooks, twittering birds, rustling leaves... these are just a few of the wonderful sounds that nature can bring us. Maybe even just thinking about the rush of the ocean waves or the sound as the breeze moves through tall grass has already gotten you feeling a little bit more relaxed! It's not just in
- [3 More Natural Solutions to Anxiety](https://drjohnlapuma.com/3-more-natural-solutions-to-anxiety/) - A few weeks back I shared a list of three great natural ways to reduce stress and anxiety to complement my video interview with med student Brookes Regenhardt about her story of overcoming stress and anxiety through hiking. Today I'm sharing part two of our fascinating interview — along with 3 more great tips for reducing
- [Why You Should Go Outside](https://drjohnlapuma.com/why-you-should-go-outside/) - This week's video is all about Nature Deficit Disorder. But some of you might be asking, just what exactly is nature deficit disorder? How do you catch it? Do you have it right now?! The bad news is, if you live in or near a city, you've got Nature Deficit Disorder. But don't worry: not only
- [3 Ways Gardening is Good for Your Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/3-ways-gardening-is-good-for-your-health/) - Today over on our YouTube page we're talking about why gardening is so good for your health. (Yes, we're on YouTube! Give us a follow if you don't already.) You might be asking: Dr. John, is gardening really good for your health? What's so good for me about digging around in the soil and trying
- [How To Spot Imposter EVOO](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-spot-imposter-evoo/) - Most people are aware that preparing food with Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) has many health benefits, but few know how to properly select EVOO. Even more surprising: grocery store shelves are filled with imposter EVOO! So how can you tell the difference? Never fear, I'm here to help teach you how to spot imposter
- [4 Health Benefits of Lavender](https://drjohnlapuma.com/4-health-benefits-of-lavender/) - Today's video is about a personal favorite of mine: the fragrant lavender plant. (If you're not already following us on YouTube, check out our videos!) We all know that lavender smells incredible and has been used for centuries to help induce sleepiness; that's why a nice sachet of lavender under your pillow has been a
- [Good Carbs and Good Fats](https://drjohnlapuma.com/good-carbs-and-good-fats/) - When it comes to dietary fats and carbohydrates, the advice has varied greatly — to say the least! Apparently fats are bad, but some are good, and carbs are terrible for you except when they're not — so how are we supposed to know what's what? But the good news is that we do have
- [Coriander or Cilantro: What's the Difference?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/coriander-or-cilantro-whats-the-difference/) - Cilantro and coriander both come from the same plant species Coriandrum sativum. But in different parts of the world, the very same plant is referred to differently. Coriander or cilantro: what's the difference? Is there one? For Americans, cilantro refers to the leaves and the stalks, both of which are edible. The dried seeds of
- [The Health Benefits of Being in Nature](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-spending-time-in-nature-can-transform-your-health/) - Spending time in nature could improve your health and provide stress release. | Feeling sluggish? Unmotivated? Stressed? Depressed or anxious? Before you reach for medication, consider a remedy that exists just beyond your front door: nature and nature therapy! Compelling scientific evidence shows the less time children and adults spend in nature, the greater the detriment to our well-being. So how can spending time in nature transform your
- [The Health Benefits of Apricots](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-health-benefits-of-apricots/) - Apricots are good for your health and are a great addition to a healthy diet. Learn more about the health benefits of apricots. | Though some will argue the apricot's place of origin — China, Persia, India, or Armenia — there's no denying the worldwide appeal of the tangy flavor packed in this little fruit. Now widely grown in the Americas, apricots make a healthy and versatile food choice, great for cooking, as well as eating raw, sliced, baked
- [Minimize Outdoor Allergy Symptoms with This Herbal Tea](https://drjohnlapuma.com/minimize-outdoor-allergy-symptoms-with-this-herbal-tea/) - Reduce hay fever symptoms naturally with Stinging Nettle tea. This herbal remedy helps alleviate seasonal allergy symptoms and supports your immune system
- [Not Just Fish Food: The Health Benefits of Kelp](https://drjohnlapuma.com/not-just-fish-food-the-health-benefits-of-kelp/) - Kelp isn’t just fish food. Learn about the health benefits of kelp and why you should include it in your diet. | Most people are surprised to learn kelp is a food staple — and not just for fish and whales! Kelp has several nutritional benefits, as it is abundant in several vitamins — including vitamins C, B, A, E and the mineral iron. Consider these other reasons to include kelp, also known as seaweed or leafy
- [Celery: A Surprising Medicinal Herb to Add to Your Diet](https://drjohnlapuma.com/celery-a-surprising-medicinal-herb-to-add-to-your-diet/) - There are many health benefits of celery--and it can even be used as a medicinal herb. Learn more about who should add celery to their diet.
- [How to Improve your Gut Health with Vitamin D](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-improve-your-gut-health-with-vitamin-d/) - Worldwide interest in the health protective benefits of Vitamin D has increased exponentially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Low Vitamin D status has a strong association with serious, chronic health conditions including infectious disease while high Vitamin D promotes good gut health and a strong immune system. As this is emerging research, it's
- [5 Nature Activities to Improve Your Physical and Mental Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/5-nature-activities-to-improve-your-physical-and-mental-health/) - More time in nature has been linked to improved physical health and mental health. Check out these 5 nature activities to promote better health.
- [Why You Should Add Portobello Mushroom to Your Diet (and the Best Portobello Mushroom Burger Recipe)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/why-you-should-add-portobello-mushroom-to-your-diet-and-the-best-portobello-mushroom-burger-recipe/) - Discover the health benefits of Portobello mushrooms and try a delicious grilled Portobello mushroom burger recipe, perfect for any diet.
- [9 Ways to Slow Climate Change](https://drjohnlapuma.com/9-ways-to-slow-climate-change/) - Almost every day it seems like there’s a new story about our planet and climate change. The Earth’s climate is changing at a dangerous pace and the effects are all around us, from the wildfires in California to increased flooding in Indonesia. It often feels like there’s nothing individuals can do to stop it, but
- [What is Nature De](https://drjohnlapuma.com/nature-deficit-disorder/) - Nature deficit disorders (NDD) are common in today’s world, even if you live close to a park or in a suburb with green space and enjoy nature regularly. People are not breaking out from their digital distractions and life obligations often or regularly. Not spending enough time in nature leads to a variety of mental
- [What is a flexitarian diet?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-a-flexitarian-diet/) - Here's something that might surprise you: not all plant-based diets require elimination of meat. Eating a plant-based diet doesn’t mean you have to never eat a single animal product again. The flexitarian diet, a plant-based diet increasing in popularity, allows you to reap the benefits of more plants in your belly while allowing for flexibility
- [Fall Herbs To Grow In Your Garden](https://drjohnlapuma.com/fall-herbs-to-grow-in-your-garden/) - Gardening is often thought to be a spring or summer activity. But in many regions, you can garden in the autumn too. Plants, such as these three fall herbs, are great to grow in your garden this September--and to add to your plate throughout the fall and winter months. Rosemary, thyme, and sage are three
- [How to Be Happier with Nature](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-be-happier-with-nature/) - Check out these tips to be happier with nature.
- [4 Health Benefits of Gardening](https://drjohnlapuma.com/4-health-benefits-of-gardening/) - Spending time in nature makes you happier and healthier. But do you want to supercharge your time in nature? Then you should consider gardening. There are many ways gardening improves your health, from reducing stress, improving cognition, and giving you the freedom to grow healthier foods in your own backyard (or even in your apartment!).
- [Holistic Health for Pets: Natural Ways to Keep Your Pets Healthier](https://drjohnlapuma.com/holistic-health-for-pets-natural-ways-to-keep-your-pets-healthier/) - Give your pet the best life possible with these natural wellness tips.
- [5 Natural Ways to Improve Your Sex Life](https://drjohnlapuma.com/5-natural-ways-to-improve-your-sex-life/) - Check out these nature ways to increase your sex drive.
- [How To Find Your Happy Place In Nature](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-find-your-happy-place-in-nature/) - Comfort nature places can improve your mood and life. Find out how.
- [4 Natural Acne Remedies That Work](https://drjohnlapuma.com/4-natural-acne-remedies-that-work/) - Get rid of your acne with these 4 natural acne remedies. With these at home remedies, your skin will be glowing and acne free in no time!
- [How To Get Glowing Skin By Focusing on Gut Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-get-glowing-skin-by-focusing-on-gut-health/) - Glowing skin isn’t just surface deep. By focusing on your gut health and adding probiotics into your diet, you can naturally improve your skin.
- [7 Tips to Stay Healthy While Working From Home](https://drjohnlapuma.com/7-tips-to-stay-healthy-while-working-from-home/) - Want all the benefits of working from home without the negative health impacts? Try these 7 tips to stay healthy while working from home.
- [6 Ways to Combat Seasonal Depression](https://drjohnlapuma.com/combat-seasonal-depression/) - As the months grow colder and darker, many folks experience seasonal affective disorder. These 6 habits can help you avoid seasonal affective disorder.
- [Benefits of Sunlight: Why You Should Spend More Time Outside](https://drjohnlapuma.com/benefits-of-sunlight/) - The benefits of sunlight are one of the many reasons to spend more time outside.
- [The Health Benefits of Carrots: Crunch Your Way to Better Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-health-benefits-of-carrots/) - The health benefits of carrots will help you crunch your way to better health.
- [What Is Wilderness Medicine In Cold Climates?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-wilderness-medicine/) - What is wilderness medicine? Learn about this field of medicine and how it can make your winter adventures safer.
- [6 Easy Ways to Stay Healthy This Winter](https://drjohnlapuma.com/easy-ways-to-stay-healthy-this-winter/) - These 6 outdoor activities will make your winter healthier.
- [How Time in Nature Can Help You Live Longer](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-time-in-nature-can-help-you-live-longer/) - If you’re looking to live longer, spending more time in nature might be the answer.
- [5 Natural Ways to Decrease Stress](https://drjohnlapuma.com/5-natural-ways-to-decrease-stress/) - The holidays can be a stressful time, but they don’t have to be with these 5 natural ways to decrease stress.
- [Spend More Time Outside in 2022 With These 6 Nature Activities](https://drjohnlapuma.com/spend-more-time-outside-in-2022-with-these-6-nature-activities/) - These fun nature activities will help you spend more time outside in 2022.
- [How to Grow Your Own Food](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-grow-your-own-food-in-2022/) - This guide teaches you how to grow your own in 2022.
- [What Are Blue Spaces?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-are-blue-spaces/) - What are blue spaces? They could be the answer to living a healthier and happier life.
- [Everything You Need to Know About Vitamin D and Your Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/vitamin-d-and-your-health/) - This guide goes over everything you need to know about vitamin D and your health.
- [Five Ways to Make Yourself Younger by Focusing on Artery Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/focusing-on-artery-health/) - Focus on these five pillars of artery health to age slower.
- [Your Brain On Nature: Natural Ways To Improve Memory](https://drjohnlapuma.com/ways-to-improve-memory/) - Your brain is different on nature. Check out these natural ways to improve memory.
- [Natural Remedies For Anxiety That Work For the Whole Family](https://drjohnlapuma.com/natural-remedies-for-anxiety/) - These natural remedies for anxiety are perfect for the whole family!
- [3 Ways to Grow Your Hippocampus](https://drjohnlapuma.com/grow-your-hippocampus/) - Discover how exercise, learning new things, and eating a Mediterranean diet can grow your hippocampus and improve memory function.
- [When Should I Plant My Garden?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/when-should-i-plant-my-garden/) - Discover when you should plant your garden and other helpful tricks to have a higher crop yield this year.
- [Your (Kid's) Brain On Nature: Tips For Getting Kids Outside More](https://drjohnlapuma.com/tips-for-getting-kids-outside-more/) - Try these science-back tips for getting kids to spend more time outside.
- [10 Underrated Ways to Make Your Garden Organic](https://drjohnlapuma.com/make-your-garden-organic/) - There’s many ways to make your garden organic. Here’s 10 you probably haven’t thought of.
- [Understanding the Interconnectedness of Health and Nature](https://drjohnlapuma.com/health-and-nature/) - When you understand the interconnectedness of health and nature, you can improve your well-being and interactions with the world around you.
- [How Nature Can Cure Your Anxiety](https://drjohnlapuma.com/nature-can-cure-your-anxiety/) - Could nature cure your anxiety? Try these five easy nature-based activities to find out.
- [Your Brain on Nature: Natural Stress Relievers to Transform Your Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/your-brain-on-nature-natural-stress-relievers-to-transform-your-health/) - These natural stress relievers can transform your cognitive, mental, and physical health.
- [Everything You Need to Know About Avocados](https://drjohnlapuma.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-avocados/) - Whether you want to add avocados to your plate, garden, or both, here’s everything you need to know about them!
- [What Is Regenerative Agriculture?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/regenerative-agriculture/) - Regenerative agriculture can help slow climate change–and it’s easier to implement than you might think!
- [How to Start Composting](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-start-composting/) - This comprehensive guide covers how to start composting and avoid the most common mistakes beginners make.
- [The Health Benefits of Rosemary, Thyme, and Mint for Your Garden and Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-benefits-of-rosemary-thyme-and-mint-for-your-garden-and-health/) - These unexpected benefits of rosemary, thyme, and mint could transform your life and garden.
- [An Easy (and Organic!) Homemade Sauerkraut Recipe](https://drjohnlapuma.com/homemade-sauerkraut-recipe/) - This easy and organic recipe makes homemade sauerkraut that the entire family will love.
- [How to Attract Bees to Your Garden and What to Do With Bee Pollen](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-attract-bees-to-your-garden-and-what-to-do-with-bee-pollen/) - Discover the health benefits of bee pollen, propolis & royal jelly, plus expert tips on how to attract bees to your garden with flowers and herbs.
- [3 Medicinal Herbs You Probably Haven’t Heard Of](https://drjohnlapuma.com/3-medicinal-herbs/) - You might not have heard of these medicinal herbs before, but you should know about their health benefits.
- [10 Easy Summer Gardening Tips and Seed Coaster How-To](https://drjohnlapuma.com/summer-gardening-tips/) - Attend one of Dr. John La Puma's talks on healing yourself through nature and food? These easy gardening tips will boost your power to change your health, mood, and energy with food and nature.
- [5 Ways Nature Therapy Can Transform Your Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/nature-therapy-your-health/) - Nature therapy could be the key to transforming your physical and mental health. Here’s why.
- [Glutathione, the Underrated Antioxidant You Need in Your Diet](https://drjohnlapuma.com/glutathione-the-underrated-antioxidant/) - Glutathione is an underrated, but important antioxidant. Find out more about why you need it in your diet.
- [How Soil Quality Affects Your Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/soil-quality/) - Soil quality might affect your health more than you think! Click to learn more.
- [Three Spices that Improve Your Digestive Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/three-spices/) - What if I told you that your favorite kitchen spices, like black pepper, cumin, and turmeric, are more than just mouthwatering flavor-boosters—they might actually help you lose weight, lower inflammation, and improve your digestive system? Today, we’ll be discussing three culinary medicinal spices that help you improve your digestive health. Black Pepper I always think
- [Your Brain on Nature: How Time Outside Transforms Your Prefrontal Cortex](https://drjohnlapuma.com/prefrontal-cortex/) - Your prefrontal cortex is positively impacted by time outside. Learn more about your brain on nature!
- [The Anxiety Cure Top Medical Experts Are Raving About](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-anxiety-cure-top-medical-experts-are-raving-about/) - Check out the anxiety cure these medical experts love–and how to get your own nature dose.
- [Try This Easy 5 Step Lavender-infused Honey Recipe](https://drjohnlapuma.com/lavender-infused-honey-recipe/) - These lavender-infused honey recipe will not disappoint–and it’s only five steps!
- [This Natural Anxiety Remedy is a Must For These Influencers](https://drjohnlapuma.com/natural-anxiety-remedy/) - Try the natural anxiety remedy loved by these influencers–and get a quick nature dose yourself!
- [5 Nature Places You Need to Check Out This Month](https://drjohnlapuma.com/5-nature-places/) - Explore the benefits of blue spaces, green spaces, sunlight, and more this month. Find the perfect nature spot to improve your mental and physical health
- [5 Easy Hacks to Supercharge Your Mental Health Walk](https://drjohnlapuma.com/supercharge-mental-health-walk/) - Want to supercharge your mental health walk and boost your mood? Click here.
- [Everything You Want to Know About Cannabinoids, But Are Too Afraid to Ask](https://drjohnlapuma.com/cannabinoids/) - What are cannabinoids and what do you need to know about them from a health standpoint? Click to find out!
- [The 20/20/20 Rule For Protecting Eye Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/protecting-eye-health/) - This natural, easy hack can help protect your eye health, even if you spend lots of time behind screens.
- [3 Healthy Snacks You Need To Try](https://drjohnlapuma.com/3-healthy-snacks/) - Check out these three healthy snacks you need to try ASAP.
- [Kids & Their Devices: Healthy Ideas to Limit Screen Time](https://drjohnlapuma.com/ideas-to-limit-screen-time/) - Whether you have kids or not, these ideas to limit screen time can bring more health and happiness to your home.
- [The Health Benefits of Morel Mushrooms](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-health-benefits-of-morel-mushrooms/) - Morel mushrooms have so many amazing health benefits, you won’t want to miss out on this fungi (or this morel mushroom toast recipe!)
- [Your Brain on Walking: Mental Health Benefits of Walking](https://drjohnlapuma.com/mental-health-walks/) - What’s the science behind mental health walks? Do they actually reduce anxiety and boost your mood? Click to find out!
- [3 Underrated Ways to Spend Time in Nature + Improve Your Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/spend-time-in-nature/) - Nature can transform your health. Here’s three underrated ways to spend time in nature.
- [Your Brain on Nature: How to Fight Seasonal Depression](https://drjohnlapuma.com/seasonal-depression/) - Did you know cold weather can change your health? Learn what to do to fend off seasonal depression as the months grow colder.
- [Pickleball and Longevity: The Research and A Survey](https://drjohnlapuma.com/paging-dr-john-pickleballmd/) - Dave and Debbie played pickleball together last week for the first time. They are edging into their 60s and are battling old back and knee injury pain. Both started this sport as a fun way to get some exercise and make new friends while releasing some competitive energy. In between matches, both Dave and Debbie took over
- [Pickleball and Aging Well: The Pickleball Slam 2 Connection](https://drjohnlapuma.com/pickleball-and-aging-well-the-pickleball-slam-2-connection/) - Discover how pickleball supports longevity, health, and social connection. Learn why it’s the perfect sport for better aging and overall wellness.
- [Take in Two Parks and Call Me in the Morning](https://drjohnlapuma.com/take-in-two-parks-and-call-me-in-the-morning/) - Discover how California state parks improve health, and why the library pass program is vital for access to wellness, especially for underserved communities.
- [GLP-1 Breakthrough: Ozempic, Wegovy & Mounjaro Offer Hope, But Are You Missing This CRITICAL Step for Lasting Weight Loss?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-glp-1-revolution-a-new-era-in-obesity-treatment-and-long-term-success/) - Learn how GLP-1 meds like Ozempic, Wegovy & Mounjaro aid weight loss and explore the ESSENCE framework for lasting success and preventing weight regain.
- [Nature Dosage: From Digital Detox to Recovery Mode and Revival](https://drjohnlapuma.com/nature-dosage-why-clinicians-should-move-outside-a-little/) - Discover how outdoor activities fight screen burnout, enhance recovery, and boost memory. Learn why nature is a powerful prescription for physicians.
- [Stepping Outdoors: Harnessing the Power of Nature and Movement While Using GLP-1s](https://drjohnlapuma.com/stepping-outdoors-harnessing-the-power-of-nature-and-movement-while-using-glp-1s/) - Stepping Outdoors: Unleashing the Synergistic Power of Nature, Movement, and GLP-1s for Optimal Health and Sustained Well-being - A Comprehensive Guide to Outdoor Fitness for GLP-1 Users Modern indoor environments strongly influence movement, metabolism, and circadian regulation — shaping health behaviors more than we often realize. For individuals embracing the transformative potential of GLP-1 receptor
- [Weekly Wows: Mexican oregano, compost bins, and the Biggest Little Farm](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-mexican-oregano-compost-bins-and-the-biggest-little-farm/) - What Ingredient I'm Loving I've been making a lot of guacamole lately—the Rincon avocados are plentiful, and my trees are dropping them like flies! You won’t hear me mention this on my TEDMED talk on culinary medicine... but I use a secret ingredient that has people begging for my recipe: crumbled, dried Mexican oregano. Amazingly, you
- [Weekly Wows: Sports injuries, air pollution, and wellness](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-sports-injuries-air-pollution-and-wellness/) - What Sports Injury I'm Researching So, I had a left calf strain before Kevin Durant had a right calf strain—and yes, his is more severe, and yes, his Instagram is @easymoneysniper, which mine is not. He's also getting ready to be locked and loaded for the Golden State Warriors championship, unlike me. But before all that,
- [Good Diet Foods: High Blood Pressure](https://drjohnlapuma.com/good-diet-foods-high-blood-pressure/) - Good diet foods for high blood pressure include blueberries, flax meal, hibiscus or jamaica tea, and beet juice. But high blood pressure management starts with measuring it accurately: I recommend the Omron Series 7 for home. These foods all have very good peer-reviewed medical research that shows their effectiveness in lowering blood pressure over both
- [Your Liver and You, Part II](https://drjohnlapuma.com/your-liver-and-you-part-ii/) - In Part 1, I covered what the liver does and how it works, and why you should love your liver; here, in part 2, I cover liver healthy foods; good diet foods are discussed elsewhere. What can you do to avoid liver disease? If your waist is more than half your height (or for men,
- [Clinical Research in Culinary Medicine: TEDMED](https://drjohnlapuma.com/clinical-research-in-culinary-medicine-tedmed/) - Latest research shows how food heals. From TEDMED to your kitchen—see why culinary medicine matters for doctors and patients.
- [Top Pedometers and GPS Watches: Consumer Reports 2012](https://drjohnlapuma.com/top-pedometers-and-gps-watches-consumer-reports-2012/) - Treadmills and elliptical trainers are some of the best aerobic exercisers available for weight loss 2012, and Consumer Reports picked its top models this month (reviews to come). But if you already have a treadmill or an elliptical, or want to start more simply, select a pedometer (around $30) or a GPS watch (around $200)
- [Statins, Leg Pain and Cholesterol: Foodie Alternatives](https://drjohnlapuma.com/statins-leg-pain-and-cholesterol-foodie-alternatives/) - The March 19 2010FDA Warning about Zocor, a statin medication causing myopathy, and rare rhabdomyolysis, makes me think about other ways people who love food can lower their cholesterol too. The simple story is this: eating food with cholesterol in it doesn't raise your cholesterol level, very much. It's foods (red meat, cheese) with solid
- [How many teaspoons of sugar are in a Coke?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-many-teaspoons-of-sugar-are-in-a-coke-2/) - Discover how many teaspoons of sugar are in a Coke and why high fructose corn syrup impacts your health. Learn more about sugar's effects on the body.
- [Weekly Wows: "Blue mind," intermittent fasting, and Clínica Verde](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-blue-mind-intermittent-fasting-and-clinica-verde/) - What I'm Learning About The subject of a compelling Emmy-winning Netflix documentary, surf therapy is part of blue care, a field developed by Wallace Nichols, the author of Blue Mind. Surf therapy shows important effects on PTSD, depression and other mental disorders. "Blue mind" describes the mildly meditative state we fall into when near, in, on or under the water. It’s
- [Weekly Wows: CDC website, nectaplums, and vitamin D](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-cdc-website-nectaplums-and-vitamin-d/) - What Database I'm Mining The USDA Food Recall database has some disturbing trends. But to discover recalls other than those for meat, poultry, and eggs—warning: bacon appears a lot!—you have to go to foodsafety.gov. To report a food borne illness, visit the CDC website. [themeone_divider style="solid" position="center" width="50%" height="1px" color="accent-color3"] What Unusual Fruits I'm Harvesting & Buying Nectaplums! The
- [Reliable Nutrition Tools: New and Old](https://drjohnlapuma.com/reliable-nutrition-tools-new-and-old/) - Reliable nutrition tools, new or old, are hard to come by. This is one of my primary fields, and *I'm* getting confused: one day whole grains are good for you, the next day they are bad, gluten is the cause of all evil or is it GMOs? And now saturated fat is not so bad
- [Coaching Certificates, Conferences and Clean Eating Simplified](https://drjohnlapuma.com/coaching-certificates-conferences-and-clean-eating-simplified/) - There are many different approaches to excellence in health and wellness. Most readers know that medical school did not prepare me for this work in integrative medicine and nutrition, and I had to find it elsewhere (and teach it in medical schools when the opportunity presented itself!). Not only do you not have to have
- [Men's Health Week: Downloads, Links, Future](https://drjohnlapuma.com/mens-health-week-resources-links-downloads/) - This is Men's Health Week, not just another Hallmark holiday, and it culminates in Father's Day. Over the last several years as I tested and wrote REFUEL, I've discovered that there is a huge gender gap in health and health understanding, and that there is something to do about it! For example, men die 5.2
- [How to Start Your Own Organic Garden](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-start-your-organic-garden/) - The foundation for organic gardening is biodiversity. In the wild, a variety of plants and wildlife exist interdependently-providing shelter, moisture, continual bloom when pollen is available for insects, and support for all the creatures within the system. You can apply the biodiversity principle at home by following these key steps in organic gardening: *Build-up the
- [Join the REFUEL Rush! 54 Hours of Prizes!](https://drjohnlapuma.com/join-the-refuel-rush-54-hours-of-prizes/) - Have you ever harvested your own certified organic avocados and Buddha’s hands? Sunk your teeth into handmade Santa Barbara syrah, grenache, dolcetto or arneis, with the winemaker at your side, describing the process and answering every single question you can ask? Operated a flame throwing 1952 two-ton potting soil mixer aka concrete truck in reverse? Now
- [Weekly Wows: Madeline Albright, Organic Spikes and a Swiss Army Knife](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-madeline-albright-organic-spikes-and-a-swiss-army-knife/) - What I'm Listening To I heard Madeline Albright lives in Santa Barbara: She's 81, sharp as a rapier, and clear that fascist tendencies are rising all around the world, and fast. And very close to home. Fortunately, she's an optimist, because we're talking about it. She didn't lose a step since leaving the Department of
- [Weekly Wows:  Farmer's Footprint, water globes, and urfa biber](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-farmers-footprint-water-globes-and-urfa-biber/) - https://vimeo.com/311936042 What Film I'm Watching I've never been a fan of Roundup Ready crops. Genetically engineered (soy, corn, others) and resistant to glyphosate, these crops are sprayed with Roundup... ...and not only have superweeds emerged, but 383 million more pounds of herbicides have been used than if Roundup Ready crops were never introduced, according
- [Weekly Wows: Air pollution, The Good Place, and stainless steel cookware](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-air-pollution-the-good-place-and-stainless-steel-cookware/) - What I'm Researching 150,000 diabetes cases in the US are caused by air pollution, because tiny particles, cause systemic inflammation. So what do we do? Wear a mask everywhere? Maybe, but if you can take 2.5 g/day of fish oil that is 60% omega-3 fatty acids (36% eicosapentaenoic acid and 24% docosahexaenoic acid) to lower inflammation and
- [Weekly Wows: Honeyland, Echelon bikes, and This Cheese is Nuts!](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-honeyland-echelon-bikes-and-this-cheese-is-nuts/) - What I'm Watching The documentary Honeyland received the Best Cinematography award and two other prizes at Sundance, and it is gorgeous—all naturally lit, all shot by hand except a single short drone shot, all deep in Macedonia over three years. A woman with fierce fidelity to her family and history and wild beekeeping craft—living on very little,
- [Weekly Wows: Food Tank, Food by Mark Hyman, and Advaclear](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-food-tank-food-by-mark-hyman-and-advaclear/) - What Food Event I'm Loving Even though I was trying to finish my book proposal on November 1, I still got to follow along on the livestream on Food Tank's 3rd Annual NYC Summit, with Kimball Musk, Dan Barber, Sam Kass, Tom Colicchio, and local hero made good James Rogers of Apeel. Food Tank is now
- [Culinary Medicine Apps, Films and Books](https://drjohnlapuma.com/culinary-medicine-apps-films-and-books/) - I'm excited about giving a talk on culinary medicine in Boston at a Harvard GI conference next week, and I thought I would share some of the tools I'm going to encourage docs to prescribe for their patients...that you can access now! Culinary medicine is all about blending the science of medicine with the art
- [The Fab Four: Must Have Items for Every Kitchen](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-fab-four-must-have-items-for-every-kitchen/) - The Fab Four: Must Have Items for Every Kitchen: A well-outfitted kitchen is an asset to every home cook. The good news is that "well-outfitted" doesn't have to mean wallet-emptying—with the four tools mentioned here you can make a lifetime of meals—and more than a few memorable ones. 1-2. Chef’s Knife and Honing Steel These first two
- [Prevent & Reduce Back Pain Naturally](https://drjohnlapuma.com/prevent-reduce-back-pain-naturally/) - Oh my aching back! Most of us will say this several times over the course of our lifetime. Sometimes it's a chronic issue, a deep nagging ache that impacts daily activities. Other times, it's sudden and acute and amazingly painful, the result of a "wrong move" from lifting a small child, unloading groceries, or working
- [Nature Therapy: EcoMedicine for Diabetes](https://drjohnlapuma.com/nature-therapy-ecomedicine-for-diabetes/) - Using food and nature as medicine could serve as effective forms of EcoMedicine against diabetes. EcoMedicine maintains that your personal medical health and the health of your environment are two sides of the same coin. As you use nature to lower your blood pressure, assuage your anxiety, prevent and treat myopia, for example, you can also improve
- [Weekly Wows: RBG, Planetary Diets and Seed Starters](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-1-24-19-rbg-planetary-diets-and-seed-starters/) - What I'm Watching RBG: After Ruth Bader Ginsburg missed two sessions of oral arguments in early 2019 because of treatment for lung cancer, many of us thought she might retire. No way. This beautiful documentary shows how smart, persistent, savvy and clear-minded Justice Ginsburg is; the kind of loyalty and fierceness she inspires; and her
- [What's In Your Kid's Packed Lunch Today?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/whats-in-your-kids-packed-lunch-today/) - -----
- [Does Overweight Cause Ear Infections (and Tubes) in Kids?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/does-overweight-cause-ear-infections-and-tubes-in-kids/) - Apparently so. Korean researchers foundear infections and childhood obesity go together far more often than not. Kids who have ear infection with fluid behind the eardrum--a painful effusion--were about 35% more likely to be overweight than kids with no history of ear infection. Why? Colds, age, race and attendance in day-care centers all predispose kids
- [Statins on Sale: Is Generic Lipitor a Bargain?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/statins-on-sale-is-generic-lipitor-a-bargain/) - The most popular Rx'd drug in America, Lipitor, went generic this week as atorvastatin. Lipitor sales were $8.7 billion last year, and 3.3 million people take it. If you have insurance, request the generic. Watch your copayment drop from $25 per month to a generic copayment to $10. If you don't have insurance and pay
- [The Other Gender Gap in Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-other-gender-gap-in-health/) - Food is often the best medicine, and the right food can make all the difference in your health, energy and vitality. Women have always known this about food and health: it's part of their upbringing, worldwide, to learn about food, diet, recipes, gardening, cooking, and nutrition. Men, broadly speaking, have no such culture (the celebrity
- [What Type of Cinnamon Lowers Cholesterol?  And Why?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-type-of-cinnamon-lowers-cholesterol-and-why/) - Learn how Cinnamomum cassia cinnamon can lower cholesterol and triglycerides. Discover the role of cinnamic aldehyde and its effects on cholesterol production.
- [Healthy Bites: Blackcurrants and Treating Anxiety with Hiking](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-blackcurrants-and-treating-anxiety-with-hiking/) - Healthy Bites: The Misunderstood Black Currant Among the most nutritious of berries, black currants (Ribes nigra) were once a forbidden fruit in the United States. The berries were susceptible to hosting a fungus that killed white pine trees and were banned for that reason. Fortunately, pines have made a comeback—and as the ban on black currants
- [Healthy Bites: Nature Therapy and Gardening](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-nature-therapy-and-gardening/) - Healthy Bites: What is Nature Therapy? I've long been passionate about health and culinary medicine, intimately connected to my work as a doctor and chef. So when I told my clinician friends that I was rehabilitating an old nursery and converting it into an urban teaching orchard and farm, they were absolutely thrilled for me.
- [Healthy Bites: Forest Bathing and Lavender](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-4-16-19-forest-bathing-and-lavender/) - Healthy Bites: What is Forest Bathing? Chances are you’ve heard the term forest bathing before, but you don’t know exactly what it means. If the term “forest bathing” conjures up thoughts of a nice porcelain bathtub smack dab in the middle of the forest for you, you wouldn’t be alone, but you’d also be slightly
- [Healthy Bites: Ecotherapy and Book Recommendations](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-ecotherapy-and-book-recommendations/) - Healthy Bites: What is Ecotherapy? Like nature therapy, ecotherapy is one of those inscrutable buzzwords that is trending more and more these days. There’s a huge amount of misinformation and confusion surrounding this term, in part because many people using it seem to think that ecotherapy is interchangeable with nature therapy. (If you’re still not
- [Healthy Bites: Sweet Potato & TEDx on Food As Medicine](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-sweet-potato-tedx-on-food-as-medicine/) - Healthy Bites: Sweet Potato, A Superhero Superfood Here's an interesting fact for you: one medium sweet potato provides 100% of your daily needs for Vitamin A—as well as a healthy dose of vitamin C, several of the B vitamins, plus the minerals potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium and zinc. That's one powerful potato! But that's not all.... Sweet
- [Healthy Bites: Slippery Elm & Science (With John Oliver)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-slippery-elm-science-with-john-oliver/) - Healthy Bites: Sooth Digestive Irritation with Slippery Elm Slippery Elm (aka Ulmus rubra) has a long history of use in American medicine. George Washington and his men found sustenance in Slippery Elm porridge during their 12 days at Valley Forge; apparently it helped soothe a "nervous stomach" and provided nutrition when they ran out of
- [Healthy Bites: Move Well, Move Often & Adam Ruins Everything](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-move-well-move-often-adam-ruins-everything/) - Healthy Bites: Move Well, Move Often Move well and move often: it's smart advice for maintaining a strong, healthy body from head-to-toe, inside and out. With mounting evidence of the ill-effects associated with sitting too much, moving well has become essential for living well. Our body's innate intelligence creates movement patterns that are in dynamic
- [Healthy Bites: Welcome to Fall & Fermented Hot Sauce](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-welcome-to-fall-fermented-hot-sauce/) - Healthy Bites: Welcome to Fall! It's official: as of yesterday, September 23rd, the Northern Hemisphere has said goodbye to summer and hello to fall! One of my favorite things about fall? The abundance of autumnal recipes now at our fingertips, of course. From butternut squash to cabbage to pumpkin to fennel, there's a number of
- [Healthy Bites: Pumpkin & More Pumpkin](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-pumpkin-more-pumpkin/) - Healthy Bites: Pumpkin With Halloween this week, pumpkins are on everyone's mind—not to mention on their doorsteps, all over their local Trader Joe's aisles, in their lattes (and apparently even in their hummus?!)... it's enough to put you off pumpkins for life. But before you smash that Jack-o-lantern on your neighbor's lawn, consider this: pumpkins
- [Healthy Bites: Tips for Fire Season & Clean Water](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-tips-for-fire-season-clean-water/) - Healthy Bites: Tips for Fire Season Here in California, we've been having quite the brutal fire season. Everyday pollution is bad enough. Air pollution causes asthma, heart disease, and diabetes, not just bronchitis and cough. But smoke from wildfires—now raging all over the west—has an even greater impact than fire on urban health. Because concrete-dense urban
- [Healthy Bites: Happy National Spinach Day!](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-happy-national-spinach-day/) - Healthy Bites: National Spinach Day Finally, it's everyone's favorite holiday of the year: National Spinach Day! Spinach has gotten a bad rap for a long time, although it's made a comeback recently as more and more people espouse this superfood's many health benefits. So what's the real story on spinach—average green or culinary medicine superhero? To
- [Healthy Bites: Protection from NSAIDs, and Lower Your Cortisol in Just One Minute With Forest Bathing](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-protection-from-nsaids-and-lower-your-cortisol-in-just-one-minute-with-forest-bathing/) - Healthy Bites: Protect Your Gut from NSAIDs Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, otherwise known as NSAIDs, are non-opioid painkillers that can help produce relief from a number of maladies. My patients use them to treat muscle aches, back pain, arthritis/joint pain, and menstrual cramps. Americans rely heavily on NSAIDs to help with pain, with reports showing that
- [Healthy Bites: Soothing Soups and Seas](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-2-26-19-soothing-soups-and-seas/) - Healthy Bites: 'Tis (Still) the Season for Soups It's hard to believe that we're already less than a month away from Spring. (Although early blooms suggest a bit of climate confusion!) This is a good time to enjoy what remains of cooler temps, and to turn to nutrient-packed, warming soups to help keep your immunity
- [Healthy Bites: Diet for Depression, and Escaping Digital Distractions](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-diet-for-depression-and-escaping-digital-distractions/) - Healthy Bites: Diet Can Help Lift Depression Several years ago, a woman named Barbara came to me for help with weight loss. At the time, she was 52 and she had gained nearly her age in weight (42 pounds) over the previous year. She was a biology professor and had been passed by for tenure
- [Healthy Bites: Potassium for Muscles and Nerves, and Time to Take it Outside](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-potassium-for-muscles-and-nerves-and-time-to-take-it-outside/) - Healthy Bites: The Power of Potassium Potassium is a mineral that, once inside the body, operates as an electrolyte and becomes essential to the maintenance of proper neural and muscle function. In partnership with sodium, it helps maintain fluid volume and pH balance, and creates what's known as a concentration gradient that assists in heartbeat
- [Healthy Bites: A Prickly Prescription: The Health Benefits of Pineapple](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-a-prickly-prescription-the-health-benefits-of-pineapple/) - Healthy Bites: A Prickly Prescription Who can resist the juicy, vibrant flavor of a sweet and tangy pineapple? Apparently, not many of us—this prickly plant often ranks as one of America's most in-demand tropical fruits. But beneath its rough exterior, the prickly pineapple is hiding more than just flavor. There are many health benefits to eating pineapple you
- [Healthy Bites: The Benefits of Broth, and How Pets Heal](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-the-benefits-of-broth-and-how-pets-heal/) - Healthy Bites: The Benefits of Broth From Mom's best health advice - to top doctors everywhere - soup broth tops the list of healing foods to eat when you're feeling sick or simply need a soothing, light and nutritious meal. Varieties of soup broth include vegetable, fish, chicken, beef and bone broth without meat. A
- [Weekly Wows: TEDx Talk, Antioxidants, and Solar Lights](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-tedx-talk-antioxidants-and-solar-lights/) - What I'm Watching Time-restricted eating doesn't sound like that much fun. But it might be a way to take advantage of our inherent biology, digest better, and become healthier, slimmer and more fit in the process. In this TEDx talk, chronobiologist Emily Manoogian with the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego, CA, maintains that when we eat
- [Weekly Wows: Michael Gregor, artificial sweeteners, and KCRW](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-michael-gregor-artificial-sweeteners-and-kcrw/) - What I'm Watching Michael Greger has created at NutritionFacts.org, with a tremendous team, smart well-done nutrition videos with a strong vegan bias: in this Flashback, he shows several ways you can get the detoxifying effects of cruciferous vegetables with ordinary cooking. Though Greger is not a cook (i.e., a "hack and hold" technique is cute,
- [Weekly Wows: Gopher traps, miner's lettuce, and Indiewire](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-gopher-traps-miners-lettuce-and-indiewire/) - What I'm Buying I refuse to use plant or animal poisons because I don't want my dogs or bees to pick it up, or the owls and hawks which pick up the rodents to suffer. But gophers have tested my patience and principles. If you too been beset by these crafty little tunnel makers, there
- [Weekly Wows: Sweet orange essential oil, The Biggest Little Farm, and regeneration](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-sweet-orange-essential-oil-the-biggest-little-farm-and-regeneration/) - What Aromatherapies I'm Trying The smell of sweet orange essential oil appears to have anxiety-reducing properties—without the potentially addictive, sedating, and adverse effects of Valium-type benzodiazepine drugs.Nutrition facts has an entertaining video on it, which you can check out here. [themeone_divider style="solid" position="center" width="50%" height="1px" color="accent-color3"] What I'm Watching The Good Life—just two one-hour episodes from
- [GreenRx: Plant With a Doc](https://drjohnlapuma.com/greenrx-plant-with-a-doc/)
- [What is Gardening for Dementia?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-gardening-for-dementia/) - Welcome to the next installment of our biweekly series on the many different kinds of nature therapy. This week’s topic is gardening for dementia. So what is gardening for dementia? Unlike some of the other topics we’ve covered, this one is a little easier to guess the meaning behind; gardening for dementia is all about
- [Weekly Wows: Plant love, multivitamins, and getting rid of ants](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-plant-love-multivitamins-and-getting-rid-of-ants/) - What Social Movement I'm Following "Plant Love": Le Pain Quotidien, the terrific chain bakery based in LA, will plant a tree with the National Forest Foundation in our most at-risk national forests for every Good Karma Watermelon & Feta Salad sold. Good Karma indeed! Note: watermelon and feta are terrific together, and I put together a ChefMD
- [Pack Your Coronavirus Pantry With Cabbage](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-health-benefits-of-cabbage/) - It's been fascinating to track how the coronavirus pandemic has changed our grocery shopping and cooking habits. One big change I've noticed is more and more people buying hardier long-lasting veggies that do well in a pantry, like potatoes and onions. But another excellent pantry staple that I'd love to spotlight today is cabbage. There's
- [Weekly Wows: Noise pollution, Swiss army knives, and medicinal herbs](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-noise-pollution-swiss-army-knives-and-medicinal-herbs/) - What Article I'm Reading Is noise pollution the next big public health crisis? Research shows that loud sound can have a significant impact on human health and can even do devastating damage to ecosystems. This article from the New Yorker on this very subject is fascinating, detailed, and ahead of its time... but not by much. Read
- [Coke, Sugar and B.S. (Bad Science)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/coke-sugar-and-b-s-bad-science/) - It's often been said that you can't out-exercise a bad diet, yet a new non-profit called the Global Energy Balance Network (GEBN) hopes to prove otherwise. On the surface, this might not seem noteworthy, but it's a spark of information that lit the health and wellness world on fire this past week. Here's why: GEBN
- [Healthy Grilling, Happy Summer](https://drjohnlapuma.com/smart-safe-delicious-grilling-ideas/) - Healthy Grilling, Happy Summer: For those of us in the USA, this weekend marks a turn into warming temps and the start of prime grilling season. Is your grill ready for it? While there are many grill-cleaning solutions on the market, you can get by without them if you're willing to get creative. One option
- [In Honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month](https://drjohnlapuma.com/in-honor-of-breast-cancer-awareness-month/) - Statistics show that 1 in 8 women will develop invasive breast cancer at some point in her life. Given this percentage, most of us have likely been affected by this disease, directly or indirectly, or will be. But this does not mean that anyone should sit idly by waiting for it to strike. The National Breast
- [Simple Guidelines for Preventing & Managing Diabetes](https://drjohnlapuma.com/simple-guidelines-for-preventing-managing-diabetes/) - If you've been diagnosed with Diabetes mellitus (DM), or even pre-diabetes, don't take it lightly. Follow treatment plans and lifestyle recommendations. Left untreated, diabetes can lead to many complications such as heart disease, blindness, kidney failure, and lower-extremity amputations. It's the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. Diabetes is a disease in
- [Virtual Reality, Nature and Pain Relief in Kids Getting Vaccines: Our Pilot Program](https://drjohnlapuma.com/virtual-reality-and-pain-relief-in-kids-our-pilot-program/) - Views of nature have been shown to lower stress levels in children, and kids love new tech. So do their parents. Can virtual reality of nature scenes provide pain relief? Our pilot program addresses the growing deficit of nature exposure with greater urbanization, and a greater awareness of the overuse of pain pills. Chef Clinic
- [Exploring Natural Antibiotic Alternatives: Foods, Herbs, Oils](https://drjohnlapuma.com/exploring-natural-antibiotics/) - Exploring Natural Antibiotics: Protecting yourself against infection can be done naturally. But where do you begin? First and foremost, if you suspect you have an upper airway infection (you're coughing, expelling mucus, are feverish, etc.), now is not the time to experiment: You absolutely should be working with a doctor to treat the infection. That
- [Taking an Antibiotic? How Probiotics can Help](https://drjohnlapuma.com/taking-an-antibiotic-how-probiotics-can-help/) - It's fairly common knowledge that antibiotics kill some of the health-promoting bacteria that live within your gut's complex ecosystem. Taking a probiotic supplement can support the way gut flora work together to keep that ecosystem - and you - at the healthiest. Antibiotics are used to kill both the pathogenic bacteria that should not be
- [What is Ecotherapy?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-ecotherapy/) - Like nature therapy, ecotherapy is one of those inscrutable buzzwords that is trending more and more these days. There’s a huge amount of misinformation and confusion surrounding this term, in part because many people using it seem to think that ecotherapy is interchangeable with nature therapy. But in fact, while these two fields certainly have
- [What are Care Farms?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-are-care-farms/) - In this week’s installment of our series of deep dives on the various kinds of nature therapy, we’ll be taking a closer look at care farms. What are care farms? Simply put, a care farm involves the therapeutic use of farming practices to facilitate healing. Also known as green care or therapeutic farming, care farming
- [Herbal Supplement Sales Up! But Most Supplements Are From Food, Not Herbs.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/herbal-supplement-sales-up-but-most-supplements-are-from-food-not-herbs/) - Herbalgram published 2009 herbal supplement sales, and the industry is going gangbusters, with nearly $250 billion in sales last year. What’s especially interesting to me is that nearly all the top herbal supplements sold are not herbs. Herbs are leaves. Spices are nearly everything else in a plant (bark, flowers, seeds, root). And plants are food:
- [4 Kids Recipes in 25 Minutes](https://drjohnlapuma.com/4-kids-recipes-in-25-minutes/) - Last month I had the privilege of demo'ing 4 kids' recipes in 25 minutes for the Foodbank of Santa Barbara in a fantastic local kitchen and home. But it turned out that the adults liked the recipes and the simple kitchen tips, and thought the recipes were for them! Which they were. I loved Chef
- [Probiotics for Diarrhea and Immunity: Science & Yogurt](https://drjohnlapuma.com/probiotics-for-diarrhea-and-immunity-science-yogurt/) - The FTC's probiotic record-setting $21m award to 39 states because of Dannon’s exaggerated claims that 1 serving of DanActive drink or Activia yogurt helps prevent colds and flu is in itself a little exaggerated. The real data? You need 3 servings of Activia daily not 1, to "relieve temporary irregularity or help with slow intestinal
- [Diabetes Doubles! Food Can Help. Should It Be Reimbursed?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/diabetes-doubles-food-can-help-should-it-be-reimbursed/) - Americans treated for diabetes doubled to about 19 million (8.5% of the population) in 2007 compared with 9.1 million (4.6% of the population) in 1996, according to the AHRQ, a federal agency. That doesn't count the undiagnosed (7 million) and those with prediabetes (79 million). Health care spending on diabetes more than doubled to $40.8
- [Lunch Matters: Learn More at Conferences with What You Eat](https://drjohnlapuma.com/lunch-matters-learn-more-at-conferences-with-what-you-eat/) - I've been preparing for a very exciting conference next week in Baltimore with CIGNA and Johns Hopkins. I'm giving a keynote: The Food Rx: Your Body’s Own Culinary Medicine for Healthy Aging. The meeting planner has also asked me to work with the executive chef and catering manager at the Hyatt to design healthy conference
- [E-Patients: Are You Already One?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/e-patients-are-you-already-one/) - I don't take care of patients on the web, yet. Most of my patients are, however, e-patients. And I didn't even know it. E-patients are real, not virtual. They're networked, curious, want to be well-informed about and take better control of their health, confused about what info is accurate and in need of people and
- [3 Days of Fresh Foods Lowers Your BPA Level Up to 66%](https://drjohnlapuma.com/3-days-of-fresh-foods-lowers-your-bpa-level-up-to-66/) - Food with packaging...so convenient, so easy, so iffy. Bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates (especially DEHP) are endocrine disruptors, especially of male hormone levels. BPA and phtalates are found in plastics that touch your food and beverages. The FDA is trying to reduce consumer exposure to BPA. Canada has declared BPA toxic and outlawed its use
- [Physicians Innovative Use of Digital and Social Media](https://drjohnlapuma.com/physicians-innovative-use-of-digital-and-social-media/) - I like media: digital, social, analog, print, pictures in the sand. I think social media will transform public health and promote better relationships between doctors and patients. I think the Quantified Self movement will move into the mainstream of medicine, and body hackers from Tim Ferriss to Jerome Radcliffe are going to help move it
- [Which Foods to Buy Organic and Why](https://drjohnlapuma.com/which-foods-to-buy-organic-and-why/) - The Annals of Internal Medicine report on the nutritional value of organics is being misinterpreted as "organics have no benefits." That's not what this study of studies showed (and no authors reported a conflict of interest, though their individual funding is not listed: bias exists in scientific publications too). The report from Stanford showed that organic
- [State of the Two Arts: Obesity and Testosterone in JAMA and on TV](https://drjohnlapuma.com/state-of-the-two-arts-obesity-and-testosterone-in-jama-and-on-tv/) - JAMA's new theme issue on obesity (linked table of contents below) has a point counter point in a network TV new report on the male boomer interest in testosterone. Visceral fat in men converts testosterone into estrogen. That causes or exacerbates dulled sex drive, poor energy, irritability, insomnia, erectile dysfunction, loss of muscle mass and
- [How Losing Weight Helps Your Heart. Are You Actually Overweight?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-losing-weight-helps-your-heart-are-you-actually-overweight/) - The first big JAMA study of the new year (Happy New Year!) implied that you can be overweight or barely obese, and not die early because of it. In between the lines: yes....in that population. Why? Because they get medical care right away!. Because they get sicker sooner! Because their pre-diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol
- [How to Prevent Heart Attacks](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-prevent-heart-attacks/) - Two views of why heart disease prevention does not work well: one, personal responsibility is not given the attention it deserves. And two, physicians are not trained or incentivized to advise patients to stop smoking, improve their diet and become fit...maybe because people don't think they can make a real difference in their own
- [The 4 Easiest Steps to Pump Up Stamina: REFUEL Video](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-4-easiest-steps-to-pump-up-stamina-refuel-video/) - My colleague Michael Roizen, MD, told me on his terrific YOU the Owner's Manual Radio Show this weekend that the Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Schools of Medicine are collaborating on a new building that will house a culinary medicine program and teaching kitchen. Isn't that great? Our first ever nutrition and cooking class that
- [CEOs Lead Health...and My Fall 2014 Appearances](https://drjohnlapuma.com/ceos-lead-health-how-to-my-fall-2014-appearances/) - American workers overestimate their health status, according to the poll. The dark bars above are the total number of respondents; the red bars are those who feel encouraged by senior management....who eat healthier, have more energy, less stress, lower blood pressure and lower cholestereol. Employers can help by leading by example when their CEOs lead
- [What About Plastics? Why Using Only 2, 4 and 5 is Not Enough](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-about-plastics-why-using-only-2-4-and-5-is-not-enough/) - A little estrogen in the wrong place (like around your waist, or in your food) can drop your other hormone levels, warp your reproductive system, and ruin your whole day. It's a healthy living fact that's little discussed, but for those with canary-in-the-coal-mine immune systems, or who just want to lose a few pounds, it's
- [Healthy Foods List: Hospital Edition](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-foods-list-hospital-edition/) - Thrilling to see this Yahoo coverage of one of the country's emerging voices for culinary medicine, which blends the art of cooking with the science of medicine to create high quality meals which help prevent and treat disease. Medical schools are just starting to realize that they're falling behind leaders like North Shore and the
- [Hope for Kids and Parents: Grants, Fast Facts, and Programs: What to Do Now](https://drjohnlapuma.com/hope-for-kids-and-parents-grants-fast-facts-and-programs-what-to-do-now/) - -----
- [Nutrients Are Key to Preventing Cancer](https://drjohnlapuma.com/nutrients-are-key-to-preventing-cancer/) - Nutrients Are Key to Preventing Cancer Associated Press By LAURAN NEERGAARD AP Medical Writer Tuesday, December 3, 2002 WASHINGTON (AP) - Can a diet rich in a particular nutrient really prevent cancer? The government is recruiting 32,000 middle-aged men to see if selenium or vitamin E can prevent prostate cancer, the biggest clinical trial yet to address such dietary questions. It's just a first step toward what could become a major change in nutrition: Preliminary but intriguing genetic research suggests certain nutrients may prove more cancer-protective for one person than the next - suggesting that one day doctors might write prescriptions for diets to prevent tumors in certain people. ``The future is tailored recommendations,'' John Milner of the National Cancer Institute says about this fledgling new science, ``nutrigenomics.'' ``That's the excitement.'' Cancer doesn't just arise overnight. A few tiny cells gone wrong slowly grow over decades. Whether the result is a life-threatening tumor depends on genes and environment - including food. Up to 35 percent of cancers are related to dietary habits, says Milner, chief of NCI's research into nutrition and cancer prevention. That doesn't mean an occasional cheeseburger or doughnut is dooming. But study after study links lifelong diets high in plant foods to lower cancer rates. Also, people who eat lots of fruits and vegetables generally are skinnier. Obesity increases risks of cancers of the uterus, gallbladder and possibly colon and prostate, while a large weight gain after reaching adulthood is linked to breast cancer. Armed with such provocative evidence, scientists now are trying to tease out which of the myriad nutrients and chemicals in different foods are most protective - and why, at a genetic level, they do the job. It's exceedingly complex research. Not everybody gets equal benefit from nutrient-rich diets, a discrepancy that probably points to genetic variability. For example, scientists studying lung cancer rates in part of China found people with the lowest cancer risks also were genetically deficient in an enzyme that metabolizes certain nutrients in cruciferous vegetables. In other words, those lucky people's genes seemed to make broccoli better for them. Similar links to cancer are being explored with genes that metabolize alcohol, folate from grains and other food chemicals. ``In five years, we'll have a lot of information on how your gene profiles influence your response'' to different foods, Milner predicts. But first, scientists need hard proof of which of the many nutrients commonly considered protective truly are, and at what levels. Small studies promoting 12 cups a day of tea or three whole garlic cloves daily aren't too practical for many people. Until now, most food and cancer research has focused on animals or merely monitoring people's diets and their later health, which gives only clues, not proof. Plus, too much of some nutrients can be dangerous. Top of the federal research list: selenium, a trace element found in grains and meat. Previous studies suggest that eating 200 micrograms of selenium a day, about twice the national average, might lower the risk of prostate, lung and colorectal cancer, perhaps by slowing abnormal cell growth or activating tumor suppressor genes. To prove the prostate benefit, NCI is recruiting 32,400 healthy men in their 50s to take for the next seven years either selenium; 400 milligrams of vitamin E, another nutrient linked to lower prostate risk; both; or a dummy pill. Too much is toxic, so don't pop lots of selenium supplements, cautions NCI researcher Cindy Davis. Lycopene, the chemical that makes tomatoes and watermelon red, is another top prospect. Cooking tomatoes with a little oil - think spaghetti sauce - significantly increases lycopene absorption. In one study, it decreased prostate cancer by 35 percent. The NCI has begun small clinical trials to find lycopene's maximum safe dose and see if giving it to prostate cancer patients before surgery helps stem their disease. Despite lots of hype, research is much more mixed on other foods. Soy, for instance, is widely touted as protective against breast cancer, but women seem to get the benefit only if they eat soy before puberty, says NCI researcher Harold Seifried. It will take years to sort out what are truly anticancer diets. For now, the American Cancer Society's best advice: Eat a wide variety of foods, including at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, and slim down. --- EDITOR'S NOTE - Lauran Neergaard covers health and medical issues for The Associated Press in Washington. --- On the Net: www.clinicaltrials.gov -----
- [Lower Homocysteine Levels, Prevent Heart Disease---Men and Women Do It Differently](https://drjohnlapuma.com/lower-homocysteine-levels-prevent-heart-disease-men-and-women-do-it-differently/) - -----
- [Statin Diets to Lower Cholesterol: Self-Fulfilling Prophecy or Good Advertising?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/statin-diets-to-lower-cholesterol-self-fulfilling-prophecy-or-good-advertising/) - -----
- [How Much of Childhood Obesity is Genetic?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-much-of-childhood-obesity-is-genetic/) - Bad genes--do your kids have yours? Insulin resistance is part of it. In kids, especially Hispanic kids! Obesity is polygenic: not just one gene, but many, contribute to overweight in kids. Genes for leptin, the leptin receptor, and the melanocortin 4 receptor interact with what your kids eat. Kids obesity is medical. Role modelling helps--for
- [What is Low Fat? What is Low Carb? Is there a Sensible, Do-able Middle?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-low-fat-what-is-low-carb-is-there-a-sensible-do-able-middle/) - Low fat in the recent Cochrane Collaboration meta-analysis of low fat versus low carb meant less than 30% of calories from fat. Low carb meant fewer than 60 grams of carbs daily...that's just 240 calories, or from 10-20% on a 2000 or 1200 calorie diet, respectively. The diet that has been shown to lower blood
- [Treatment of Overweight and Obese Kids is Becoming a Medical Specialty](https://drjohnlapuma.com/treatment-of-overweight-and-obese-kids-is-becoming-a-medical-specialty/) - Medical specialities have a distinct history: they form because of a technology, or procedure, or remuneration, or because the clinicians involved like each other's company...or because of a disease. Pediatric obesity is the latter. Read Joel Howell on technology and medical specialties Read the new International Journal of Pediatric Obesity free, online, on its goals
- [Treatment of Overweight and Obese Kids is Becoming a Medical Specialty](https://drjohnlapuma.com/treatment-of-overweight-and-obese-kids-is-becoming-a-medical-specialty-2/) - Medical specialities have a distinct history: they form because of a technology, or procedure, or remuneration, or because the clinicians involved like each other's company...or because of a disease. Pediatric obesity is the latter. Read Joel Howell on technology and medical specialties Read the new International Journal of Pediatric Obesity free, online, on its goals
- [Options for the Summer: Camps and Beyond](https://drjohnlapuma.com/options-for-the-summer-camps-and-beyond/) - Last year, the New York Times reviewed weight loss camps for kids. Wellspring has grown to 5 locations since then. Each uses a different emphasis: family/exercise/cognitive behavioral/adventure. They are in New York, North Carolina, the UK, Northern California and Michigan. New Image Camps has locations in Florida, the Poconos (near New York City) and Southern
- [Treatment of Childhood Obesity: An Emerging Medical Specialty?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/treatment-of-childhood-obesity-an-emerging-medical-specialty/) - Medical specialities form because of a technology or procedure or remuneration or because the doctors are friends...or because of a disease. Pediatric obesity is the latter. It has new specialty journals, government guidelines, specializing doctors, and a public mandate---get the junk out of schools, because our kids are what they eat. Read the new International
- [Eat Your Fish and Grains: They Prevent Asthma in Kids](https://drjohnlapuma.com/eat-your-fish-and-grains-they-prevent-asthma-in-kids/) - Diet and asthma have always been sterotypically linked...asthmatic kids are the skinny, sickly ones on the playground, confined to wheezing and avoiding meals while the others run free. The truth is that more kids are diagnosed as asthmatic than ever before--- it is the most common chronic condition among kids. And many people think diet
- [Weight Loss Goals for Overweight Kids](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weight-loss-goals-for-overweight-kids/) - While not every obese kid becomes an obese adult, the older your kid is, the more likely that fatness will carry over. It’s not just fatness. Being overweight means pediatric (childhood) high blood pressure, type II diabetes, heart disease, joint disease, self-esteem problems and of course incessant teasing and torturing at school and elsewhere. Just
- [New Sites With Promise" Resources, Searches, Tips](https://drjohnlapuma.com/new-sites-with-promise-resources-searches-tips/) - Several new websites offer unique perspectives, resources and tips, with detailed libraries for biodynamics (often associated with farming, but also a field of medicine), with biodynamic drugs, remedies and even biodynamic MDs, though those are scarce. Will biodynamics--just the "scientific study of the nature and determinants of all organismic (including human) behavior" provide a satiety
- [Directory of Childhood Obesity Programs](https://drjohnlapuma.com/directory-of-childhood-obesity-programs/) - How to help obese kids is a mystery to many, including many physicians. Why? A comprehensive national inventory of childhood obesity programs doesn’t exist, according to a 2005 U.S. GAO survey. Not much has changed…except in dollars allocated for the study of childhood obesity. But here is a quick list of largely national childhood obesity
- [Group Visits, Retail Clinics & Social Media](https://drjohnlapuma.com/group-visits-retail-clinics-social-media/) - Faster, quicker, easier ways of docs connecting with patients, such as group visits are increasingly popular with docs who know how. These experiences are here to stay, and grow. Docs need to embrace them, like we do social media. Dr Gwenn argues that patients are way ahead, that only blinders, and fear of loss of
- [Weekly Wows: Blueberries, garbanzo beans, and tea towels](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-3-22-19-blueberries-garbanzo-beans-and-tea-towels/) - What I'm Rereading James Hamblin is a young, smart physician-writer with a wry sense of humor and a nose for great research and stories. This article he wrote about how we came to think of blueberries as a superfood is a fascinating and surprising read. So, how did the humble blueberry become known as a "superfood?" It's
- [What is Blue Care?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-blue-care/) - Hopefully you’ve been following (and enjoying!) our bi-weekly series on the many different kinds of nature therapy. This week, our spotlight lands on blue care, a field adjacent to water therapy and aquatic therapy. Blue care is a subset of nature therapy that champions the power of water to heal issues of all kind: mental,
- [What is Green RX? 5 Parts](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-green-rx-5-parts/) - Green Rx is a nature-based prescription. It can include 5 (five) parts: A. lower-on-the-food-chain-food (e.g. grown, harvested, minimally processed, cooked locally), B. nature therapy (from forest bathing to surf therapy to therapeutic gardening to time with animals), C. aromatherapy, D. dietary supplements, especially botanicals, and E. bringing the outside in. Like many prescriptions, it has
- [Final Week: First Med Student Clinical Elective in Culinary Medicine](https://drjohnlapuma.com/final-week-first-med-student-clinical-elective-in-culinary-medicine/) - Summarized curriculum, syllabus, photos and recommendations from week 2 of the first culinary medicine clinical elective in a US medical school.
- [How My New PBS ChefMD Shorts Series Jumps the Time Hurdle](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-my-new-pbs-chefmd-shorts-series-jumps-the-time-hurdle/) - In nutrition, there are three concerns to address: information, money/resources, and time. Information, though not easy, is usually the least difficult problem to solve. People want to know which foods lower cholesterol or blood sugar; which nutrients interact with their medications; whether olive oil that is heated creates carcinogenic free radicals; and so on. These
- [7 BS Facts About Cholesterol and Statins Everyone Thinks are True](https://drjohnlapuma.com/7-bs-facts-about-cholesterol-and-statins-everyone-thinks-are-true/) - 1. Pharma companies will make a mint on cholesterol drugs, now that 25% of Americans are supposed to be on them, up from 12%. Au contraire, and trick question. Nearly all statins are generic, and generics are not where pharma has placed its future bets: only Crestor is not generic, and it sold $5.1B in the
- [5 Salmonella-Prevention Tips You Probably Don't Know](https://drjohnlapuma.com/5-salmonella-prevention-tips-you-probably-dont-know/) - Food safety and salmonella conversations go with the holidays, and with people doing more cooking, it's a good idea to brush up. I sent a late night email reply to a reporter for Upwave, TBS' new wellness network, to which I'm privileged to contribute. Above is my favorite chef's knife: inexpensive, rosewood handle, sharpens easily,
- [Does Sugar Feed Cancer...and Curry Starve It?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/cancer/) - One of my patients, an Indian man with prostate cancer recently told me "I've stopped eating ice cream because of the sugar, because sugar feeds cancer." There's a lot to say about this: that cancers are food-specific (what works for one in prevention or treatment may not work for another); that sugar is the new
- [It's Getting Easier to Find Good Drug and Health Info...](https://drjohnlapuma.com/its-getting-easier-to-find-good-drug-and-health-info/) - ...but you still need a curator: someone you trust to help you interpret--with and for you--what you find, read, watch. The fact is that you can now learn almost anything you want to learn on the internet. I could, I think, stay in front of my monitor for hours at a time, just reading, watching
- [New CulinaryRx Video Series!](https://drjohnlapuma.com/new-culinaryrx-series/) - Join Dr. John La Puma's CulinaryRx Video Series for expert advice on nutrition for health conditions like high blood pressure. Watch now!
- [10 Foodie Tricks to Saving Money: How Not to Waste Food](https://drjohnlapuma.com/saving-money-and-setting-an-example-for-kids-10-food-waste-tricks-to-do-now/) - “Saving money” and “setting an example for children” were the two leading factors for those who want to reduce food waste, which is 43% of Americans, according to the first national survey, done by Johns Hopkins. There are some important books about how to reduce your food waste, which is crippling Americans' personal budgets, increasing
- [How Cooking Can Change Your Life](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-cooking-can-change-your-life/) - "Corporations cook very differently than people do." So said Michael Pollan, the author and activist, in "How Cooking Can Change Your Life," a phenomenal talk given in London in 2013. If you've read any of his work (e.g., the fantastic Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, which also has a young reader's edition, and
- [Spring Cleaning, Inside and Out](https://drjohnlapuma.com/spring-cleaning-inside-and-out/) - During spring, nature goes through the transformative process of renewal. We can emulate this process by looking for ways to clean up our home environment and our spiritual well being. By doing so, we invite the energy of renewal into our own lives. Below are some gentle and safe ways to "Spring Clean" your life from
- [Nature Therapy for Young Parents](https://drjohnlapuma.com/nature-therapy-for-young-parents/) - I recently had the privilege of presenting A Green Rx: Giving Your Family a Healthy Edge at Chadwick Village, a stunning independent K-12 school in Palos Verdes. On a 45 acre bucolic campus, created at the bequest of Margaret and Commander Chadwick in 1935, the school has always been interested in both academic rigor and
- [Drinks with Benefits: Wine and Tea (Top Resources)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/drinks-with-benefits-wine-and-tea-top-resources/) - For the upcoming PBS Special "Eat and Cook Healthy!" I created four DVDs and a CD: one of the tastiest DVDs is "Drinks with Benefits: Wine and Tea". It was a lot of fun to write and discover, and like ChefMD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine, I read a lot of medical, culinary and nutritional
- [Do We Need a Cholesterol Registry?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/do-we-need-a-cholesterol-registry/) - The National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) has documented exactly what people do who have lost weight and kept it off. Over 5000 people have lost an average of 66 lbs and kept it off for 5.5 years. The research of the weight control registry helps me coach my clients to long term weight loss too.
- [Diet Smart Not Hard...And Check Your Sex](https://drjohnlapuma.com/diet-smart-not-hard-and-check-your-sex/) - Dr Oz says "break it down and make it simple". Dr. Roizen says "diet smart, not hard: small changes make a big difference." They recommend in their new YOU: Losing Weight Recruit your team. You need someone to cheer for you and take the fries from you. Plan Your Plate. Take a You-Turn. We all
- [BPA and Obesity: The Soup Can Paradox](https://drjohnlapuma.com/bpa-and-obesity-the-soup-can-paradox/) - Soup is good food. It's especially good for weight loss. Bob Barnett and Barbara Rolls based the best-selling Volumetrics around the idea that dishes low in calories (i.e., lots of water) and slow-to-eat (i.e., soup!) were the best for losing weight. There's something to that. It's a cruel paradox, then, that a new JAMA report
- [IACP Cookbook Awards: Health. Somewhat.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/iacp-cookbook-awards-health-somewhat/) - The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) 2012 Cookbook Award Finalists have just been announced. The IACP has never been terribly interested in Health, seeing cooking as a master craft, and health as something to put up with. I feel lucky to have been invited to speak in Portland at the national annual IACP meeting
- [Medicare Pays for Obesity: A Webinar and Cheat Sheet](https://drjohnlapuma.com/medicare-pays-for-obesity-a-webinar-and-cheat-sheet/) - Lots of things are starting to move. The economy is getting a little better. The bees in the avocado orchard are buzzing. My patients seem to be firing on all cylinders. And Medicare is starting to pay doctors to counsel patients about obesity...and to help them lose weight. (I've been lobbying for this for decades).
- [Feeding Tube Diet: Unhealthy or Usual Business?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/feeding-tube-diet-unhealthy-or-usual-business/) - 2 weeks after the New York Times broke this, it's still here: covered on 20/20 Friday and Forbes still has it front and center (my comments are highlighted): 10 days of fat and protein or just protein, 800 calories, 24/7 insertion, $1500 (not including the "trade secret" formula) and bam- 20# off. Or your money not
- [Immunity, Cancer, Nutrition and Cooking: Super Foods with Dr Oz](https://drjohnlapuma.com/droz1/) - Tips, how-to's & articles on nutrition, diet and weight loss by Dr La Puma. Learn how certain types of food can boost immunity and reduce the risk of cancer!
- [Four Alternatives to Cynicism and Corruption in the Medical World](https://drjohnlapuma.com/alternatives-to-cynicism-and-corruption-in-the-medical-world/) - It's easy to become cynical in the medical world: too many physicians feel forced to comply with standard metrics that don't fit the patient in front of them. Many physicians are penalized if they refer to a physician outside their network, even if the physician colleague is more qualified or clearly a specialist in the
- [Taking Care of Your Liver: Stop Liver Disease, Start Liver Detox](https://drjohnlapuma.com/taking-care-of-your-liver-for-optimal-health/) - Treat your liver well and it will treat you well in return, keeping liver detox humming in the background and protecting you from liver disease and other poisonings. Read on to learn how to take care of your liver, stop liver disease, and start liver detox. One of our body’s largest organs, the liver is
- [Food-As-Medicine: How One Man Did It and The Story He Wrote](https://drjohnlapuma.com/food-as-medicine-how-one-man-did-it-and-the-story-he-wrote/) - -----
- [Childhood obesity in China and India: the](https://drjohnlapuma.com/childhood-obesity-in-china-and-india-the/) - Overweight and obesity in China: in mainland Chinese culture, being fat often still means being healthy and wealthy. But for kids, being fat is a death sentence and more rapidly delivered than ever. Overweight in Chinese kids ages 7-18 years increased 28 times and obesity increased four times over between 1985 and 2000, boys much
- [Dance Dance Revolution: Why It Belongs in Your Kid's School, and Homework](https://drjohnlapuma.com/dance-dance-revolution-why-it-belongs-in-your-kids-school-and-homework/) - About 6 years ago in Westwood, the UCLA student community meets Westside glitz, I wandered into a video arcade to drive a race car (the only place I drive a race car). Halfway in, a lanky sweaty teen pounded numbers while stairing at a screen of scrolling arrows with all the intensity of programmer. I'd
- [Learning to Cook Can Save Your Child's Life (and Make Yours Easier)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/learning-to-cook-can-save-your-childs-life-and-make-yours-easier/) - Even if you didn't grow up cooking, giving your child cooking skills is easier than you might think. The Journal of Nutrition Education reports that three-year-olds who were more involved in cooking also knew more about nutrition. And that's straight from their Moms. Of course, you eat what you know. Kids who help to choose
- [Two Good Child Obesity Programs](https://drjohnlapuma.com/two-good-child-obesity-programs/) - If you see a dark room, you should turn on the lights. Seth Godin, author, LinchPin: Are You Indispensible? Successful Pediatric Obesity Programs seem hidden, like Easter Eggs in April grass, or root vegetables under the tundra. That's in part because they are expensive, often residential, and insurance doesn't cover them. But some of the
- [Wine Appreciation 101, With Kit](https://drjohnlapuma.com/wine-appreciation-101-with-kit/) - Having a palate is the secret to losing weight and keeping it off. Good flavor is the missing ingredient in health food. And in health. And a wine-appreciation class can help. And be really fun. The six “S” in wine tasting are *See (the color/viscosity), *Swirl (in glass to release compounds), *Smell (the bouquet), *Sip
- [Short Trip to Sacto: Obesity Testimony](https://drjohnlapuma.com/short-trip-to-sacto-obesity-testimony/) - Tomorrow I'm testifying at a Legislative Informational Hearing on Diabetes and Obesity at the California State Capitol in Sacramento on what works in practice. It's not unfamiliar, but still a challenge. I did testify before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Aging about the care near the end of life in the 1990s. Now the time
- [Getting Kids to Eat Vegetables](https://drjohnlapuma.com/getting-kids-to-eat-vegetables/) - Visit Dr John La Puma's site for the best nutrition & health articles for kids! On this article, tips and secrets on getting your child to eat vegetables!
- [Which Foods Are Highest in AntiOxidants?  Rankings of 1113.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/which-foods-are-highest-in-antioxidants-rankings-of-1113/) - People eat Antioxidant foods to stay healthy...but some people are trying to prevent and treat disease too. Antioxidant supplements--just for their anti-rusting effects--do not appear to be as effective as food. Which foods are the best antioxidants? According to a new Norweigan/American scientific assessment, gram for gram, they're actually herbs and spices. In cooking, herbs
- [Recipes for Health: Going Gluten-Free for Life](https://drjohnlapuma.com/recipes-for-health-going-gluten-free-for-life/) - Terri is a 38 year old who traces her tummy problems back to high school. She has had off and on again fatigue, cramping, gas, bloating and mood swings. She has seen 11 doctors, and been told she is a “diagnostic dilemma” and has “atypical bowel syndrome.” No wonder. Terry has celiac disease, one of
- [My Favorite Supplements for Neurological Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/my-favorite-supplements-for-neurological-health/) - An estimated 1 in 4 Americans are concerned about neurological health. Of course, culinary medicine is important; a diet rich in omega-3s, especially cold water fish, and antioxidants can benefit brain and mood, while high-glycemic and inflammatory foods might do damage. Another supplemental strategy is exactly that: supplements. Here, I'm sharing with you what I
- [20 FAQs About Low T and Erectile Dysfunction](https://drjohnlapuma.com/20-faqs-about-low-t-and-erectile-dysfunction/) - The debate about low T has dramatically accelerated in the 2 weeks since the NYTimes published “Don’t Ask Your Doctor About Low T.” The day after, the NY Times published an editorial of its own, calling on regulators “to strengthen warning labels and find ways to rein in the industry’s promotional efforts.” In medicine,
- [My NYTimes Op-Ed: Don't Ask Your Doctor About Low T](https://drjohnlapuma.com/my-nytimes-op-ed-dont-ask-your-doctor-about-low-t/) - It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon. But not here. I feel lucky: lucky that Don't Ask Your Doctor About Low T (a dramatic title, meant to point out that men don't have to medicalize aging and have the power to change their health and their T without their doctor, and more safely too)
- [When Life Heats Up, Chill out with Yoga](https://drjohnlapuma.com/when-life-heats-up-chill-out-with-yoga/) - If daily hassles, constantly chiming cell phones, and past-due deadlines have you at the boiling point, simmer down to the yoga mat and find a little peace of mind. A mind-body practice, Yoga combines physical poses (postures) called asanas, simple breathing exercises and guided meditation. Anyone can practice yoga and experience the health-enhancing benefits: Reduce
- [REFUEL Nation: Will this new man's story change the way you eat? (1/6)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/refuel-nation-will-this-mans-story-change-the-way-you-eat-16/) - One of the best ways to help men (and women interested in a man's health and well-being) is to describe how other men do. Here is the first of six men's stories who have. No Low T Rx required. You might have heard one of them live, on the Dr. Oz Show, Wednesday November 27 2013: REFUEL and
- [Can Kids Choose? Food Marketing](https://drjohnlapuma.com/can-kids-choose-food-marketing/) - The new FTC- HHS Report on Food Marketing and Childhood Obesity is out...and it's not exactly radical. More voluntary regulation called for, with limits on advertising. Most junk food makers have opposed ad limits, saying all foods have a place. Maybe for adults who have freedom of choice if not freedom of movement. But not
- [Metabolic Syndrome/PreDiabetes in Overweight Kids: Diabetes and Heart Disease Risk Quantified](https://drjohnlapuma.com/metabolic-syndromeprediabetes-in-overweight-kids-diabetes-and-heart-disease-risk-quantified/) - -----
- [Liver Disease in Obese Kids is the Most Common Reason for Pediatric Liver Transplantation--Can Vitamin E Help?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/liver-disease-in-obese-kids-is-the-most-common-reason-for-pediatric-liver-transplantation-can-vitamin-e-help/) - Researchers in Italy find that Vitamin E supplements can improve liver enzyme readings in overweight and obese kids who have liver disease from their obesity.
- [HeLP (Healthy Lifestyles and Prevention) American Act of 2004](https://drjohnlapuma.com/help-healthy-lifestyles-and-prevention-american-act-of-2004/) - -----
- [An At-School Pediatric Obesity Program Which is Effective!](https://drjohnlapuma.com/an-at-school-pediatric-obesity-program-which-is-effective/) - -----
- [3 Simple Rules to Help You With Your Overweight Kids](https://drjohnlapuma.com/3-simple-rules-to-help-you-with-your-overweight-kids/) - -----
- [Optimum Weight for Life (OWL)--Parents Have More Power Than They May Think](https://drjohnlapuma.com/optimum-weight-for-life-owl-parents-have-more-power-than-they-may-think/) - washingtonpost.com: Feeding Lessons "The family is the last bastion of defense against the toxic environment," says David Ludwig, MD at Harvard. This program is worth investigating, easy-to-do, and you don't have to travel to Boston: your pediatrician can do it, or a physician-nutritionist can do it.
- [Early life risk factors for obesity in childhood: A British Study of Parents and Toddlers](https://drjohnlapuma.com/early-life-risk-factors-for-obesity-in-childhood-a-british-study-of-parents-and-toddlers/) - The top early life risk factors for pediatric obesity have just published in the British Medical Journal. The top three are parental obesity; very early (by 43 months) BMI rebound; and more than 8 hours spent watching TV per week at age 3 years. Early weight gain--this early--can be deadly. Change your weight, change your
- [Ways to Avoid Pediatric Obesity...and How Long Its Affects Last: From Britain with Love(Handles)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/ways-to-avoid-pediatric-obesityand-how-long-its-affects-last-from-britain-with-lovehandles/) - Two major new studies of pediatric obesity turn show that watching television over 4 hours daily, sleeping only for short periods, and Mom's smoking are the top 3 risk factors for pediatric obesity...in addition to drinking sugary drinks, like soda and juice, well documented. And a myth disproven: even though breast feeding is good for
- [For Overweight Children, Are 'Fat Camps' a Solution? - New York Times...A Review of Some of the Best](https://drjohnlapuma.com/for-overweight-children-are-fat-camps-a-solution-new-york-timesa-review-of-some-of-the-best/) - Are 'Fat Camps' a Solution? The best teach self-control--which can be taught. What does it take to learn this skill? The same things it takes to learn piano or algebra or dressing yourself: instruction, modeling and encouragement.
- [BMI is Used Differently with Children Than it is With Adults](https://drjohnlapuma.com/bmi-is-used-differently-with-children-than-it-is-with-adults/) - -----BMI--weight divided by height squared, in kilograms and meters--it's the way to know if your kid is overweight, obese, or underweight
- [Treating Pediatric Obesity: What Works?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/treating-pediatric-obesity-what-works/) - Obesity in kids is most effectively treated with activity and environmental changes. TV, game-boy and PC watching can and should be changed. There is excellent evidence to help you do so in your own home. No program will succeed without involved parents, and these programs show the best results. Since 1975, overweight in U.S. children
- [Low Saturated Fat Diets Keep Boys' Arteries Healthy - CME Teaching Brief - MedPage Today](https://drjohnlapuma.com/low-saturated-fat-diets-keep-boys-arteries-healthy-cme-teaching-brief-medpage-today/) - Low Saturated Fat Diets Keep Boys' Arteries Healthy - Saturated fat is solid at room temperature: cheese, beef, poultry, pork, butter, coconut oil, palm oil and their products--bacon, sausage, cream, even crackers and baked goods. Unsaturated fat is liquid at room temperature: canola, olive, soy, sesame, peanut, avocado, safflower, grapeseed. This 11 year study from
- [International Journal of Obesity - /`Adventure therapy/' combined with cognitive-behavioral treatment for overweight adolescents](https://drjohnlapuma.com/international-journal-of-obesity-adventure-therapy-combined-with-cognitive-behavioral-treatment-for-overweight-adolescents/) - Adventure therapy for overweight adolescents is a new twist on an old idea. It's Outward Bound for 13 - 16 year olds who need a new way to make physical activity a part of their lives....and improve their self-concept and locus of control. And it seems to work, especially for 15 and 16 year olds,
- [Selling Junk Food to Toddlers-- and the Rule of 15](https://drjohnlapuma.com/selling-junk-food-to-toddlers-and-the-rule-of-15/) - Only 7% of kids with 2 lean parents become obese. So, Selling Junk Food to Toddlers "with more than nine million obese youngsters in this country it's time to stop encouraging another generation to eat wrong." "There is absolutely NO reason to give a child sugary foods." What should you do about your toddler and
- [5 Rules To Stop Obesity](https://drjohnlapuma.com/5-rules-to-stop-obesity/) - In Sally Squires' good discussion about "fat report cards" from school, a poster suggests 5 rules that got her kids to age 18 without obesity or (other) eating disorders: they're simple, and they work: "1. Families should help their children to learn good eating habits as young as possible. It's ok to have a couple
- [Grand Rounds: Can Food Be Health Care?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/grand-rounds-can-food-be-health-care/) - When Food as Medicine Grand Rounds appeared 3 years ago, it was a toddler, pulsing with Inspiration and Experimentation. Now, it's skipped adolescence and it's going to Washington! But as Jake Sully notes: "...all energy is borrowed; at some point you have to return it." Weight Loss @precordialthump unveils his Utopian College of Emergency for
- [Fake Weight Loss Pills: Who's Your Ally?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/fake-weight-loss-pills-whos-your-ally/) - Alli, which is half-strength Rx Orlistat, available OTC for 2+ years as a weight loss pill, has been scammed. A fake lot of Alli is loaded with sibutramine (Rx Meridia), which is another major weight loss pill. But its major side effect is high blood pressure and in some people, stroke. You bet this has
- [Child Obesity: The Way Forward, on a Diet (plus Moving)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/child-obesity-the-way-forward-on-a-diet/) - I can't wait as Michelle Obama now bares her new tools and guns for "Let's Move" to fight child obesity. Maybe she can help school officials to change their thinking even more. For example, why is it "parents’ responsibility to forbid children at risk of obesity to buy candy" as the Orange County High School
- [What's Missing from Michelle's Obesity Initiative: Personal Responsibility](https://drjohnlapuma.com/whats-missing-from-michelles-obesity-initiative-personal-responsibility/) - Marion Nestle has a nice summary of coverage of Michelle Obama's powerful announcement yesterday, with NYTimes, USA Today and Marion Burros Politico.com coverage. She also has a refreshing view: this is one step in the right direction, perhaps a baseball single instead of a home run. I think it's closer to a double --because media,
- [Bill Clinton: Don't Eat Like Me...How Do You Eat?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/bill-clinton-dont-eat-like-me-how-do-you-eat/) - Brian Montopoli at CBS' News Blog quotes Bill Clinton today as saying his heart disease developed from "the habits I acquired in my childhood, mostly the way I ate and the way it interacted with my own biology and propensity to produce bad cholesterol," (from People Magazine)...and "I ate too much fried food, too much
- [Movies that are Changing How We Eat...For the Good](https://drjohnlapuma.com/movies-that-are-changing-how-we-eat-for-the-good/) - Film and TV can change the world in the way that even best-selling books cannot. I love television and film because you can tell a story visually, and so many people learn visually. Temple Grandin, the wonderful and now famous professor of animal behavior and advocate for people with autism, thinks in pictures, and has
- [Child Obesity Starts Early...Two Books to Help](https://drjohnlapuma.com/child-obesity-starts-early-two-books-to-help/) - The idea that childhood obesity is about food and starts early is not new, especially for my Paging Dr La Puma readers and for Jamie Oliver fans (I'm a huge fan). What is new is that parents do not recognize obesity in their kids, and that "normal weight" is now publicly perceived to be much
- [Eating Out Is Expensive... Get More at Home](https://drjohnlapuma.com/eating-out-is-expensive-get-more-at-home/) - The rising cost of food is no secret to restaurateurs, and to anyone who eats out often. Or who shops for food. Food costs more because of oil prices, ethanol subsidies, the weak U.S. dollar and heavy marketing. We're not getting more, but we could be. We could be getting better quality, more nutrition and
- [Why I Wrote the New ChefMD’s Big Book, Plus Video](https://drjohnlapuma.com/why-i-wrote-the-new-chefmds-big-book-plus-video/) - Read reviews and features on Amazon.com. In early 2007, Nicholas Genes interviewed me for Medscape about blogging, which not all physicians have taken to eagerly. He writes well and started Grand Rounds: read his blogborygmi. He asked: “Dr. Genes: Do you ever run into trouble when you headline a post with something like “strawberries are
- [How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Diets](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-diets/) - When I was 30 pounds heavier nearly 20 years ago, I lost it with rice crackers and grapefruit. I was persuaded then that a low fat—a very low fat—diet was the way to lose weight. My patients still were still overweight, however, and I knew that what had worked for me might not work the
- [What do you eat for...acne?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-do-you-eat-foracne/) - The culinary medicine questions I'm asked most are about weight loss. And losing weight does help many medical problems: in fact, food can work like medicine in the body. The trick, often, is to make sure it tastes like food, not like medicine. Acne vulgaris--young adult acne--is very common. Skin pores become clogged and infected,
- [Lower Your Health Care Costs with What You Eat](https://drjohnlapuma.com/lower-your-health-care-costs-with-what-you-eat/) - Your Financial Prescriptions: Seven Tips for Cutting Your Medical Costs (Wall Street Journal 04.07.09) completely missed the biggest potential tip of all: what you eat. The right health insurance? Check. Compare hospitals? Check. The right health insurance again? Check. Check your hospital bill? Check. Taking the meds you need? Check again. Food? Exercise? One line,
- [Does it Matter if Your Doc is Overweight?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/is-it-better-for-your-doc-to-be-overweight/) - Trim docs do seem to have an edge with patients (4 studies below): role modeling has value. "Healthy and fit pediatricians more routinely provided recommended care on child diet and physical activity and assessed TV time" than pediatricians who were neither healthy nor fit. "Clinicians who watched their own diets vigorously were more likely to
- [Weight Gain from Medication: Reversible? or Inevitable?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weight-gain-from-medication-reversible-or-inevitable/) - One of the most vexing things about trying to lose weight is your mood. In the beginning, my (adult) patients can be a little grouchy, even if they are losing pounds, not flavor, using culinary medicine. Even if they’re depressed, anxious, schizophrenic or bipolar and on prescription medication. And especially if their weight gain is
- [See How Easily Diet Can Restore Sex Drive](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-diet-can-restore-sex-drive/) - My patient Jill is carrying 40 pounds she didn’t have 20 years ago. She was going to lose it when she retired, but now she didn’t have time. Jill is also newly re-married, and her new younger hubby wants to have sex all the time. It is killing her, and isn’t satisfying him. “Is there
- [Here's a Quick Way to Find Out if YOUR Water is Safe for Your Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/heres-a-quick-way-to-find-out-if-your-water-is-safe-for-your-health/) - The NY Times piece today describing "illegal concentrations of chemicals like arsenic or radioactive substances like uranium, as well as dangerous bacteria" in over 20 percent of tap water in the U.S. has people wondering: is my tap water contaminated? Is my health in danger? And could it have caused cancer/asthma/birth defects/obesity in my family
- [Give Me the Recalled Flu Shots and I'll Give You Flu Fighting Foods](https://drjohnlapuma.com/give-me-the-recalled-flu-shots-and-ill-give-you-flu-fighting-foods/) - By now, most people know that nearly 20% of kids' Swine Flu Shots are less potent than when they left the lab. And that 800,000 doses are being recalled, even though most of them have already been given! The CDC says not to worry, and not to re-administer. Kids up to 9 years old should
- [The Doctor Will See You Now, Online. Will You See Her?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-doctor-will-see-you-now-online-will-you-see-her/) - Virtual visits with a board-certified physician are about to go national. NowClinic.com will use video chat to connect patients and doctors using video chat in 2010 nationwide, for routine, ordinary care. There are many reasons this will work...especially for those physicians interested in lifestyle change, weight loss, diabetes and nutrition. I'm excited about it, and
- [Ground Beef: It's Not What's For Dinner.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/ground-beef-its-not-whats-for-dinner-its-not-safe/) - The New York Times reports about ground beef safety in the U.S. have been eye-opening, especially if you buy Burger King or McDonalds. Or frozen ground beef. There is that terrific Times graphic (above) about what makes a "pure ground beef" burger. It starts with 50% fat, and then adds back beef bits, often from
- [Alzheimers Memory Boost: People with Drinks Beat Mice Near Cell Phones](https://drjohnlapuma.com/alzheimers-memory-boost-people-with-drinks-beat-mice-near-cell-phones/) - The study released this morning showing that 4 ounces daily of an experimental, not-yet-marketed "memory cocktail" might help memory in Alzheimers is hopeful. The study's protocol seems straightforward: done in people with mild disease, for 12 weeks. The clinical trial sites are all across the U.S. in respected places. The "memory drink" includes the nucleotide
- [Fat, Satisfaction, and Saturated. What Should You Eat?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/fat-satisfed-and-saturated-what-should-you-eat/) - The recent Harvard/Kaiser study showing saturated fat not causing heart disease and the WHO review of similar data showing it does, and a third showing polyunsaturated fat replacing saturated fat --is a good place to come to our senses, nutritionally and literally. People eat food, not fat, protein, carbohydrate or alcohol. No food has all
- [Personal Food Revolution #1: Hot Dogs Make My Knees Hurt! (Osteoarthritis)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/personal-food-revolution-1-hot-dogs-make-my-knees-hurt-osteoarthritis/) - One of the best ways to help people transform their lives and create their own food revolution is to write my patients' stories: this is #1 of 7.* Peggy had severe osteoarthritis. Except for the few blocks walk to the market, and the weekly shuttle to a matinee, she was virtually housebound. Peggy said she
- [Live Training Session on Culinary Medicine in Santa Barbara](https://drjohnlapuma.com/live-training-session-on-culinary-medicine-in-santa-barbara/) - With Seth Godin as an inspiration, I'm going to do a live session in Santa Barbara on Friday, June 18, 2010. Instead of charging my usual fee for tickets, I'm offering seats only to people who want to be able to train several others. If you're a coach, a teacher, a clinician, a chef, the
- [Personal Food Revolution #2: Are You Overweight, Never Hungry and at Risk For Stroke?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/personal-food-revolution-2-are-you-overweight-never-hungry-and-at-risk-for-stroke/) - One of the best ways to help people transform their lives and create their own food revolution is to write my patients' stories: this is #2 of 7.* Susan was just 50 when her younger brother Bill died of a stroke. Always significantly overweight, she nevertheless was healthy. She felt energetic, took no medicines, ran
- [Personal Food Revolution #3: Eat Your Breakfast, Skip Your Migraine](https://drjohnlapuma.com/personal-food-revolution-3-eat-your-breakfast-skip-your-migraine/) - One of the best ways to help people transform their lives and create their own food revolution is to write my patients' stories: this is #3 of 7.* Mary C. is a 29 year-old Houston mediator with migraines. A poster child for tyramine-rich olives, nuts and pepperoni, she also had brie on English Muffins for
- [Personal Food Revolution #4: Tired, Gassy and Moody? Could It Be Gluten?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/personal-food-revolution-4-tired-gassy-and-moody-could-it-be-gluten-2/) - One of the best ways to help people transform their lives and create their own food revolution is to write my patients’ stories: this is #4 of 7.* Terri is a 38 year old who traces her tummy problems back to high school. She has had off and on again fatigue, cramping, gas, bloating and
- [Personal Food Revolution #5: Eat Your Way to Lower Cholesterol](https://drjohnlapuma.com/personal-food-revolution-5-eat-your-way-to-lower-cholesterol-2/) - One of the best ways to help people transform their lives and create their own food revolution is to write my patients’ stories: this is #5 of 7.* Tom’s case was a quandary: a Pulitzer-winning health reporter, he already exercised diligently, running about four miles most days. He had long ago given up meat and
- [Personal Food Revolution #6: Lose 100#. Avoid Stomach Surgery.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/personal-food-revolution-6-lose-100-avoid-stomach-surgery-2/) - One of the best ways to help people transform their lives and create their own food revolution is to write my patients’ stories: this is #6 of 7.* Kathi uses seat belt extenders on airplanes and airplane trays ride up on her stomach. Her car seat is back as far as it can go. She
- [Personal Food Revolution #7: Reverse Diabetes with What You Eat...Out](https://drjohnlapuma.com/personal-food-revolution-7-reverse-diabetes-with-what-you-eat-out/) - One of the best ways to help people transform their lives and create their own food revolution is to write my patients' stories: this is #7 of 7.* Carol has diabetes. She is 48 years old, the mother of two and a successful Washington litigator. She does not know what to eat at the dinner
- [Two Ways to Improve Your Flu Immunity: D3 and Vaccines](https://drjohnlapuma.com/two-ways-to-improve-your-flu-immunity-d3-and-vaccines/) - Earlier this month, I got a flu shot. I also took 2000IU of vitamin D3. Some people see this as redundant. Not me. The recent news that pregnant women who get flu shots protect their fetuses and themselves meshes perfectly with the recent news that vitamin D3 is more of a (helpful) steroid hormone than
- [3 Foods That Boost Your Sex Drive](https://drjohnlapuma.com/3-foods-that-boost-your-sex-drive/) - Want better sex? Discover how walnuts, seeds, and the Mediterranean diet can naturally boost libido and performance—backed by science.
- [Grand Rounds: Diet and Food.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/grand-rounds-diet/) - Food as medicine is a new concept for many Grand Rounders and yet, veni, vidi, veggie I came, I saw, I had a salad. The best of the medical blogosphere follows.
- [Does Eating Iron-Heavy Foods Cause Heart Disease in Women?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/does-eating-iron-heavy-foods-cause-heart-disease-in-women/) - Yes, apparently, it does. Harvard scientists studied 6161 women with type II diabetes over 20 years. The ones with the highest iron intake had the most heart attacks and cardiac bypasses and deaths---by 50% over the women with the lowest intake of iron. Diabetics are already at an increased risk for heart disease, but eating
- [Chili's effect on diabetes: real science, real medicine](https://drjohnlapuma.com/chilis-effect-on-diabetes-real-science-real-medicine/) - Researchers randomized 36 people to 4 weeks of chili diet and bland diet, and then switched them. They added a bland supplement and a chili supplement. Mean age was 46 years, and mean BMI was 26.3 kg/m2. All had diabetes. A bland diet with a bland supplement gave the highest concentrations of insulin and glucose
- [Three year folic acid study: the right dose prevents age-related hearing loss](https://drjohnlapuma.com/three-year-folic-acid-study-the-right-dose-prevents-age-related-hearing-loss/) - Folic acid may prevent age-related hearing loss Get the active form of folic acid. It is derived from plants, and is the proper dosage: 800 mcg daily is what is needed. In this excellent peer-reviewed, randomized, placebo controlled hearing study from the Netherlands, 728 adults ages 50 - 70 were followed for 3 years. At
- [Does Overweight Cause Breast Cancer?  And If  So, How Much and When?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/does-overweight-cause-breast-cancer-and-if-so-how-much-and-when/) - Weight loss during pregnancy and at menopause have different effects on breast cancer risk, and on you. Eating for two feels like a joyous thing...eating because you're 52 feels out of control. And your body is. How much you gain during your first pregnancy is irrelevant for breast cancer: no correlation. But weight gain between
- [The Answer is in Bed: Why Weight Loss Starts With Food and Stays With Exercise.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-answer-is-in-bed-why-weight-loss-starts-with-food-and-stays-with-exercise/) - It's a dirty little secret that bedrest can help you lose weight. But it's not the weight you want to lose. It is muscle: in fact, in this novel research study of body composition and bed rest, it is 3.3 pounds of muscle, in just 10 days if you are in your 60s, but 28
- [Make Healthy Food Convenient and Eat What You Want](https://drjohnlapuma.com/make-healthy-food-convenient-and-eat-what-you-want/) - Americans eat Two Meals: one of good intentions, the other of seduction. We try to eat healthfully--less trans fat, more organics, better school food for kids. More vegetables, fewer snacks, more water, less soda. These are easy changes---if cost, convenience and concerns about flavor and cooking/choosing/preparation time don't get in the way. But they do
- [What Can You Eat to Block NPY?  Tail of Two Mice](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-can-you-eat-to-block-npy-tail-of-two-mice/) - injecting a substance that blocks NPY prevented mice from accumulating fat -- even if they were stressed and ate a high-fat diet -- and could shrink fat deposits by 40 percent to 50 percent within two weeks. The Washington Post has helped fuel the fat switch fire, and of course the researchers are excited too.
- [Sugars and satiety: does the type of sweetener matter?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/sugars-and-satiety-does-the-type-of-sweetener-matter/) - The small study of 20 somethings this month on high fructose corn syrup and appetite has the media buzzing. Two and a half hours after drinking milk, soda with 2 types of HFCS, diet soda and soda with table sugar, only milk (one-percent milk) dulled the appetite, for a huge--1700 calorie--lunch. No difference between table
- [High Fructose Corn Syrup for Kids?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/high-fructose-corn-syrup-for-kids/) - The consumption of HFCS increased > 1000% between 1970 and 1990. Our most conservative estimate of the consumption of HFCS indicates a daily average of 132 calories for all Americans age 2 and older. Diet soda too causes weight gain. Do your waist a favor. If there is HFCS in it, put it back on
- [Should YOU Be Gluten Free? Moves Center Stage for Health and Eating Well](https://drjohnlapuma.com/should-you-be-gluten-free-moves-center-stage-for-health-and-eating-well/) - The New York Times piece on eating gluten free in NYC has struck a chord. It's even beat out the stock market drop and the obesity-is-contagious-from-your-friends story of the moment in most e-mailed. The stock market will come back. And people trying to lose weight have been sabotaged, consoled, cajoled and taunted by their friends
- [Should YOU Be Gluten Free? Moves Center Stage for Health and Eating Well](https://drjohnlapuma.com/should-you-be-gluten-free-moves-center-stage-for-health-and-eating-well-2/) - The New York Times piece on eating gluten free in NYC has struck a chord. It's even beat out the stock market drop and the obesity-is-contagious-from-your-friends story of the moment in most e-mailed. The stock market will come back. And people trying to lose weight have been sabotaged, consoled, cajoled and taunted by their friends
- [Liquid Candy:  Fills You Out, Not Up](https://drjohnlapuma.com/liquid-candy-fills-you-out-not-up/) - Who would guess that a large chocolate shake at McD's has 400 more calories than a burger, small fries and small Coke? Or that the venti Strawberry and Creme Frappucino costs you 770 calories? CSPI calculates that teenagers get 13 percent of their calories from soda. Their report on liquid candy is scary: soda sucks
- [Food Fights: Winning the Nutritional Challenges of Parenthood Armed with Insight, Humor, and a Bottle of Ketchup](https://drjohnlapuma.com/food-fights-winning-the-nutritional-challenges-of-parenthood-armed-with-insight-humor-and-a-bottle-of-ketchup/) - Who would guess that a large chocolate shake at McD's has 400 more calories than a burger, small fries and small Coke? Food Fights gives parents better choices, beginning early. From starting babies on solid foods, dealing with picky eaters, and making better choices in child-care settings and restaurants, the two pediatrician-Mom authors write for
- [Coffee, Cholesterol and Cognition:  Drink Up!](https://drjohnlapuma.com/coffee-cholesterol-and-cognition-drink-up/) - Coffee is becoming a health drink. But then, we knew that. Science is just catching up. More than 4 cups of coffee daily, and 3 cups in other Harvard studies of 88000 women, dramatically reduced the risk of type II diabetes. Six cups daily reduced the risk by 22 percent. Is it iron absorption? The
- [Is Quercetin the Next Big Thing? Or, Will An Apple Skin a Day Keep the Doctor Away?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/is-quercetin-the-next-big-thing-or-will-an-apple-skin-a-day-keep-the-doctor-away/) - In the dietary supplement world, they're always looking for the next big thing. Which is often found in food: specifically for quercetin, in onions, apples, tea and berries. And usually, food is better than the supplement. But once in a while, a supplement seems to be effective, and work like medicine. Quercetin is a flavonol,
- [How Is Childhood Obesity Like Climate Change?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-is-childhood-obesity-like-climate-change/) - Both childhood obesity and climate change are early warning signs. Childhood obesity warns of heart disease: in teens. You know that schools have been invaded by fast food franchises, seduced by the sweetness of an easy dollar. What's new is that this seduction has a price---and the price is the appearance of adult illnesses in
- [Why Some Fats Make You Feel Full and Others Make You Hungrier](https://drjohnlapuma.com/why-some-fats-make-you-feel-full-and-others-make-you-hungrier/) - Americans still have an obsession with fat in food, but like most obsessions, it obscures the food we need to eat and enjoy. Some foods make you feel full and others make you hungrier. And some of it is downright fatty. Most of us think there are really only two types of fat: solid and
- [Belly Fat for Women: the Dr. Oz 5 Step Plan](https://drjohnlapuma.com/belly-fat-for-women-the-dr-oz-5-step-plan/) - Dr. Oz debuted his 5 Step Plan for Women Over 40 Who Need to Lose Belly Fat last night, and I spoke with Shirin Rafaee of KEYT, our ABC affiliate, about it. No surprise here: women's needs are different from men's weight loss needs. Belly fat in men and women poisons your liver, blocks muscle
- [Crazy New Protein Report Showed Up by Michelle O et al.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/crazy-new-protein-report-showed-up-by-michelle-o-et-al/) - Here are a few of the sensational headlines generated from the new, deeply flawed Cell study showing, on the basis of one 24 hour dietary recall 18 years ago that for people between ages 50 and 65, protein intake over 20 percent of calories increases risk of death, especially death from cancer. Meat and cheese
- [If You Have Heart Disease, Here is How You Should Be Eating: Red Meat?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/if-you-have-heart-disease-here-is-how-you-should-be-eating/) - Here's a heart healthy diet plan that you should stick to: 1) Two servings of omega-3 rich fish weekly: 6 to 8 ounces 2) Extra virgin olive oil, not heated high
- [Fish Oil for Asthma: Certainly Worth a Try](https://drjohnlapuma.com/fish-oil-for-asthma-certainly-worth-a-try/) - For 3 weeks, half received daily fish oil capsules, while the other half got placebo. How much fish oil? 3.2 g of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 2.0 g of docohexaenoic acid (DHA). This dose of fish oil also works in elite athletes with asthma. The asthma fish oil study showed that the fish oil patients
- [What is Resistant Starch and Why Does It Help You Lose Weight?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-resistant-starch-and-why-does-it-help-you-lose-weight/) - One of the reasons nutrition is so confusing is that the science is changing rapidly. For example, until about 30 years ago, it was commonly thought that all starch was digested the same way--down the hatch, in your stomach, through your small intestine, and done. But about 10 percent of starch---resistant starch--makes it through to
- [Soda Targeted in Fight Against Obesity](https://drjohnlapuma.com/soda-targeted-in-fight-against-obesity/) - Soda Targeted in Fight Against Obesity Long ago, we wondered whether sodas were the new tobacco. February's issue of Pediatrics wonders that aloud too: 2300 8- 9 year old girls kept 3 day food logs (free at drjohnlapuma.com, under Private Programs) annually for 10 years. Milk drinking dropped by 25% pop drinking tripled. Girls who
- [Girls, Milk and Soda: Is Soda the New Tobacco? A 10 Year Study.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/girls-milk-and-soda-is-soda-the-new-tobacco-a-10-year-study/) - Soda Targeted in Fight Against Obesity Long ago, we wondered whether sugar is the new tobacco...with government subsidies to farm and store it. February's issue of Pediatrics wonders that differently: it reports a study of 2300 8- 9 year old girls who kept 3 day food logs (free at drjohnlapuma.com, under Private Programs) annually for
- [How Did B Vitamins Prevent Deaths from Stroke from 1998-2002? U.S. and Canada vs. U.K.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-did-b-vitamins-prevent-deaths-from-stroke-from-1990-2002-us-and-canada-vs-uk/) - By 1998, the U.S. and Canada had put folate (i.e., folic acid or vitamin B9) in the U.S. grain supply: 1.4 mg per kilogram of grain. Why? To prevent birth defects---specifically, neural tube defects by a whopping 25 percent, it turns out. It has also helped to prevent death from strokes: 2.9 percent reduction since
- [3 Steps to Controlling Your Blood Sugar When It Is Creeping Up](https://drjohnlapuma.com/3-steps-to-controlling-your-blood-sugar-when-it-is-creeping-up/) - 1. Good glycemic control is defined as glycohemoglobin (HbA1c) of less than 6.5 percent or fasting glucose less than 110 mg/dl. 2. Treat your insulin resistance not just your blood sugar. 80%-85% of type 2 diabetes patients are insulin resistant. Diet is the major treatment for insulin resistance. Hint: count carbs--this is one place in
- [Are Raspberries Heart Food?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/are-raspberries-heart-food/) - Berries of all kinds are high in fiber--both soluble and insoluble. And high fiber foods drop your blood levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), shows well done research on fiber and CRP. A CRP test shows the level of inflammation in your body, and well done research shows that high CRP is associated with inflammatory diseases...like
- [Which Mediterranean Diet Prevents Alzheimer's?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/which-mediterranean-diet-prevents-alzheimers/) - A new prospective study of 2258 New Yorkers asked to follow a Mediterranean Diet for 4 years found that those who adhered most closely to the diet were 40 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer's. The Mediterranean Diet has also been scientifically shown to improve longevity in men and women JAMA 2005 (23 per cent
- [Is Niacin (to Raise HDL) a Vitamin or a Drug?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/is-niacinto-raise-hdl-a-vitamin-or-a-drug/) - Niacin is vitamin B3. In immediate-release forms, whether supplement or prescription, it can help raise HDL (healthy) cholesterol by up to 35 percent, more than any other treatment. Long-acting niacin prescriptions (for example, Slo-Niacin) can cause liver damage, and should be taken only with close medical supervision. But immediate-acting niacin prescriptions (for example, Niacor) can
- [Coffee, Tea or Diabetes?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/coffee-tea-or-diabetes/) - 17 413 Japanese people were studied for 5 years. These results, for coffee, have also been shown in U.S. men for coffee and diabetes. Those who drank more than 6 cups of green tea per day had a 33 percent lower risk of diabetes than those who drank less than one cup weekly. Those who
- [Barney-Colored Drugs for Kids](https://drjohnlapuma.com/barney-colored-drugs-for-kids/) - Unbelievably, the acid-stopping purple pill Nexium is now FDA-approved for use in kids ages 12-17. But literally 50 percent of children in North and South America will be overweight by 2010. Anyone overweight has a 1.4 times as likely to have GERD symptoms and anyone obese is twice as likely. Too much fat inside the
- [Foods that Cause Illness, For a Change](https://drjohnlapuma.com/foods-that-cause-illness-for-a-change/) - This blog usually focuses on food as medicine, and how to make it work for you. But food can be tainted too, and cause illness. FoodNet "determines the burden of foodborne illness in the United States" and relies on lab tests. There are 76 million cases of food poisoning annually in the U.S and 325k
- [Surviving Stomach Surgery:  Success Secrets](https://drjohnlapuma.com/surviving-stomach-surgery-success-secrets/) - Bariatric surgery is known to cure diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea and low back pain in at least 70 percent of the people who have it. And in 2001-2002, when these data were collected, 40 percent had a postoperative visit--within 180 days-- to the hospital with a "complication (through readmission, outpatient hospital visit, or
- [ADHD or Depressed Kids? Omega-3 Treatment](https://drjohnlapuma.com/adhd-or-depressed-kids-omega-3-treatment/) - 20 of 28 depressed kids, ages between 6 and 12, took omega-3 fatty acids or placebo for one month. 7 of the 10 kids in the omega-3 group but none of the placebo kids had better scores in the 3 scales that are used to test for childhood depression, and 4 of the 7 went
- [Probiotics Enhance Antibiotic Effectiveness For Vaginosis](https://drjohnlapuma.com/probiotics-enhance-antibiotic-effectiveness-for-vaginosis/) - For women with bacterial vaginosis, an overgrowth of the normal bacteria in the vagina, probiotics--the bacteria found in yogurt and kefir--can enhance the effectiveness of the usual antibiotic treatment. In a randomized double blind placebo controlled trial--the best kind--125 premenopausal women with symptoms all got 1 week of the antibiotic Flagyl/metronidazole; half got 5 billion
- [How Many Calories Are In What You Eat? And How Can You Tell?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-many-calories-are-in-what-you-eat-and-how-can-you-tell/) - Learn what makes good diet foods and how you can measure their energy value. One solution: estimate your calories, food by food, not a whole meal at a time.
- [Had a Heart Attack? You Need Fish Oil, 1 Gram Daily](https://drjohnlapuma.com/if-you-have-had-a-heart-attack-you-need-fish-oil-1-gram-daily-2/) - Fish oil, approved in Spain, France and Britain as a prescription, helps prevent sudden death in people who have had heart attacks. The 3.5-year GISSI study of 11,323 patients who had a heart attack showed that 1 gram of fish oil daily lowered their risk of having a second heart attack, stroke or dying. The
- [Colorectal-Cancer Prevention: Why Men Should, Even More Than Women](https://drjohnlapuma.com/colorectal-cancer-prevention-why-men-should-even-more-than-women/) - Colon cancer doesn't sound pretty, and it isn't. Katie Couric did more for screening than all Hemoccult cards doctors have ever handed out (I have patients who have used them as coasters). And a new study of nearly 3000 men with cancer shows that advanced colon cancer is almost twice as common in 50 to
- [Restaurant Quiz](https://drjohnlapuma.com/restaurant-quiz/) - The CSPI restaurant quiz is eye-opening: most calorific item at McDonalds? At Denny's? least calorific at Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks? Hint: one chain's strawberry-banana smoothie will fatten you faster than two of their jelly donuts. And then some. Menu labeling is a concept whose time has come. But now it's a moral (and practical) necessity:
- [Best Health Care Blogs, 2006](https://drjohnlapuma.com/best-health-care-blogs-2006/) - Best Blogs in health care is a new phenomenon, but these choices are good, by Manny Alvarez, M.D., an ob-gyn in New York who doubles as a news director for Fox. Blogging about health care--stories of diet and fitness, war and peace, and the new trans fat ban in NYC pizzerias, pretzels and 'pounders--has engendered
- [Trans Fats: Why Now?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/trans-fats-why-now/) - New York City has banned trans by 2008, Loews Hotels will phase them out in 2007 (French Fries first, buttercream second, waffles and pancakes last), and at least one hospital, Windber Medical Center in Pennsylvania, has taken them off the menu, according to their CEO Tony Chen's blog. Trans fats (also found in shortening, pastry
- [What Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, Diet Snapple and Diet Kool-Aid All Have in Common...or Why Equal Causes Cancer in Rats](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-diet-coke-diet-pepsi-diet-snapple-and-diet-kool-aid-all-have-in-commonor-why-equal-causes-cancer-in-rats/) - The NY Times reports that this sweetener can kill: A 7 year Italian study of 1900 rats, with low doses (equal to 4-5 diet cokes per day) shows persuasively: *more leukemia and lymphoma in males and females *more kidney cancer in females *more neurologic cancer in males Cancer was first reported in association with aspartame
- [Vitamin D deficiency may have role in chronic low back pain -- Lewis 331 (7508): 109 -- BMJ](https://drjohnlapuma.com/vitamin-d-deficiency-may-have-role-in-chronic-low-back-pain-lewis-331-7508-109-bmj/) - Are You Vitamin D Deficient? If you live below the line drawn from Los Angeles to Atlanta, your skin can convert the inactive form of vitamin D to the active form. Otherwise, you need a supplement---the active form is vitamin D3. A tanning booth? Only if you think you can beat skin cancer. To learn
- [Insiders' Secrets to Make You Younger and Healthier](https://drjohnlapuma.com/insiders-secrets-to-make-you-younger-and-healthier/) - Insiders' Secrets to Make You Younger and Healthier --an Oprah! repeat with Dr. Roizen and Dr. Oz shoots Dr. John's Cooking the RealAge Way back to Amazon.com's #1 Cookbook spot!
- [Buy the CheeseBurger, Learn the Numbers: McDonald's Olympic Hurdle](https://drjohnlapuma.com/buy-the-cheeseburger-learn-the-numbers-mcdonalds-olympic-hurdle/) - McDonald's Plans to Print Nutrition Data INSIDE Food Boxes
- [Fish Once Weekly Helps To Prevent Memory Loss--6 Year Study-But It's Not the Omega-3s](https://drjohnlapuma.com/fish-once-weekly-helps-to-prevent-memory-loss-6-year-study-but-its-not-the-omega-3s/) - In Chicago, where memories are long anyway, 3,718 people who averaged 74 years old were well-studied over 6 years for memory loss, fuzzy thinking and other signs of cognitive decline. Just 21% ate fish twice or more weekly. 36.3% ate fish once weekly. 42.6% of subjects rarely or never ate fish. Those who ate fish
- [Top 5 Research Reports in Food As Medicine, 2005](https://drjohnlapuma.com/top-5-research-reports-in-food-as-medicine-2005-2/) - Effect of folate and mecobalamin on hip fractures in patients with stroke. Translation: 5 milligrams of folate and 1500 micrograms of B12 daily prevented hip fractures 5 times as well as placebo. If you've had a stroke and want to do something to prevent a hip fracture, read this study. Of people over age 50
- [Getting guys to wise up about their bodies - What, me worry? - MSNBC.com](https://drjohnlapuma.com/getting-guys-to-wise-up-about-their-bodies-what-me-worry-msnbccom/) - What, me worry? Most men feel fine--no need to see the doctor. We know our cholesterol, most of us, and blood pressure and are very busy--too busy to exercise. We're taught to tough out any minor pain--in the neck, back, head or chest. A little rest and we're back at it. Most of us don't
- [Why Does Coconut Oil Improve HDL?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/why-does-coconut-oil-improve-hdl/) - Coconut oil is almost all saturated fat: solid at room temperature. But in a small excellent coconut oil study, HDL (healthy) cholesterol improved when coconut oil replaced carbs in one diet, and canola/sunflower oil in another. This was a scientific study--all meals prepared, weighed, measured, and it lasted only 9 weeks. Not real life. But
- [Super Bowls: The Bigger the Bowl and the Shorter the Glass, the More You'll Eat](https://drjohnlapuma.com/super-bowls-the-bigger-the-bowl-and-the-shorter-the-glass-the-more-youll-eat/) - Two 2005 studies show "small changes make a big difference" in your weight loss diet. Forty men and women about to watch the 2005 Super Bowl served themselves 53% (146 calories) more and ate 56% (142 calories) more than those who served themselves from small bowls. A large bowl was 4 liters; a small one
- [Vitamin D: Can It Prevent Cancer, Build Bone and Taste Good?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/vitamin-d-can-it-prevent-cancer-build-bone-and-taste-good/) - If you live above a line drawn from Atlanta to Los Angeles, and especially if you have dark skin or always wear sun block from head to toe, you are probably Vitamin D deficient. And Vitamin D deficiency probably means greater susceptibility to 4 different cancers--breast, prostate, ovarian and colon. People with enough vitamin D,
- [Eat Your Way to Better Health, Circa 1996](https://drjohnlapuma.com/eat-your-way-to-better-health-circa-1996/) - Just 10 years ago, what doctors should say to patients who need weight loss programs began to appear in medical journals. But if doctors say almost anything about weight to patients, in the office, it's a key motivator to lose weight and get healthier. And if you say something to your doctor, you'll likely get
- [Low Fat Diet and 4.8 Pounds of Weight Loss for 12 Months...Is It Worth It?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/low-fat-diet-and-48-pounds-of-weight-loss-for-12-monthsis-it-worth-it/) - The JAMA diet research study of 48800 women (average age 62, average BMI 29) followed for 7 years on a 20 percent or lower Low-Fat Diet is being misinterpreted: it was prescribed not for weight loss but for reducing risk for breast and colon cancer. But study after study is showing that for weight loss,
- [Stressed Out About Diabetes: How to Lower Insulin Resistance](https://drjohnlapuma.com/stressed-out-about-diabetes-how-to-lower-insulin-resistance/) - New drugs on the horizon for obesity and diabetes include rimonabant, or the munchie drug--also in clinical trials right now to reduce drinking. But it will be expensive, have unanticipated effects (probably not desirable ones) and will not help you change your lifestyle. Lifestyle change is twice as effective as metformin (glucophage) in preventing diabetes.
- [Scientists Discover Gene That Confers Sizable Risk of Diabetes - New York Times: Old News.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/scientists-discover-gene-that-confers-sizable-risk-of-diabetes-new-york-times-old-news/) - Scientists Diabetes is a Genetic Disease. Well, of course. And many of us carry the genes for it--up to almost 1/2 of all people. But all genes do is make protein, and control other genes. Genes are not destiny or fate. You can change the way genes work--what proteins they make and how tightly they
- [Does it Matter if an Oreo is Organic? Which Foods Should You Buy Organic? What's the Science?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/does-it-matter-if-an-oreo-is-organic-which-foods-should-you-buy-organic-whats-the-science/) - The more refined a food--sandwich cookies, fish sticks, anything shaped so you can't tell whether it's animal, vegetable or mineral--the less important that it's organic. So few good nutrients, chemical pesticides, herbicides and fungicides, hormones and antibiotics remain that it doesn't matter if the food meets USDA organic classification. In other words, craving an organic
- [The Truth About Low Fat Diets, Cancer, Heart Disease and the JAMA Study](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-truth-about-low-fat-diets-cancer-heart-disease-and-the-jama-study/) - The reports of the death of the lowfat diet are greatly exaggerated. The lower fat diet was prescribed to prevent heart disease, breast and colon cancer. In fact, it appeared to work in breast cancer: 42 of 1000 developed the disease, instead of the control group's 45 of 1000. But as Dean Ornish astutely points
- [Which Sodas Are Safest for Your Teeth?  Any?  How About Your Waist Line?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/which-sodas-are-safest-for-your-teeth-any-how-about-your-waist-line/) - -----
- [Cereality: Is Candy Cereal the New Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner?  Or Which Cereals Are Best?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/cereality-is-candy-cereal-the-new-breakfast-lunch-and-dinner-or-which-cereals-are-best-2/) - -----
- [Neural Tube Defects in Newborns are Preventable...with Nutrition](https://drjohnlapuma.com/neural-tube-defects-in-newborns-are-preventablewith-nutrition/) - Folic acid (vitamin B9 or folate...all the same vitamin) was put in the grain supply in the U.S. and Canada in the late 20th century to stop spina bifida and other neural tube defects. It has almost done just that almost. Obesity still increases the risk of preventable neural tube defects, even if Mom is
- [DASH Diet is An Eating Plan for Everyone...AND It Lowers Blood Pressure](https://drjohnlapuma.com/dash-diet-is-an-eating-plan-for-everyoneand-it-lowers-blood-pressure-the-2005-dietary-guidelines/) - -----
- [Find Out Your Numbers: Weight, Blood Sugar, Blood Pressure, Cholesterol](https://drjohnlapuma.com/find-out-your-numbers-weight-blood-sugar-blood-pressure-cholesterol/) - -----
- [Has Atkins Made Dieting Manly? Or, Is Slimming Down a Man's Work Too?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/has-atkins-made-dieting-manly-or-is-slimming-down-a-mans-work-too/) - -----
- [Is It the Bubbles or the Citrusy Bath Water?  Why Sodas Rob You of Your Dental Enamel (hint--it's not the sugar), and What to Drink Instead](https://drjohnlapuma.com/is-it-the-bubbles-or-the-citrusy-bath-water-why-sodas-rob-you-of-your-dental-enamel-ihint-its-not-the-sugar-iand-what-to-drink-instead/) - -----
- [Women with Gestational Diabetes Can Prevent Diabetes Type II with Glucophage or With Lifestyle--the Diabetes Prevention Program!](https://drjohnlapuma.com/women-with-gestational-diabetes-can-prevent-diabetes-type-ii-with-glucophage-or-with-lifestyle-the-diabetes-prevention-program/) - -----
- [Glycemic Index, Glycemic Load--Which Foods are Best?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/glycemic-index-glycemic-load-which-foods-are-best/) - -----
- [Would You Like PCBs with Your Salmon? Stores Say Wild, but Tests Say Farm Bred: How Do You Tell?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/would-you-like-pcbs-with-your-salmon-stores-say-wild-but-tests-say-farm-bred-how-do-you-tell/) - Wild Salmon sold in 8 New York City markets turned out to be actually farm-bred in 7 of them. What's so bad? Farmed salmon can be high in the carcinogenic PCBs and chemical pollutants. Is it worth increasing that risk? Not if you're not accurately informed, and can't make a good choice. How can you
- [Run Behind Your Thirst, Not Ahead of It:  Why Athletes Should Wait Until Thirsty to Drink](https://drjohnlapuma.com/run-behind-your-thirst-not-ahead-of-it-why-athletes-should-wait-until-thirsty-to-drink/) - Most people don't know that during intense exercise the kidneys hold on to water. A study of Marathon Runners today shows that as you drink more, your cells and blood volume enlarge. This drives your sodium level down, especially if you're not an elite athlete. Your engorged brain swells and your breathing can suffer. Your
- [Nifty Rays of Light If You Dig Inside the Pyramid.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/nifty-rays-of-light-if-you-dig-inside-the-pyramid/) - MyPyramid.gov lets you click on the icon's rays, and discover what's in each group, photos of the foods, and even portion sizes. It treats all food equally, and creates a symbol for the 2015 Dietary Guidelines. And it tries to personalize what you should eat by your age, weight and activity level, and features a
- [Cereality: Is Candy Cereal the New Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner?  Or Which Cereals Are Best?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/cereality-is-candy-cereal-the-new-breakfast-lunch-and-dinner-or-which-cereals-are-best/) - Here's a table detailing the fiber content of some healthy whole grains
- [Obesity, Dementia and Finding a Good Job:  How Related? How Much By Gender?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/obesity-dementia-and-finding-a-good-job-how-related-how-much-by-gender/) - You may know that about 70 percent of obese adolescents become obese adults. And that the hormone testosterone (in girls and in boys) increases belly fat. But did you know that middle age obesity is a dementia risk? And that women get the worst of it? Researchers find that it's so for people with a
- [Big as Life: One 625 Pound Man's Fight to Overcome His Weight](https://drjohnlapuma.com/big-as-life-one-625-pound-mans-fight-to-overcome-his-weight/) - Big as Life is not just about an atrophied left leg, on which bed-bound John Keitz has been lying for over 3 years: it's about how just 171 calories per day ballooned his weight from 250 at age 18 to 625 at age 39.
- [Big as Life: 100 Pounds in First Grade, 165 in Fourth](https://drjohnlapuma.com/big-as-life-100-pounds-in-first-grade-165-in-fourth/) - How a 200 pound 16-year old turned into a 625 pound 39-year old man, who still has hope.
- [Lost in Translation--Arsenic in Ayurvedic Remedies](https://drjohnlapuma.com/lost-in-translation-arsenic-in-ayurvedic-remedies/) - -----
- [How Many Servings of Veggies Do YOU Eat?  And How Much is a Serving, Anyway?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-many-servings-of-veggies-do-you-eat-and-how-much-is-a-serving-anyway/) - -----
- [Does Your 10 Year Old Have a High IQ? Odds-on, S/He Will Be a Vegetarian at Age 30](https://drjohnlapuma.com/does-your-10-year-old-have-a-high-iq-odds-on-she-will-be-a-vegetarian-at-age-30/) - IQ in childhood and vegetarianism in adulthood authors studied 8170 men and women aged 30 years, finding that those of higher IQ when younger were much more likely to be vegetarians at age 30...they were followed from birth! The devil is in the details, though the history of vegetarianism isn't pretty. Suffice it to say
- [How You Measure Blood Pressure Matters](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-you-measure-blood-pressure-matters/) - Sure, blood pressure is a controversial subject, especially what diet can or cannot do for it. But measurements of blood pressure? Controversial enough that the British Medical Journal ran a series of articles on hypertension with the first on simply measuring blood pressure. < http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/322/7294/1110 > The article reminds physicians that blood pressure varies during the day, measurement devices are not all accurate, and it is not as easily measured in some groups like the elderly and children. Standing, sitting, or lying down affects your pressure, as does having your arm supported at the level of the heart (the preferred method). HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: If you check your own blood pressure at home, you need to check the accuracy of your readings against one that is established. The blood pressure cuff must fit your arm properly - one size does not fit all. Each of the variables listed can affect blood pressure by 10 points, which is enough to misclassify some as needing treatment for hypertension. -----
- [Does the USDA's Food Pyramid Make You Fat?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/does-the-usdas-food-pyramid-make-you-fat/) - Is the conventional food pyramid for kids, responsible for the obesity problem in the US today? Many Harvard scholars and Professors of Nutrition-think so!
- [To Lose Weight and Lower LDL Cholesterol You Choose--Will You Change Your Environment or Change Yourself?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/to-lose-weight-and-lower-ldl-cholesterol-you-choose-will-you-change-your-environment-or-change-yourself/) - -----
- [Folate, Vitamin B12 Deficiencies Common and Correctable. But Too Much Hurts!](https://drjohnlapuma.com/folate-vitamin-b12-deficiencies-common-and-correctable-but-too-much-hurts/) - -----
- [Which vitamins do good? and do more harm than good?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/which-vitamins-do-good-and-do-more-harm-than-good/) - agree with Zosia Kmietowicz' statements that smokers should avoid beta carotene supplementation and plausibly we should avoid synthetic chromium picolinate. However, I favor use of the natural niacin- bound chromium polynicotinate version, which has not been implicated in carcinogenic mutations. Sedentary subjects should NOT take excessive doses of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, K, or E. Selenium specifically should not be consumed above 400 micrograms except upon the supervisory advice of the patient's health care provider. Vitamin B-12 and folate should be supplemented in a proportionate balance of 400-800 micrograms Folate to 100-200 micrograms vitamin B-12, especially by vegetarians, patients subject to coronary Artery Disease, or those with genetic homocystinuria. Athletes on the other hand whose exercise stress levels exceed 1 hour per day should consider the Optimum Daily Allowance ODA micronutrient protocols as rationally presented by Shari Lieberman & Nancy Bruning [9]. -----
- [Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Good for the Heart? Good for the Brain? and the Mind?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/omega-3-fatty-acids-good-for-the-heart-good-for-the-brain-and-the-mind/) - -----
- [Why Being Overweight Can Cause Breast, Prostate, Lung, Colon and Other Cancers](https://drjohnlapuma.com/why-being-overweight-can-cause-breast-prostate-lung-colon-and-other-cancers/) - -----fat cells produce a kind of estrogen called estradiol, and this accelerates rapid cell division, in turn increasing cancer risk."
- [How Much of Overweight is from "Slow Metabolism"?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-much-of-overweight-is-from-slow-metabolism/) - -----
- [Personal Nutrition: How Your Genes Handle What You Eat](https://drjohnlapuma.com/personal-nutrition-how-your-genes-handle-what-you-eat/) - -----But you can change which proteins your genes make, and therefore how they work, with what you eat. For background on how what you eat affects which proteins you make, try
- [Can a High Fat Diet Worsen The Leading Cause of Blindness?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/can-a-high-fat-diet-worsen-the-leading-cause-of-blindness/) - -----Macular degeneration is a vascular disease--clogged arteries to the eyes. It's one of the few that the right combo of vitamin supplements actually treat
- [A Reporter Eats His Way to Lower Cholesterol: Do You Need Lipitor, or Can You Do It With Food?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/a-reporter-eats-his-way-to-lower-cholesterol-do-you-need-lipitor-or-can-you-do-it-with-food/) - A Reporter Eats His Way To Lower Cholesterol Growing Number of Doctors Emphasize Diet, Not Drugs By THOMAS M. BURTON Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL When it comes to lowering cholesterol, "diet and exercise" is often a throwaway line from doctors. As in: "If you don't get your cholesterol down with diet and exercise, we'll need to put you on medication." But most doctors don't really know the dietary specifics to lower cholesterol sharply, which is why the government recommends a pill called a statin for as many as 36 million people with excessively high cholesterol. Even when doctors have the knowledge about how to reduce cholesterol without medication, they generally lack the time for real dietary consultation. That void has helped PfizerInc.'s Lipitor, the most famous statin, become the world's top-selling drug with another statin, Merck & Co.'s Zocor, not far behind. Such drugs, which inhibit production of an enzyme instrumental in creating cholesterol, have shown excellent effects in reducing LDL, or "bad" cholesterol, and heart attack risk, and they are relatively benign. All drugs have side effects, though, and another statin, Bayer AG's Baycol, was pulled from the market in August 2001 after causing fatal muscular illness. Many doctors are highly skeptical that people can significantly lower their cholesterol through dietary changes and heightened exercise. But an increasing number of them are coming around to the view that such lifestyle changes may well have powerful effects, and a recent study of a high-fiber, soy-intensive diet did show impressive results in lowering LDL. FOOD AS MEDICINE See some recipes that help to lower cholesterol, and taste good. I have learned through powerful personal experience that people really can significantly lower their bad cholesterol (LDL) with dietary changes rather than pills. While lots of doctors will say this is nearly impossible for most people, I accomplished it through sharply increased exercise, and some fine-tuning of delectable food choices. Simply put, I used food as medicine. My case was a quandary: I already exercised diligently, running about four miles most days. I had long ago given up red meat and most cheese. Yet my bad cholesterol last October was 169, way above my recommended high of 130 and an optimal 100. (People's LDL goals depend on their number of risk factors such as smoking, diabetes or high blood pressure.) While my "good" cholesterol, or HDL, was a very protective 72, the total cholesterol of 262 was way above the recommended high of 200. Some doctors were already foretelling statins in my future -- a prospect I wished to avoid. But I had little clue about how to proceed. Federal guidelines urge a diet rich in fish, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and lean meat. But, like many people with elevated cholesterol and its related higher heart-attack risk, I had already done much of this. And my cholesterol was still out of sight. So I enlisted a secret weapon: John LaPuma. Espousing the food-as-medicine mantra, Dr. LaPuma is an internist, professional chef and former culinary-arts professor. Today, he runs the Santa Barbara Institute for Medical Nutrition and Healthy Weight (DrJohn@CHEFClinic.com). Actually, he enlisted me, challenging me after some e-mail correspondence on another story to try his dietary changes and write about the effort. His recommendations are based on sound principles; a recent study of a similar diet showed significant lowering of cholesterol. A Food Diary The first step was filling out daily logs of everything I ate, when, where and even why -- for example, whether I felt hungry before eating. This exercise helps determine whether clients eat because they're hungry or to fill a psychological need. The logs are also designed to find out how much saturated fat or trans-fat people consume, in foods such as hamburgers or many baked goods. That wasn't my dilemma. With red meat gone, my limited indulgences took the form of occasional cheese, or roast chicken with skin on. Many Saturday nights, my teenage children and I would enjoy our favorite customary meal: Slow-Roasted Hen, a Paul Prudhomme Cajun roast chicken, heavily spiced, accompanied by pan-roasted rosemary potatoes. Dr. LaPuma never told me to cut it out. But his message was this: More proteins each week should come from fish, beans and nuts, and less from chicken, especially with skin. Phasing Out the Chicken Over several weeks, I did largely phase out the roast chicken on my own. I also cut out shrimp and squid, which are high in dietary cholesterol. The secret was adding multiple terrific dishes to the weekly cycle. There was a Turkish eggplant recipe, and white beans with escarole and tomato. Foods with high soluble fiber content are especially useful in drawing cholesterol from the blood. Oatmeal (the steelcut kind at health-food stores), unrefined (not pearled) barley, recently ground flaxseed, roasted soybeans, cannellini and other beans, eggplant, whole-wheat pasta and Brussels sprouts all helped. So did the cholesterol-lowering butter substitute Benecol (another option is Take Control). For many people, following such a regime may be more unpalatable than taking drugs. For one, a diet so high in fiber can cause digestive problems, though these are easily remedied. In addition, some of the ingredients are literally hard to swallow. I never got used to the two tablespoons of ground flaxseed that I downed each day. I usually just gagged it down the way children used to drink cod liver oil. In January, though, my test results were disappointing. My LDL number was down only 10 points, to 159. Total cholesterol also fell 10 points, to 252. But Dr. LaPuma, noting that few major changes work within three months, was encouraging. We intensified the campaign. Instead of three to four miles roughly five days a week, I pushed that to four to seven miles. Weight loss helps lower LDL cholesterol, and I have dropped 10 pounds over the past few months, leaving 160 pounds on my 5-foot-10 frame. Not everyone will want to run similar distances, but stepped-up exercise and lower weight can lower cholesterol. This month, I bit the bullet and got a third blood test. Nervous about abjectly failing and having to write about it, I was relieved when my rather astonished internist in Chicago, Paul Szyperski, called and said, "What have you been doing?" My LDL was down 33% to an acceptable 114, well below our original goal of 130. Total cholesterol was 200, exactly the dividing line between acceptable and "borderline high." (Levels of two newer blood markers linked to coronary disease, C-reactive protein and homocysteine, were also low; the C-reactive protein fell from the earlier test.) Since my protective cholesterol, HDL, was up to 75, the total number looks relatively better. A second blood test a week later was less dramatic, but still very positive: LDL of 142 and total cholesterol of 217. Even with these latter numbers, says Dr. Szyperski, "With diet alone, I would be happy with an over 25-point decrease. It takes you potentially out of needing medicine." One person's story doesn't necessarily apply to everyone. Steven E. Nissen, medical director of Cleveland Clinic's cardiovascular center, believes that for most people eating habits are too ingrained for a significantly changed diet to be a sustainable approach. Check With Your Doctor But these dietary changes may well remove the need for many people to take medicine, and lower their dependence on them for many others. Still, people should not stop using statins without consulting a doctor. To find a diet coach to help work on your cholesterol, check with a cardiologist or a dietician at an academic hospital. In general, cutting back on saturated fat, and increasing fiber and soy products will help improve a person's cholesterol. Apart from not spending my, and my employer's, money on drugs, there has been another side benefit of all this: My kids actually like a lot of these dishes. My 16-year-old daughter regularly makes steelcut oatmeal for breakfast and enjoys split pea/carrot soup with tarragon, nutmeg and barley. And my 14-year-old son's special request for dinner this past Saturday wasn't Slow-Roasted Hen any longer, but grilled salmon with honey-mustard marinade. You can't get that with a pill. Write to Thomas M. Burton at tom.burton@wsj.com Updated July 22, 2003 -----
- [Why Drinking 6 Glasses of (Cold) Water Daily May Help You Lose Weight](https://drjohnlapuma.com/why-drinking-6-glasses-of-cold-water-daily-may-help-you-lose-weight/) - Learn how drinking cold water can boost metabolism and help you lose weight. Studies show 2 liters of water may burn up to 400 extra calories daily
- [Garlic's Strength is its Bouquet](https://drjohnlapuma.com/garlics-strength-is-its-bouquet/) - -----
- [Blood-Pressure Study Finds](https://drjohnlapuma.com/blood-pressure-study-finds/) - Blood-Pressure Study Finds Cheap Diuretic May Be Best Unusual Boost for Generics Over Industry Blockbusters By RON WINSLOW and SCOTT HENSLEY Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL In a finding sure to shake up the $20 billion market for blood-pressure medicines, a 10-cents-a-pill diuretic proved superior to two of the pharmaceutical industry's biggest-selling classes of drugs in a major U.S.-funded study. The 33,000-patient study known as "Allhat" shows that diuretics -- a 50-year-old product popularly known as "water pills" -- are just as effective in preventing heart attacks as pills known as calcium channel blockers and ACE-inhibitors. These blockbuster drugs range in cost from 50 cents to nearly $2 a piece. Moreover, patients taking the diuretic were less likely than those on the other pills to suffer heart failure, strokes and other complications of hypertension. The findings have important implications for the 50 million Americans and hundreds of millions of others around the world who suffer from high blood pressure, or hypertension -- one of the main precursors of cardiovascular disease, the Western world's leading killer. (See related article.) Most patients newly diagnosed with high blood pressure should be started on a diuretic, the study's leaders say. Billions for Branded Medicines Perhaps equally important are the implications for pharmaceutical research. At a time when most research is done under the auspices of giant drug companies, which spend billions of dollars on the promotion of high-profit branded medicines, the Allhat study raises questions about whether the system overlooks cheaper generic alternatives. It has also kicked off a debate about the role government research should play in seeking answers to important medical and economic questions that industry-sponsored trials typically don't address. "We're seeing these big areas where millions of people were being treated and we didn't really know what approach was better," says Robert Califf, head of the Duke University Clinical Research Institute. "You'd like your doctor to recommend what is best for you based on knowledge, not on what a drug company sales rep told him." The National Institutes of Health's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute spent $120 million to conduct the eight-year study at 623 clinics throughout North America, an ambitious project that no generic drug maker would ever be able to mount. The results provide provocative answers to two questions that hundreds of drug industry-sponsored studies of blood-pressure pills have rarely ventured to ask: Which of the various types of medications on the market is best for patients, and do the newer, more expensive brand-name drugs offer advantages over the unheralded older remedies? 'The Best Choice' "Allhat shows that diuretics are the best choice to treat hypertension, both medically and economically," Claude Lenfant, director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, told a press conference Tuesday in Washington, where the results were unveiled in advance of their publication Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Diuretics reduce levels of fluid and salt in the body, and help reduce blood pressure by causing constricted artery walls to relax. Though they have been around for 50 years, researchers remain at a loss to understand exactly how they do that. The results pose a challenge to several drug makers, including Pfizer Inc., Merck & Co. and Novartis AG, whose sales of brand-name high-blood-pressure medicines could suffer if doctors embrace diuretics and other cheap generics as their principal therapies. All told, there are more than a half-dozen different classes of blood-pressure drugs on the market, and they have long been a major driver of pharmaceutical-industry sales and profits. Lisinopril, marketed by both Merck and AstraZeneca PLC, had peak annual sales of more than $1.5 billion before it went off patent earlier this year. Both drugs were used in the study. For Pfizer, maker of Norvasc, a calcium channel blocker that was one treatment option in the Allhat study, the results were mixed. The data show the diuretic is the first choice for treatment but also confirm the safety of Norvasc, Pfizer's second-biggest drug after the cholesterol fighter Lipitor, with $3.58 billion in sales last year. Previous research had suggested a higher risk of heart attacks for patients on Norvasc. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association, the trade group for the brand-name drug industry, acknowledged that the study provides new information for physicians to consider when treating patients, but added, "not all patients with the same disease respond equally to the same medicines." In a statement, the organization also said: "Our companies have spent billions of dollars on antihypertensive research over the last 25 years and have succeeded in giving the medical community a wide range of treatment choices for high blood pressure." 'Landmark' Study Study leaders and other clinicians hailed the results. "You could use the term 'landmark,' " says Lawrence J. Appel, professor of medicine and a hypertension expert at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, who wrote an editorial accompanying the JAMA report. "There is no cost-quality trade-off on this. It's quality and it's cost. It's hard to argue against that." The failure of ACE inhibitors to prevail is especially surprising to many doctors because those pills were developed to block the hormone angiotensin in the wake of new discoveries about how that powerful constrictor of blood vessels causes hypertension. Researchers took care to explain that the findings aren't an indictment of the other drugs. Both calcium channel blockers, which relax blood vessels by inhibiting the buildup of calcium in the artery walls, and ACE inhibitors have been shown in other studies to reduce major complications of high blood pressure. But in those trials the drugs were tested against a placebo or dummy pill, not against other agents. Diuretics were once one of the drug industry's main profit engines. But because their patents expired years ago, there hasn't been any incentive for the pharmaceutical industry to mount new studies to evaluate diuretics' benefits or glean a better understanding of how they work. They are considered preferred first-line therapy under current blood-pressure-treatment guidelines, but in practice they've been eclipsed by newer, and pricier, calcium channel blockers and especially ACE inhibitors. The drug industry has a big arsenal of strategies to push its branded products. In addition to ads that target consumers and physicians, it hires as consultants leading doctors as "thought leaders" who talk up the pills or the science behind the pills at medical meetings. The big drug makers provide 60% of the financial support for continuing-medical-education classes, often using the sessions to promote medicines as doctors keep their credentials up to date. They provide funding for patient-advocacy groups that in turn help to promote newer, more-expensive medicines. And they use sophisticated marketing campaigns to persuade doctors and patients to switch to new, but similarly effective compounds when patents on big-selling drugs are about to expire. Lacking a corporate advocate in such a marketplace, and with a medical culture that favors new, modern products, "the older drugs are going to get left behind whether they're better or not," says Dr. Califf. It is hard not to see the industry's marketing prowess at work: In 1982, according to a study cited by Allhat researchers, 56% of prescriptions for hypertension were written for diuretics. Both ACE inhibitors and calcium channel blockers made their entrance during the 1980s. By 1992, diuretics amounted to 27% of prescriptions. All are "good products and provide physicians with a much better armamentarium with which to manage high blood pressure," says Paul Whelton, senior vice president, health sciences at Tulane University in New Orleans and a coordinator of Allhat. "Yet there is always that nagging question: Does it really matter what agent we're using first?" The Allhat researchers say the answer is a resounding yes. Participants in the study -- officially the Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial -- were age 55 or older with blood pressure above 140/90 and at least one other risk factor for cardiovascular disease, such as diabetes or smoking. Nearly half the patients were women, 32% were African-American and 16% were Hispanic, a diverse group of participants that indicates the results can be applied broadly across the population, researchers say. Patients were selected randomly to start therapy on one of the three drugs and neither the patients nor their doctors knew which treatment they got. This so-called randomized double-blind design is considered the gold standard for clinical trials. In the study's principal finding, 11.5% of patients who received the diuretic chlorthalidone suffered either a fatal or nonfatal heart attack within six years, compared with 11.4% of those given lisinopril and 11.3% of those who were on amlodipine. That is as close to a tie as you can get in a clinical trial. But in other indicators of effectiveness, the patients on either the calcium channel blocker or the ACE inhibitor were slightly less successful in lowering their blood pressures as those on the diuretic -- a result that appeared to translate into higher complications from the condition. Patients on the calcium channel blocker had a 38% higher risk of heart failure, while those on lisinopril had higher rates of heart failure, stroke and a measure of combined cardiovascular complications. Black patients, who are more likely to be salt-sensitive than whites, did especially well on diuretics, and those assigned to the ACE inhibitor group had a significantly higher rate of stroke. Not for Everybody Doctors caution that diuretics aren't for everybody. The pills may cause dizziness, elevated blood sugar or decreased blood potassium, which can cause irregular heartbeats or muscle weakness. But study leaders said the drugs were at least as well tolerated as the comparison medicines. Beyond the data, researchers say Allhat serves as a test case for how the government could run other studies seeking answers to important medical and economic questions that industry-sponsored trials typically don't address. Most major studies are conducted with help of academic medical centers accustomed to enrolling patients and following treatment protocols. By contrast, most of the 623 sites participating in Allhat were primary-care clinics where doctors had limited if any experience in recruiting patients, and where the results more clearly reflect actual clinical practice. HEALTH INDUSTRY EDITION • Statin Study Yields Contrary Data Read the full results of the Allhat report. * * * For more health coverage, visit the Online Journal's new Health Industry Edition at wsj.com/Health, and receive daily Health e-mails. "We got the answer to an important question and we documented that the model works," says Dr. Whelton. The question is, can or should the NIH make a habit of the studies? Dr. Lenfant, for one, believes the NIH should conduct Allhat-type drug studies only to solve major scientific questions with important public-health implications, but not ones that are principally economic. Still, the NIH recently funded a study that debunked the widely held theory that hormone-replacement therapy protects women against heart disease. And another trial comparing the performance of various antipsychotic drugs for schizophrenia is under way. Duke's Dr. Califf says it isn't reasonable to expect the pharmaceutical industry to conduct head-to-head studies needed to answer questions of both science and money. "It's sort of an all-or-nothing game," he says. There is a potential gain for the winner but a huge risk for a loser. Some results could essentially kill the market for a drug. "The industry can't afford to take that kind of risk," he says. He believes the NIH or another public entity should set the agenda for the top public-health questions such studies could address and design the studies needed to get the answers. Drug companies should foot much of the bill, he says. Even if the NIH shouldered more responsibility for such studies, there is the problem of disseminating the results and persuading doctors to change practice. Allhat lacks the advantage of a big brand-name drug to build momentum to change practice. "The winner here is a low-cost generic for which there is no sales force," says Johns Hopkins' Dr. Appel. -----
- [Weekly Wows: Burnout, garden design, and seeded paper hearts](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-burnout-garden-design-and-seeded-paper-hearts/) - What I'm Sharing I've been sharing this article on Avoiding Burnout with colleagues because burnout among physicians is real and it's rampant: Nearly 40% of our hospital staff has symptoms of it, according to a poll last year, and that's representative of doctors nationwide. But we're not the only ones: workism is a real condition in
- [Weekly Wows: Salvia, pinot noir, Southern Company, and metagenics](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-salvia-pinot-noir-southern-company-and-metagenics/) - What I'm Planting Easy to care for, this partial-shade perennial Salvia produces magenta flowers year round. It's compact, free flowering and not bothered by pests whether large or small. It's native to Mexico's coastal mountains at an elevation of 7,000 to 9,500 feet, but it will grow almost anywhere it doesn't deep freeze. It will
- [What is EcoMedicine?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-ecomedicine/) - The following is adapted and condensed in part from this published interview. EcoMedcine is a combination of different forms of nature therapy. Nature therapy (and nature-based therapy) are buzzwords that you might have heard being thrown around more and more these days. This cutting-edge field has remained out of the mainstream so far because people
- [Join the REFUEL Launch Team and Receive 5 Exclusive Benefits](https://drjohnlapuma.com/join-the-refuel-launch-team-and-receive-5-exclusive-benefits/) - I need your help. Part of REFUELING is recognizing the ways in which others (especially women) can help you along the way, and thanking them. To get the word out about REFUEL, I am inviting 15 of my readers to join me in creating a special “REFUEL Launch Team.” It’s a peer group of people
- [Is It Fewer Carbs, More Fat or Both That's So Good For You?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/is-it-fewer-carbs-more-fat-or-both-thats-so-good-for-you/) - Atkins was all the rage in the late 1970s; Ornish in the late 1980s; Atkins again in the late 1990s; and now there is free-for-all, with Paleo, Raw, Vegan and Gluten Free all vying for media time, most-favored-diet-status and celebrity spokespersons. Diets come and go in waves. I love analyzing research studies and finding the answer to
- [Two New Books You Should Read: Cooked, and Wild Side](https://drjohnlapuma.com/two-new-books-you-should-read-cooked-and-wild-side/) - I've just finished two wonderful books, one of which is well-known and the other deserves to be: Cooked, and Eating on the Wild Side. I had assumed that Michael Pollan's new book Cooked would be well told but precious: a Berkeley academic, albeit a food interested one, learning how to get his hands dirty with
- [A Chef Clinic in Newton!](https://drjohnlapuma.com/a-chef-clinic-in-newton/) - There are great models springing up all over for preventing and treating childhood obesity. Here are two. A Chef Clinic in Newton. Over 10 years ago in suburban Chicago, we began an adventure in cooking, shopping, eating out, mind body control and fitness for adults. (Chef Clinic® preceded ChefMD, and its new Big Book of
- [Basic Food as Medicine](https://drjohnlapuma.com/basic-food-as-medicine/) - I had the privilege of speaking with Joe and Terry Graedon, founders of The People's Pharmacy, on their syndicated NPR show (free podcast here) broadcast today)!, about how we’re trying to make your health and health care awesome with the right food. Their questions made me think about why it's so important to help people wherever
- [Interview: People's Pharmacy on NPR and My Research Sources (Accessible!)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/interview-peoples-pharmacy-on-npr-and-my-research-sources-accessible/) - I had the privilege of again speaking with Joe and Terry Graedon of People’s Pharmacy for their legendary podcast and national NPR show. It will be broadcast on December 8, but stay online. We covered a lot: *how and why I think culinary medicine offers real value to people *what (and how) women can say
- [Week 1: Med Student Culinary Medicine Clinical Elective (First!)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/week-1-med-student-culinary-medicine-clinical-elective-first/) - This week I have been teaching the first week of the first clinical elective in culinary medicine in a U.S. Medical School (in Santa Barbara: I love it when students create special circumstances outside of their curriculum). Michael Roizen and I taught the first clinical cooking and nutrition 2 week course onsite at SUNY-Upstate, in
- [TEDx Talk: Make Yourself Better With What You Eat](https://drjohnlapuma.com/ted-talk-make-yourself-better-with-what-you-eat/) - TEDx talks are a privilege to give, and some are life-changing: Al Gore on climate change, Tony Robbins on transformation, Jamie Oliver on childhood obesity. In this first TEDx American Riviera in Santa Barbara, I describe healthy eating that is transformational, based on new research in aging, obesity, diet, nutrition and health. A healthy kitchen
- [Can Food Prevent Premature Wrinkles?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/can-food-prevent-premature-wrinkles/) - In Los Angeles, botox for wrinkles is sold by the unit in free weekly newspapers and in private homes. In New York, botox is a bit more elegantly disbursed, in Park Avenue suites. Food has some fierce competition in those suites, and lucrative too. Botox courses are easy to find for physicians—some last less than
- [Capsiplex: Does Chile Work for Weight Loss?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/capsiplex-does-chile-work-for-weight-loss/) - Can weight loss and wellness be yours in a Capsiplex pill? Especially a chile head pill, with Britney, Brad and JLo as testimonials? There is clear evidence that capsaicin (the chemical in chilies that makes hot peppers hot, and presumably in capsiplex) does increase metabolic rate, and *eaten* over months, does help people eat less.
- [Executive Coaching for Weight Loss--Parents Can Benefit](https://drjohnlapuma.com/executive-coaching-for-weight-loss-parents-can-benefit/) - -----
- [MEDICAL MEETINGS MEALS FATTEN PHYSICIANS](https://drjohnlapuma.com/medical-meetings-meals-fatten-physicians/) - -----
- [The Pre-Surgery Plan I'd Give My Friends and Family](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-pre-surgery-plan-id-give-my-friends-and-family/) - Prepare for surgery with essential pre-surgery tips, including the right supplements, diet, and mindset for faster recovery and better healing post-op.
- [Toasted Quinoa with Prunes and Lemon](https://drjohnlapuma.com/toasted-quinoa-with-prunes-and-lemon/) - Try this Toasted Quinoa with Prunes and Lemon recipe! Packed with protein, potassium, and fiber, it helps reduce your RealAge by 11 days.
- [Routine Supplements: Help, Hype, Hazard or Hope?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/routine-supplements-help-hype-hazard-or-hope/) - Explore how daily supplements can help or harm your health—what’s safe, what’s risky, and how to test what truly works for you.
- [Cheese Blintzes with Blueberry-Lime Sauce](https://drjohnlapuma.com/cheese-blintzes-with-blueberry-lime-sauce/) - Enjoy these delicious cheese blintzes with blueberry-lime sauce—packed with antioxidants, fiber, and protein for a tasty and healthy dessert or brunch.
- [Got Sprouts? Health Benefits of Alfalfa](https://drjohnlapuma.com/got-sprouts-health-benefits-of-alfalfa/) - Explore the health benefits of alfalfa sprouts, rich in vitamins A, C, and K, fiber, and minerals. Add them to meals for a nutritious boost to your diet.
- [Ratatouille Pasta](https://drjohnlapuma.com/ratatouille-pasta/) - Enjoy a nutritious Ratatouille Pasta with eggplant, bell peppers, garlic, and tomatoes. This fiber-rich dish boosts health with antioxidants and lycopene.
- [Soothe Digestive Irritation with Slippery Elm](https://drjohnlapuma.com/soothe-digestive-irritation-with-slippery-elm/) - Slippery Elm soothes digestive issues like GERD, IBS, and ulcers with its mucopolysaccharides. Discover its benefits and how to use it for GI health.
- [Shiitake Mushroom & Asparagus Frittata with Smoked Salmon](https://drjohnlapuma.com/shiitake-mushroom-asparagus-frittata-with-smoked-salmon/) - A nutritious frittata with shiitake mushrooms, asparagus, and smoked salmon, reducing your RealAge by 4.9 days per serving. Ready in 24 minutes.
- [Hot & Hearty Fig & Apricot Wheatena](https://drjohnlapuma.com/hot-hearty-fig-apricot-wheatena/) - Enjoy a quick, hearty breakfast with fig & apricot Wheatena. High in fiber, naturally sweet, and ready in just 15 minutes.
- [Seductive Food vs Food Porn: Do We Need Both?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/seductive-food-vs-food-porn-do-we-need-both/) - Can healthy food be as tempting as food porn? Explore how visual, sensual, and flavorful appeal can make nutritious meals crave-worthy and unforgettable.
- [Margarines Without Trans Fat...and Some With Cholesterol-Lowering Sterols](https://drjohnlapuma.com/margarines-without-trans-fatand-some-with-cholesterol-lowering-sterols/) - Discover the best margarine options with plant sterols or stanols to help lower cholesterol, plus alternatives without trans fat for a healthier choice.
- [When Foods that are Dietary Supplements are Recalled: Turmeric](https://drjohnlapuma.com/when-foods-that-are-dietary-supplements-are-recalled-turmeric/) - Turmeric recalls due to lead contamination have raised concerns. Learn how to avoid lead poisoning and find safer, organic turmeric alternatives.
- [What to Look For on an Olive Oil Label](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-to-look-for-on-an-olive-oil-label/) - Learn how to identify high-quality olive oil. Look for "extra virgin," "cold-pressed," and proper packaging to ensure authenticity and health benefits.
- [Savory Corn Cakes](https://drjohnlapuma.com/savory-corn-cakes/) - Try these Savory Corn Cakes for a flavorful, easy breakfast! Made with corn kernels, cornmeal, and buttermilk, they’re perfect for a family brunch.
- [natural remedies for Upper Respiratory Symptoms](https://drjohnlapuma.com/natural-remedies-for-respiratory-symptoms/) - Ease coughs, colds, and congestion naturally with eucalyptus oil, mustard packs, and salt water. Learn safe, effective remedies for upper respiratory relief.
- [Triple Apple Sauté](https://drjohnlapuma.com/triple-apple-saute/) - Enjoy a warm, buttery Triple Apple Sauté rich in fiber, potassium, and flavor—dairy-free and easy to make in 12 minutes. Great with nuts and yogurt!
- [Weekly Wows: Nori roasted seaweed, Fantastic Funghi, and FoodMap of America](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-nori-roasted-seaweed-fantastic-funghi-and-foodmap-of-america/) - Explore seaweed snacks, a must-see mushroom film, and a fascinating food map showing where your meals come from—insightful and delicious discoveries!
- [How to Protect Your Gut from NSAIDs](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-protect-your-gut-from-nsaids/) - Learn how NSAIDs affect your gut and how zinc-carnosine & probiotics can help protect your GI health.
- [Chocolate Covered Pomegranate Clusters](https://drjohnlapuma.com/chocolate-covered-pomegranate-clusters/) - Sweet and tangy pomegranate arils coated in rich dark chocolate—garnished with mint for a quick, elegant, antioxidant-rich dessert!
- [Tangy Fruit Salad](https://drjohnlapuma.com/tangy-fruit-salad/) - Tangy fruit salad with carambola, kiwi, mango & grapes in honey-lime dressing, topped with mint. Refreshing & perfect year-round!
- [Obesity and Hunger: 2 Sides Same Coin: Same Solution?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/obesity-and-hunger-2-sides-same-coin-same-solution/) - Hunger in America is largely hidden, yet Feeding America's 200+ foodbanks feed one out of 6 Americans. The USDA reports that in 2011, 46.7 million Americans—or roughly one of four adults — received food assistance from one of 15 federal programs. Here is the meal map. This is amazing in so many ways: because when
- [What is Pet Therapy? What is Animal-Assisted Therapy?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-pet-therapy-aka-animal-assisted-therapy/) - Today’s deep dive on one of the many kinds of nature therapy is a personal favorite of mine: pet therapy, also known as animal-assisted therapy. Those of us who have had the pleasure of caring for a pet—whether it be a dog, cat, bird or rabbit—already know implicitly the joys a pet can bring into
- [Take 2 Brazil Nuts Per Day and Call Me in the Morning: Why Selenium Can Protect You Against Prostate Cancer](https://drjohnlapuma.com/take-2-brazil-nuts-per-day-and-call-me-in-the-morning-why-selenium-can-protect-you-against-prostate-cancer/) - -----
- [What is Therapeutic Horticulture? What is Horticultural Therapy?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/horticultural-therapy/) - Our series of deep dives on the various kinds of nature therapy continues with our eighth blog. This week, our topic is therapeutic horticulture, also known as horticultural therapy. So what is therapeutic horticulture, and what is horticultural therapy? In a nutshell, therapeutic horticulture involves the use of garden environments as a therapeutic intervention. This
- [Culinary Medicine Recipes for Diabetes, High Cholesterol, Blood Pressure and Mediterranean Diet](https://drjohnlapuma.com/rx-recipes-diabetes-high-cholesterol-blood-pressure-and-mediterranean-diet/) - With all the confusion about what to eat, and with how often nutrition experts seem to change their minds, I thought it was time to go back to basic culinary medicine and see if I could find groups of recipes and actual foods for specific chronic conditions. In other words, how much has changed since
- [The Power of Vitamin D](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-power-of-vitamin-d/) - The Power of Vitamin D: not only is it powerful, it's vital for good health. Although it's called a vitamin, D is actually a steroid hormone that acts as a catalyst for processes that protect our cells. Interestingly, the Vitamin D introduced into the body through food, supplements, and sun is biologically inert and must
- [Weekly Wows: Mead, the Mueller Report, and Alan Cummings](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-mead-the-mueller-report-and-alan-cummings/) - What I'm Making I just took over 60 pounds (that's about 5 gallons!) of beautiful wildflower honey from my hives—partly because the bees were filling them up so fast that they needed the room. But also partly because I just wanted to make some mead. Because honey is less than 15% water and will not ferment
- [Weekly Wows: City of Gold, The Invention of Nature, and Meditation](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-1-17-19-city-of-gold-the-invention-of-nature-and-meditation/) - What I'm Watching City of Gold: a loving tribute to the legendary Jonathan Gold, the only restaurant reviewer to win a Pulitzer. Instead of going to graduate school, he ate tacos at every stand on Pico Boulevard (and discovered the stories behind each).I saw him at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles just a few
- [What is Forest Bathing?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-forest-bathing/) - Chances are you’ve heard the term forest bathing before, but you don’t know exactly what it means. If the term “forest bathing” conjures up thoughts of a nice porcelain bathtub smack dab in the middle of the forest for you, you wouldn’t be alone, but you’d also be slightly off base. (Although that sounds pretty
- [Nature Therapy: EcoMedicine for Anxiety](https://drjohnlapuma.com/nature-therapy-ecomedicine-for-anxiety/) - You aren’t the only one who is anxious. Anxiety disorders affect nearly 1 of 5 Americans. Younger people especially just don’t feel secure, from climate change, to loan debt, to future jobs and technology replacement, to current politics, to random violence. But nature therapy? Nature therapy can serve as effective form of EcoMedicine against anxiety.
- [Nutrigenomics: Soylent or Precision Nutrition?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/nutrigenomics-soylent-or-precision-nutrition/) - In my recent webinar “Nutrigenomics and Your Health” for MorganStanley, and whether it is precision nutrition or Soylent or from Soylent Green or something else, about 600 associates phoned in to hear me talk about the subject…and it’s fascinating, promising and yet still in the research and development phase. I’ve uploaded a curated version of
- [How to Eliminate Unhealthy Sugar From Your Diet](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-eliminate-unhealthy-sugar-from-your-diet/) - Do you enjoy a no-sugar-added soda with dinner every night? What about a low-sugar, high protein ‘nutrition bar' after a workout? At the office, are you mindlessly grazing through the low-sugar or no-sugar added cookies? Do you read food labels to see where on the ingredient list sugars are hidden? If you're regularly drawn to
- [Probiotics: Manage Food Allergies and Enhance Immunity](https://drjohnlapuma.com/probiotics-manage-food-allergies-and-enhance-immunity/) - Probiotics can help manage food allergies and enhance immunity. So, listen to your gut. And make sure to protect it. A balanced gastrointestinal system plays a critical role in defending your body against illness. An imbalance in gastrointestinal (GI) flora can create health issues and is typically the result of poor diet, stress, use of
- [Billberry vs. Blueberry](https://drjohnlapuma.com/billberry-vs-blueberry/) - Billberry, blueberry. Two words for the same fruit, right? Not exactly. Billberries and blueberries are too powerhouse fruits to add to your diet but they do have some differences. After reading this article, you should run out to the grocery store and grab both. Read on to discover why. What's the Difference Between a Billberry
- [MiniVan Medicine Chest: When the Boonies Call](https://drjohnlapuma.com/minivan-medicine-chest-when-the-boonies-call/) - The movement towards self-care is heating up, along with the rest of the country. To help keep you cool, here is my short list of common summer time foods that can act as medicine if you’re in the boonies and away from a medicine chest. You should also travel with one: here is a well-stocked,
- [Weekly Wows: Weight loss pills, ketogenic shake, and eco-anxiety](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-weight-loss-pills-ketogenic-shake-and-eco-anxiety/) - What Videos I'm Watching Are weight-loss pills effective? Are they safe? Should you ask for a prescription, or get the one that's over the counter, or get dietary supplements that might help? Their record is scary, but hope springs eternal. Check out both of these videos (one on effectiveness and one on safety) and form your own educated opinion. [themeone_divider
- [Weekly Wows: Mission olive trees, ZDoggMD, and portable pizza ovens](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-mission-olive-trees-zdoggmd-and-portable-pizza-ovens/) - What I'm Planting Mine, quite shockingly, started as Trader Joe's plants—probably a year old. Now they're well beyond the seedling stage: on their own rootstock, healthy and growing fast. It's shocking because the trees were only $8 each, and now they're heritage fruit-bearing (yes, olives are a fruit, and olive oil is a technically fruit juice). The
- [Healthy Bites: Herbs to Avoid When Pregnant & Blackberries](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-herbs-to-avoid-when-pregnant-blackberries/) - Healthy Bites: Herbs to Avoid When Pregnant Because herbs come from nature, many people believe they're safe to take at any time. But that's simply not true. There are certain herbs you should avoid while trying to conceive, during pregnancy, or post-partum while breastfeeding. The constituents of plants—phytochemicals and other active compounds—can interact with hormones that
- [Healthy Bites: Gardening for Dementia & Garlic](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-gardening-for-dementia-garlic/) - Healthy Bites: What is Gardening for Dementia? Welcome to the next installment of our biweekly series on the many different kinds of nature therapy. This week’s topic is gardening for dementia. Also known as dementia green care or therapeutic dementia care, gardening for dementia is a subset of therapeutic horticulture, wherein the therapeutic interventions are specifically
- [The Health Benefits of Gratitude](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-health-benefits-of-gratitude/) - Thanksgiving is a holiday all about giving thanks (it's right there in the name!). We hear a lot these days about the benefits of gratitude—but what does the research have to say about it? Thankfully, all the studies seem to back up the idea that practicing gratitude has a multitude of tangible benefits on our
- [What is Adventure Therapy? What is Wilderness Therapy?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-adventure-therapy-wilderness-therapy/) - As we continue our deep dive into the various types of nature therapy, we find ourselves at adventure therapy, also known as wilderness therapy or experiential therapy. So what is adventure therapy? Adventure therapy is hands-on and experiential therapy that usually (but not always) takes place outdoors. Activities like camping, hiking, ropes courses, rock climbing,
- [Nature Therapy: EcoMedicine for High Blood Pressure](https://drjohnlapuma.com/nature-therapy-ecomedicine-for-high-blood-pressure/) - Dozens of peer-reviewed studies show that being outside quietly in nature lowers blood pressure, cortisol levels, heart rate and stress for days, not just momentarily. This is part of the medical field of EcoMedicine. EcoMedicine maintains that your personal medical health and the health of your environment are two sides of the same coin. As
- [What Can You Eat to Beat Dementia or PreDementia?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-can-you-eat-to-beat-dementia-or-predementia/) - Food and dementia have a complex relationship. Food of course is a broad term for anything edible, except maybe Soylent; dementia is also a broad term for any disease process that reduces the ability to think and reason, gradually destroying the brain. Food also falls into eating patterns (relevantly, Western, Mediterranean, MIND, DASH, vegan and
- [New Fitness Trackers: the One You Really Need](https://drjohnlapuma.com/new-fitness-trackers-the-one-you-really-need/) - You can't change what you can't measure. Lots of buzz this year about wearables at #sxsw and Albert Sun of the New York Times concluded that of the dozen tracking devices he wore (4 at a time, sometimes) over 6 months, his choice was...himself. Once he knew his body's needs numerically, he didn't need any
- [New Weight Loss Coverage--A Better Version of Yourself](https://drjohnlapuma.com/new-weight-loss-coverage-becoming-a-better-version-of-yourself/) - There are 3 weight loss months in the U.S.: January, or New Year's Resolution Month; May, aka pre-SwimSuit Season; and September, or the leaves are changing and so must I. (video inspiration below) Booksellers, commercial weight loss programs and pharmaceutical manufacturers (to say nothing of fitness shops, resort managers and food and drink vendors) mark
- [Nutrition and the Eye](https://drjohnlapuma.com/nutrition-and-the-eye/) - Acute macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in people over age 55, and in Western countries. The macula is part of the retina, and allows central vision. If you smoke, have had previous cataract surgery, or have a family history of AMD, your risk is high. If you are overweight or obese, have
- [Farmer-Doctor, TV-Farmer](https://drjohnlapuma.com/farmer-doctor-tv-farmer/) - Janet Helm at Nutrition Unplugged suggests that farmers are the new celebrity chefs. She’s right: a smart TV exec will figure out how to make composting, amending, planting, harvesting and scaring off predators primetime ready. And that will help ignite more of the self-reliance I see everywhere these days. Including in health care. Farmers, and the
- [Expert Report: Vitamin D/Calcium: The Right Stuff?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/expert-report-vitamin-dcalcium-the-right-stuff/) - The IOM expert report on Vitamin D and Calcium suggests two changes: increasing your vitamin D intake from 200IU (under age 50) to 600IU daily, or 800IU if you are 71 or older; and not supplementing with calcium. The new safe daily upper limit of vitamin D is 4000IU; for calcium it's 2000mg, which increases
- [Big Kid, Big Teen, Big Adult, Big Trouble: Evidence from the U.K.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/big-kid-big-teen-big-adult-big-trouble-evidence-from-the-uk/) - Kids in the U.K., as badly fed as American kids, are now getting some relief from Chef Jamie Oliver's terrific efforts. How bad has it been in the U.K.? Researchers studied 5800 5th and 6th graders in London for 5 years: 25% were overweight or obese to start, and even more were obese at the
- [How To Recognize If Your Child Is Obese: Results from a Pediatrician's Office](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-recognize-if-your-child-is-obese-results-from-a-pediatricians-office/) - -----
- [Voluntary Half-Step: Coke, Other Soda Companies Pull Out of Elementary Schools--No Government Action Promised](https://drjohnlapuma.com/voluntary-half-step-coke-other-soda-companies-pull-out-of-elementary-schools-no-government-action-promised/) - Soda Companies Pull Out of Elementary Schools; CSPI Says Policy Should Cover All Schools, Urges Government to Act The Wall Street Journal reports that "the new policy applies only to new contracts, not existing ones" and that "sales of diet soft drinks, sports drinks, low-calorie juice drinks, juices and water all day" are permitted in
- [Two Foods for Diabetes: One For, One Against](https://drjohnlapuma.com/two-foods-for-diabetes-one-for-one-against/) - Pity the poor potato. It saved the Irish from famine, is covered with hard-to-clean eyes, is dunked in trans-fat before appearing in your freezer section, and is banished from NYC burger joints (eventually, anyway). And now, despite selling briskly in Peruvian and fingerling forms at a Farmer's Market near you, it promotes diabetes in obese
- [What You Eat Changes Your Risk For Cancer--But Which Ones?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-you-eat-changes-your-risk-for-cancer-but-which-ones/) - Few British know that what they eat changes the risk they'll get cancer, according to a survey of 4000 UK residents. Cancer and diet are specific. For example, red and processed meat appears to cause colon cancer. So does charring of red meat. High sugar and starch intake cause colorectal cancer in men, but not
- [Anti-Aging and Growth Hormone: Fountain of Youth, Gold, Hype or Death?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/anti-aging-and-growth-hormone-fountain-of-youth-gold-hype-or-death/) - What's in the fountain of youth is elusive...but growth hormone (HGH) is its most seductive, dangerous and profitable elixir. How does losing belly fat and boosting muscle mass, metabolism, and immune function sound? All post-menopause, regardless of your weight or condition? Ten women injected HGH twice daily, and it worked for them. But they got
- [How Gardening as EcoMedicine Heals](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-gardening-as-ecomedicine-heals/) - Recent years have seen gardens popping up in some of the most unexpected places - retirement homes, hospitals, after-school programs, and even prisons - where, it turns out, they have proven to be a beneficial form of therapy and rehabilitation on multiple levels. Yet gardens in health care institutions go back to the 12th century.
- [Education Before Prescription: Informed Healthcare](https://drjohnlapuma.com/education-before-prescription-informed-healthcare/) - I participated in a diabetes twitter chat with Dr Sanjay Gupta and Everyday Health earlier this week, and the phrase that seemed to strike a RT chord was "Education Before Prescription." Since I spend much of my time teaching *patients and families how to make the best personal nutritional choices in their busy lives
- [Book Reviews: Weight Loss Recipes for Kids](https://drjohnlapuma.com/book-reviews-weight-loss-recipes-for-kids/) - On Amazon, there are over 50 choices for healthy recipe books for kids, but the best of the lot are hidden gems. And they don't necessarily feature diets. Pediatricians have been told for years to not give diets to kids to lose weight, for fear of disrupting self-esteem further. But the popular market is changing
- [Why Fructose Puts On Belly Fat...and How to Avoid HFCS](https://drjohnlapuma.com/why-fructose-puts-on-belly-fatand-how-to-avoid-hfcs/) - Americans eat about 136 pounds of added sugar every year, each. Some 57 pounds is High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). In 1966, we ate no HFCS and 23 pounds less added sugar per person. Can simple food swaps actually help you lose weight…and better yet, belly fat? How much HFCS we now eat, and how
- [Should You Be Gluten Free? And Will You Lose Weight?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/should-you-be-gluten-free-and-will-you-lose-weight/) - About one in 133 people have a potentially fatal, chronic autoimmune reaction to gluten (the protein complex in wheat, rye and barley) and they have celiac disease (CD). But 97% don’t know it. Or that CD—like overweight and obesity—can be cured with what you eat. Will going GF help you lose weight, like Elizabeth Hasselbeck
- [Computer Games for Cooking and Weight Loss](https://drjohnlapuma.com/computer-games-for-cooking-and-weight-loss/) - When Mike Roizen and I taught nutrition and cooking to medical students at SUNY 6 years ago, we thought we needed to be there. But people learn in all sorts of ways. Now Nintendo is out with four popular choices. 1. My Weight Loss Coach software. A simple stick-figure tool for someone starting out, this
- [Flu Foods: What to Eat](https://drjohnlapuma.com/flu-foods-what-to-eat/) - You already know the basics: wash your hands often; use paper not hand towels; throw away used tissues; cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze. But did you know that some foods can help improve your immunity against flu viruses? Here are the top 3, all backed by the best science: a. Brewer's yeast/baker's
- [Fed Up! Book Review: Winning the War Against Childhood Obesity](https://drjohnlapuma.com/fed-up-book-review-winning-the-war-against-childhood-obesity/) - Dr. Susan Okie has the facts at her fingertips to help parents understand the problem, and best of all, do something about it. *She describes successful community programs, and ones in progress. *She discusses prenatal care, and what to do to nurture infants who need full fat diets in the first 2 years of life,
- [Algae, Anchovy or Advil?  Omega-3s for Neck and Back Pain](https://drjohnlapuma.com/algae-anchovy-or-advil-omega-3s-for-neck-and-back-pain/) - You know the trouble Vioxx has seen. You may have even experienced it. Could enough fish oil relieve pain with fewer side effects? Fish oil supplements are certainly safer than nonsteroidals. But what is the evidence that food can soothe arthritis pain ? Omega-3 fish oil was given at 2.4 g daily for 2 weeks
- [Anti-Aging and Fish Oil: Time Capsule?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/anti-aging-and-fish-oil-time-capsule/) - The new study from JAMA on omega-3 (EPA + DHA) levels in mostly white, middle aged men with heart disease strikes a little close. And not because I'm white and middle aged, and keen on living younger. It's because so many of my patients are, who come in for weight loss or cholesterol programs. The
- [Healthy Bites: Better Than Gatorade, and the Secrets of Fruit Trees](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-2-12-19-better-than-gatorade-and-the-secrets-of-fruit-trees/) - Healthy Bites: Better Than Gatorade Electrolytes are electrically charged minerals, such as sodium, calcium, and magnesium, that are found in your bodily fluids. They help to balance pH; transport nutrients and waste; and ensure nerve and muscle cells are working properly. In the absence of acute illness or clinical deficiency, your body does a pretty
- [Does the Right Food Treat Hyperactivity (ADHD)?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/does-the-right-food-treat-hyperactivity-adhd/) - Diet and nutrition facts for kids: Does the right food treat hyperactivity? ADHD kids ages 4-8 ate five weeks of unprocessed food, a strictly supervised ...
- [Vending Machines in Kids' Hospitals](https://drjohnlapuma.com/vending-machines-in-kids-hospitals/) - The most visible food in the hospital is in vending machines. And it isn't pretty: see the unedited photo at right. In the U.S., we have 25% more vending machines in each children's hospital than does Canada. In fact, U.S. kids' hospitals average 9.3 vending machines each. What's in hospital vending machines? 99 out of
- [Why Are Latino PreSchool Kids Obese Nearly Twice as Much as Other Kids in the Urban U.S.?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/why-are-latino-preschool-kids-obese-nearly-twice-as-much-as-other-kids-in-the-urban-us/) - Preschool obesity seems like it should be an equal opportunity problem. But a 2 year study of nearly 5000 3-year-old-kids in 20 US cities found that the" prevalence of *obesity was 25.8% among Hispanics, 16.2% among blacks, and 14.8% among whites." Nearly twice as much obesity in Latinos as in Anglos. Why? Not mom's education,
- [When All Else Fails: Obesity Surgery in Childhood Obesity](https://drjohnlapuma.com/when-all-else-fails-obesity-surgery-in-childhood-obesity/) - 75% of obese adolescents will be so in adulthood. The risk increases to 80% if just 1 parent is also obese How do you know if your child should have surgery? Your child should have a BMI of 40 or greater. Measure your child's BMI: it is different for children than adults. Your child should
- [New American Heart Association Guidelines for Kids](https://drjohnlapuma.com/new-american-heart-association-guidelines-for-kids/) - The guidelines were last updated in 1982. "75% to 90% of the cardiovascular disease epidemic is related to dyslipidemia, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, tobacco use, physical inactivity, and obesity." In other words, it's not's kids' genes. The AHA recommends that parents choose meal times, talk with their kids while eating, use low-fat dairy (that means 2%
- [Breakfasts and Performance: High Fiber Makes a Difference in the Morning](https://drjohnlapuma.com/breakfasts-and-performance-high-fiber-makes-a-difference-in-the-morning/) - What kids have for breakfast makes a big difference in how they perform in school, and how hungry they are through the day, in a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Pediatrics, online only. 37 kids ages 9-12, both normal weight and overweight, ate low fiber foods (corn flakes, white bread, puffed rice) or high
- [Healthy Bites: Thanksgiving & Gratitude](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-thanksgiving-gratitude/) - Healthy Bites: Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is almost upon us! Cooking a big, elaborate meal for a crowd can be exhausting. You spend days shopping, preparing, chopping, cooking—you hustle around the kitchen trying to make sure everything's timed right—you're trying to make sure the tastes of your picky kids and vegetarian cousins are all accounted for—and in the
- [Lemongrass: A Mind-Body Herb](https://drjohnlapuma.com/lemongrass-a-mind-body-herb/) - You may think of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) only as an ingredient that adds a mild citrus and floral flavor to many Southeast Asian dishes. But this tropical grass has a lot of biochemical properties that make it not just good-tasting, but good for you, too. Its health-promoting power comes from a long list of plant
- [Weekly Wows: DIY olive oil, hoshigaki, and the Foodbank of Santa Barbara](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-diy-olive-oil-hoshigaki-and-the-foodbank-of-santa-barbara/) - What Guide I'm Learning From This step-by-step guide from the fantastic DIY site Morning Chores is the best I've found on how to make olive oil, full of pictures and how-to. Making olive oil is not like winemaking, which in many ways is similar to cooking. In both, you can make mistakes and correct them, balancing
- [Weekly Wows: Climate change & food supply, Publisher's Weekly, and red malabar spinach](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-climate-change-food-supply-publishers-weekly-and-red-malabar-spinach/) - What I'm Reading This article: "Climate Change Threatens the World's Food Supply," explains succinctly how climate and food supply are related—and why it's relevant even if you don't live in a poorer part of the world such as those in China, India, or Africa. The NYTimes has an entire free weekly mailing on climate change that is
- [Top 10 Exercise Equipment Picks for 2015](https://drjohnlapuma.com/top-10-exercise-equipment-picks-for-2015/) - Consumer Reports’ choices for top exercise equipment are getting harder to discern--not just because the type size is now small and hipster, of all things, but also because the actual magazines (one of three I still get hard copy) is buried under a serious mound of partially read New Yorkers (the second of the three,
- [Weekly Wows: Kelp, Michael Pollan, and the depression-diet connection](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-kelp-michael-pollan-and-the-depression-diet-connection/) - What I'm Eating (to Fight Climate Change) I first discovered the savoriness of kelp in the mid-90s when testing recipes for Cooking the RealAge Way. It seemed to brighten and deepen almost every soup and sauce in which I included it. So much of our relationship to food these days seems to involve eliminating things, but kelp
- [Healthy Bites: International Men's Day & Foods for Digestion](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-international-mens-day-foods-for-digestion/) - Healthy Bites: International Men's Day Today is International Men's Day, so I'd like to put the spotlight on the unique health challenges faced by men. As you know, I literally wrote the book—REFUEL—on health for men. Writing REFUEL helped me discover that there is a huge gender gap in health and health understanding—and that there is something
- [Healthy Bites: World Vegan Day & Plants for the Planet](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-world-vegan-day-plants-for-the-planet/) - Healthy Bites: World Vegan Day Last Friday, November 1st, was World Vegan Day. A plant-based lifestyle, which seemed like a fringe idea in the not-too-distant past, has become fairly mainstream these days. It's easier than ever to find vegan alternative to the things you love with the proliferation of oat milks, cashew cheeses, and Impossible
- [Healthy Bites: Fall and the Flu & Quercetin (+ Recipe!)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-fall-and-the-flu-quercetin-recipe/) - Healthy Bites: Fall & the Flu There's a lot to love about moving into the fall season—the changing leaves, the opportunity to get into our favorite sweaters—but one of the least lovable things about the fall season is the start of flu season. This year's flu season is looking like it's going to be particularly
- [Healthy Bites: Breast Self-Exams & Green Tea](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-breast-self-exams-green-tea/) - Healthy Bites: Breast Self-Exams You might know that you should be doing self-exams on your breasts in order to look for signs of cancer, but the process can often be intimidating or simply opaque. Performing a breast self-exam (BSE) at least once per month is the best way to detect a lump or other abnormality. It is
- [Healthy Bites: The Benefits of Cabbage & Green Rx](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-the-benefits-of-cabbage-green-rx/) - Healthy Bites: The Benefits of Cabbage Some folks might be surprised to learn that cabbage is not actually in the same category as lettuce, despite their similar appearance. Cabbage is cousin to kale and broccoli and is part of the cruciferous vegetable family. Varying in color from pale green to red and purple, cabbage contains
- [5 Ways to Slow Down and Savor Your Holiday Meal](https://drjohnlapuma.com/yoga-for-your-plate-mindful-eating-books-and-dvds/) - The race is on: Cooking, cleaning, hosting, visiting, and tackling a holiday shopping list that is growing faster than last summer's weeds. Before you know it, the table is set and you're serving the holiday meal. This year, though, is going to be different--you're going to sit down and savor the cornucopia of flavors and
- [Farmed Salmon: Convenient and Cheap vs. Pollutants and Public Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/farmed-salmon-convenient-and-cheap-vs-pollutants-and-public-health/) - -----PCBs are stored in fish fat, and wild salmon doesn't consume contaminated feed
- [New Research Finds Docs Don't Take Prescription Drugs For Weight Loss But Do Prescribe Them](https://drjohnlapuma.com/new-research-finds-docs-dont-take-prescription-drugs-for-weight-loss-but-do-prescribe-them-2/) - -----
- [Healthy Bites: World Vegetarian Day & Vegan Mac 'N' Cheese](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-world-vegetarian-day-vegan-mac-n-cheese/) - Healthy Bites: World Vegetarian Day October 1st is World Vegetarian Day, a cause definitely worth celebrating.Becoming a vegetarian—or even just reducing the amount of meat you normally eat—can have incredible benefits, both for your own health and that of the planet.A vegetarian diet can reduce your risk for heart disease, stroke, and cancer while also cutting your
- [Healthy Bites: National Guacamole Day & Summer Chicken Marbella](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-national-guacamole-day-summer-chicken-marbella/) - Healthy Bites: National Guacamole Day Yesterday was, apparently, National Guacamole Day. Personally, I don't need a holiday to eat guacamole—but I'll take any excuse I can get! Regular readers know I'm often singing the praises of the avocado. A culinary superfood, avocados provide up to 20 nutrients including vitamins K, C and E, as well as
- [Healthy Bites: Grilled Summer Veggie Sandwiches & Ungardening](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-grilled-summer-veggie-sandwiches-ungardening/) - Healthy Bites: Grilled Summer Veggie Sandwiches Many of us are gearing up for the last big grilling holiday of the season: Labor Day. For those of us who are trying to eat less meat — whether it's for reasons that are health-related or environmentally-inspired — it's easy to feel a little left out, relegated to eating
- [Healthy Bites: Strategies for Dealing With IBS & Low-FODMAP Diet](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-strategies-for-dealing-with-ibs-low-fodmap-diet/) - Healthy Bites: Strategies for Dealing With IBS When the smooth rhythm of the muscles of the digestive tract is disrupted—either moving too quickly or too slowly—we experience digestive distress. For some of us, this distress can be frequent and painful, creating a major disruption in our life and in our lifestyle. Several health conditions are
- [Healthy Bites: Multivitamins & Symptom Journal](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-multivitamins-symptom-journal/) - Healthy Bites: The Power of Multivitamins Among the millions of U.S. adults who use nutritional supplements, multivitamin and mineral formulas are the most popular. But why do you need a multivitamin? It's a smart choice for everyone—even active, healthy people who eat a variety of fresh, organic foods. That's because every biochemical process in the
- [Healthy Bites: National Avocado Day & Slow-Cooker Chicken](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-national-avocado-day-slow-cooker-chicken/) - Healthy Bites: National Avocado Day For those who don't already know, tomorrow (July 31st) is one of the most special days of the year... that's right, it's National Avocado Day! There are so many reasons—and so many ways—to love avocado. A culinary superfood, avocados provide up to 20 nutrients including vitamins K, C and E,
- [Healthy Bites: Listening When Your Body Talks & Children and Nature](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-supplements-for-joint-pain-green-rx/) - Healthy Bites: Listening When Your Body Talks Your body speaks a language—but one that needs a little translation! There is an extraordinary two-way communication going on between your body and mind that affects both your physical and emotional health. Instead of words, our body talks to us in the form of symptoms. For instance, anticipating
- [Healthy Bites: Therapeutic Horticulture & Grilling Season](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-therapeutic-horticulture-grilling-season/) - Healthy Bites: What is Therapeutic Horticulture? Our series of deep dives on the various kinds of nature therapy continues with our eighth blog. This week, our topic is therapeutic horticulture, also known as horticultural therapy. What is it? In a nutshell, therapeutic horticulture involves the use of garden environments as a therapeutic intervention. This can include
- [Healthy Bites: Care Farms & Your Body on Water](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-care-farms-your-body-on-water/) - Healthy Bites: What are Care Farms? In this week’s installment of our series of deep dives on the various kinds of nature therapy, we’ll be taking a closer look at care farms. What are care farms? Simply put, a care farm involves the therapeutic use of farming practices to facilitate healing. Also known as green care
- [Healthy Bites: Blue Care & Aloe Vera](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-6-4-19-blue-care-aloe-vera/) - Healthy Bites: What is Blue Care? Hopefully you’ve been following (and enjoying!) our bi-weekly series on the many different kinds of nature therapy . This week, our spotlight lands on blue care, a field adjacent to water therapy and aquatic therapy. Blue care is a subset of nature therapy that champions the power of water
- [Healthy Bites: Pet Therapy and Vitamin A](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-pet-therapy-and-vitamin-a/) - Healthy Bites: What is Pet Therapy? Today’s deep dive on one of the many kinds of nature therapy is a personal favorite of mine: pet therapy, also known as animal-assisted therapy. Those of us who have had the pleasure of caring for a pet—whether it be a dog, cat, bird or rabbit—already know implicitly the joys a
- [Healthy Bites: How to Keep Your Eyes Healthy](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-how-to-keep-your-eyes-healthy/) - Healthy Bites: Digital Devices & the Health of Your Eyes We're in a new age of convenience and connectivity—and with it comes new health concerns. Our eyes are in front of screens more than ever for both work and play, from smart devices and computer monitors to televisions and movie screens. People of all ages
- [Healthy Bites: Digestive Distress and Netflix's "Our Planet"](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-digestive-distress-and-netflixs-our-planet/) - Healthy Bites: Digestive Distress When the smooth rhythm of the muscles of the digestive tract is disrupted, either moving too quickly or too slowly, we experience digestive distress. For some of us, this distress can be frequent and painful, creating a major disruption in our life and in our lifestyle. Several health conditions are marked
- [Healthy Bites: Probiotics to the Rescue, and a Green Rx for PTSD](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-probiotics-to-the-rescue-and-a-green-rx-for-ptsd/) - Healthy Bites: Probiotics to the Rescue Antibiotics are used to kill both the pathogenic bacteria that should not be present in the body and the pathogenic bacteria that normally reside in the body in very small numbers but which have "overgrown" for some reason. Unfortunately, while antibiotics are targeting the unwanted pathogenic bacteria, they often
- [Healthy Bites: "Ubiquitous" CoQ10 and plants for your pancreas](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-ubiquitous-coq10-and-plants-for-your-pancreas/) - Healthy Bites: Co-enzyme Q10 & Energy Very rarely is a substance so important — and prevalent — in the human body as is Co-enzyme Q10. As critical as it is, however, our body’s ability to make CoQ10 peaks at about age 21 and steadily declines as we age. Stress, medical conditions and drug interactions, especially
- [Healthy Bites: Arugula & anxiety](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-arugula-anxiety/) - Healthy Bites: Awesome Arugula With a nutrient profile similar to kale, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli, arugula is an excellent leafy alternative to these other cruciferous vegetables. When you want a distinctive, almost peppery flavor, arugula is the green to grab. It's full of some hard-working vitamins and minerals with broad health benefits. Discover how to
- [REFUEL Nation: Will this man's story change the way you eat? (4/6)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/refuel-nation-will-this-mans-story-change-the-way-you-eat-46/) - Here is #4 of 6 how-to stories to describe how successful men do it (often with women to help): how those who REFUEL get their mojo back. Joe is a high achiever, and REFUEL was the key to getting back to awesome, I'll continue to excerpt these (from my new book Refuel: A 24 Day Eating Plan
- [Overweight but Malnourished: How? What to Do?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/overweight-but-malnourished-how-what-to-do/) - TOTAL CALORIES: 24,375 TOTAL GRAMS OF FAT: 1,285 TOTAL COST: $86.47 My patients eat a lot of calories, but are actually malnourished. Your brain doesn't count calories--it counts nutrients. But there are few needed nutrients in this photo created for Super Bowl Sunday. The brain is hungry for the right calories, and not for being
- [What is Culinary Medicine and What Does It Do?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-culinary-medicine-and-what-does-it-do/) - Culinary medicine seems to be having a moment in health care, or at least, it's getting close. It's been taught as cooking and nutrition electives in medical school since at least early 2003, at SUNY-Upstate, but now, according to reporting at WBEZ-Chicago 30 medical schools are offering some form of it, and there's at least
- [What Should You Know About What Is In Your Wine?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-should-you-know-about-what-is-in-your-wine/) - Wine is bottled poetry (Stevenson), or the civilized drink (Hemingway), or magic. Making wine is, if you can believe it, even better. Wine is also good for you, in small, regular amounts: it almost certainly reduces risk for heart attack and stroke; reduces inflammation (likely the mechanism of most chronic disease) and blood clotting propensity;
- [Chili Chili Bang Bang: Poblano Salsa](https://drjohnlapuma.com/chili-chili-bang-bang-poblano-salsa/) - This is a recipe for Chili Chili Bang Bang: Poblano Salsa Preparation Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 25 minutes Servings: 4 Calories: 344 per serving Percent from Fat: 9% Cusine: American, Vegetarian Course: Soups - Meal Diet: Vegetarian Food as MedicineSM Ingredient: Chili Pepper Food as MedicineSM Tip By making your nose run, the hot and spicy chili
- [Why Paula Deen and Pharma Are Ahead of Physicians on Diabetes](https://drjohnlapuma.com/why-paula-deen-and-pharma-are-ahead-of-physicians-on-diabetes/) - There are many groups trying to get doctors to speak with patients about their weight. I have a new approach to this, targeted for men (and the women who care for them), I'd like to talk about at SXSW: For the first time in a long time, pharmaceutical companies and organized medicine are interested too.
- [Research on Men: Why They Don't Go to Doctors (and what might help)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/research-on-men-why-they-dont-go-to-doctors-and-what-might-help/) - At KevinMD, Dr. Joel Sherman writes smartly about why men avoid going to the doctor. One reason: it reminds them of mortality. A second reason: a potential prostate exam. A third: they have to wait, a lot. Plus, telling a female receptionist about a male-related problem is not great. Note to middle aged men:
- [New Tools for #youdoit #hcsm Self-Empowerment](https://drjohnlapuma.com/new-tools-for-youdoit-self-empowerment/) - Participatory patient care (#youdoit #hcsm) is getting more press, and well it should. I believe patients are way ahead of most clinicians on nutrition, fitness and lifestyle change. The American College of Physicians has cautioned internists to "Tread Lightly" (full disclosure: I'm quoted). The social web (blogs, tweets, facebook posts and google plus, YouTube videos,
- [F as in Fat...and Finances](https://drjohnlapuma.com/f-as-in-fat-and-finances/) - Fat and broke, and getting fatter: the Healthy Americans new study showing that no state dropped in obesity rate last year and 38 states are over 25% obese. But undiscussed is income: it's a major driver of the obesity epidemic, because calorie-rich food is cheap and getting cheaper. Over 35 percent of adults who earn
- [Eat Your Way--And Your Baby's Way--to Better Health,](https://drjohnlapuma.com/eat-your-way-and-your-babys-way-to-better-health/) - Anyone who is pregnant or may become pregnant should eat organic whenever possible--the chance of injury to a fetus from artificial chemicals is too great to fool with. A 2005 umbilical-cord-pesticide study by the Red Cross showed that 21 pesticides crossed the placenta. If you have an immune disorder, or limited means, or have trouble
- [New Research Finds Docs Don't Take Prescription Drugs For Weight Loss But Do Prescribe Them](https://drjohnlapuma.com/new-research-finds-docs-dont-take-prescription-drugs-for-weight-loss-but-do-prescribe-them/) - -----
- [What Should You Eat to Cool the Planet?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-should-you-eat-to-cool-the-planet/) - The scientific literature is surprisingly quiet about global warming, climate crisis and eating, but what it does say offers some surprising choices. Buying ready-to-eat or semi-prepared meals; developing organic farming; and learning to love plant-based eating are all ahead. Does eating low on the food chain really help the climate? Does raising animals for food
- [Sour Cherry Juice Prevents Muscle Pain? Yes, If You're Working Hard](https://drjohnlapuma.com/sour-cherry-juice-prevents-muscle-pain-yes-if-youre-working-hard/) - In one of many cherry juice studies 14 male college students drank 12 ounces of a cherry juice blend (fresh tart cherries blended with apple juice) or a placebo (Kool-Aid-type) twice daily for 8 consecutive days. On the fourth day, they did bicep curls. A lot of curls: 2620 maximum contractions. "Strength loss averaged over
- [Noni Juice: Liver Trouble from the Rotten-Cheese Fruit](https://drjohnlapuma.com/noni-juice-liver-trouble-from-the-rotten-cheese-fruit/) - Sounds fun, Tahitian and grandma-related--juice from noni... But 3 people have now developed hepatitis, one requiring urgent liver transplantation after drinking less than 2.5 ounces daily for 3 weeks. These are not people who were reported to be drinking alcohol. But at least two were immunosuppressed and one of those had also taken a Chinese
- [Why Selenium Emerges at the Top of the Heap in Vitamins Against Cancer](https://drjohnlapuma.com/why-selenium-emerges-at-the-top-of-the-heap-in-vitamins-against-cancer/) - -----
- [Holiday Digestive Support: Ginger](https://drjohnlapuma.com/holiday-digestive-support-ginger/) - Around the holidays, or anytime you've over-indulged, consider sweet and zesty ginger for nourishing the digestive organs. Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a knobby, horn-shaped rhizome with a long history of supporting metabolism, aiding digestion and reducing inflammation. It helps heal upset stomach, diarrhea, nausea, motion sickness, and morning sickness. I advise patients to suck on
- [Foods That Lower Blood Sugar--Is Magnesium the Missing Mineral?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/foods-that-lower-blood-sugar-is-magnesium-the-missing-mineral/) - -----Which foods? Those high in magnesium: low levels of magnesium are associated with the development of diabetes. But if you have a normal level, can extra magnesium help? The US RDI for magnesium in adults ranges between 310 mg and 420 mg. Free recipes for diabetes management are
- [Rediscover Restful Sleep with These Natural Approaches](https://drjohnlapuma.com/rediscover-restful-sleep-with-these-natural-approaches/) - When was the last time you fell asleep within minutes, and woke up feeling rested? At least 60 million Americans experience sleeplessness to a point that they seek support from a medical provider. In fact, sleep concerns in the U.S. add up to an estimated $16 billion in medical costs each year. Stress, physical health,
- [Magnesium for Bone Density: Which Foods? How Much?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/magnesium-for-bone-density-which-foods-how-much/) - 31 women received 250 mg/day of magnesium, up to 3 times per day for 6-18 months. 22 of the 31 women increased their bone density up to 8% over 2 years. Magnesium has also been shown to reverse bone loss in patients with celiac disease-- even those on a gluten-free diet. Magnesium is a cofactor
- [L-Glutamine for Gut Strength](https://drjohnlapuma.com/l-glutamine-for-gut-strength/) - L-Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid (protein building block) in the body; as such, it has a wide range of functions. Critical for removing excess ammonia (a common waste product in the body), glutamine supports the immune system, muscle and organ growth and repair, as well as brain and digestive functions. It's also been
- [Co-enzyme Q10: Vital to Energy Production in the Body](https://drjohnlapuma.com/co-enzyme-q10-vital-to-energy-production-in-the-body/) - Very rarely is a substance so important - and prevalent - in the human body as is Co-enzyme Q10. As critical as it is, however, our body's ability to make CoQ10 peaks at about age 21 and steadily declines as we age. By the time most of us are in our 80s, our natural source
- [Addressing Vegetarian Vulnerabilities](https://drjohnlapuma.com/addressing-vegetarian-vulnerabilities/) - Addressing Vegetarian Vulnerabilities: Vegetarianism has many health advantages, but it can present certain health risks. Research shows that vegetarians (and vegans) are vulnerable to deficiencies in two important B vitamins: B12 (cobalamin) and B6 (pyridoxine). If ever a group of vitamins could be considered "the Force" within you, it's the B-Complex group, which synergistically supports
- [Tips for Going Vegetarian](https://drjohnlapuma.com/tips-for-going-vegetarian/) - Tips for Going Vegetarian: There's Vegetarian. And there's Vegan. Most people know these diets are related, but some may not know exactly what differentiates them from one another. Both diets eliminate meat, fish, and poultry. Vegans don't eat any dairy, eggs, or other products derived from animals. Sub-types of vegetarianism, however, make exceptions for certain
- [Magnesium: A Multi-faceted Nutrient](https://drjohnlapuma.com/magnesium-a-multi-faceted-nutrient/) - Recognized for its role in bone structure and proper function of nerves and muscles, Magnesium can perform important, health-related tasks such as helping control diabetes and muscle pain. It is also necessary for almost every chemical reaction that takes place in the body. Here are just a few things magnesium can do for you: Calm
- [Why You Need a Multivitamin](https://drjohnlapuma.com/why-you-need-a-multivitamin/) - Among the millions of U.S. adults who use nutritional supplements, multivitamin and mineral formulas are the most popular. But why do you need a multivitamin? It's a smart choice for everyone—even active, healthy people who eat a variety of fresh, organic foods. That's because every biochemical process in the body relies upon vitamins and/or minerals
- [Should You Take the New Diet Pill in the New Health Care?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/should-you-take-the-new-diet-pill/) - Amid the hub-bub of the week, with the Supreme Court affirmed Affordable Care Act health care law upheld, and with one JAMA study showing that 21 people on 3 different diets for 4 weeks each burn calories differently (no real surprise here: the lowest carb diet had the highest energy burn, the second lowest was second, and
- [Weekly Wows: Bragg Live Food Products, ParkServe, and ketogenics](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-bragg-live-food-products-parkserve-and-ketogenics/) - What Company I'm Recommending Patricia Bragg, the ex-daughter-in law of impresario and impressive health guru Paul Bragg (who, until recently, was often seen around town in her trademarked pink cowboy hat), gave Katy Perry her first guitar. But that's not why she's famous. She has created a veritable organic paradise and tremendous brand at Bragg
- [Fight Joint Inflammation with Turmeric](https://drjohnlapuma.com/fight-joint-inflammation-with-turmeric/) - Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is the golden-orange spice that gives curried foods pizzazz. In Traditional Chinese and Indian Medicine, turmeric is used to treat allergies, digestive ailments, and pain. The active chemical component of turmeric is curcumin, known for its anti-inflammatory properties. Today, research is focused on the role curcumin plays in diseases where the underlying factor is
- [When the Skin Erupts: Healing Eczema and Psoriasis](https://drjohnlapuma.com/when-the-skin-erupts-healing-eczema-and-psoriasis/) - When those painful, itchy patches of eczema and psoriasis erupt, doctors of natural medicine ask, 'what is causing this condition to present at this time?' The Greek translation of eczema means "to boil out," so the question makes sense: holistic physicians look for the underlying root causes that bring about these skin eruptions. Although they
- [In Cancer Patients, Vitamin E Prevents Chemo-Induced Neuropathy](https://drjohnlapuma.com/in-cancer-patients-vitamin-e-prevents-chemo-induced-neuropathy-2/) - Seldom is a supplement as effective as a medicine. Even more rarely is a supplement truly helpful for cancer, preventing a side effect of essential medicine for which physicians have no good treatment...except to lower the dosage of the medicine. But Vitamin E effectively prevented the painful numbness and tingling of neuropathy from cisplatin and
- [Zinc L Carnosine Prevents Intestinal Damage, Pain, Inflammation of Strong Arthritis Meds (Indocin, Indomethacin)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/zinc-l-carnosine-prevents-intestinal-damage-pain-inflammation-of-strong-arthritis-meds-indocin-indomethacin/) - ...and, good news for meat eaters. Zinc-Carnosine is found in meat not plants, and in dietary supplements. It is stored in our muscles and in the brain. When given to 10 people with 150 milligrams of indomethacin (a powerful prescription dose), 37.5mg of zinc carnosine twice daily stabilized the lining of the small intestine and
- [The Great and Powerful Garlic](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-great-and-powerful-garlic/) - It may not smell like a lily, but Garlic (Allium sativum) is an edible bulb from the lily family. Fondly known to herbalists as "the stinking rose", garlic has been used as culinary medicine for centuries. It's antimicrobial and known to help treat skin conditions, provide immune support, and reduce risk for cancer and heart disease.
- [Should All Bacteria Be Shot on Sight? Or, What are Prebiotics and Probiotics?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/should-all-bacteria-be-shot-on-sight-or-what-are-prebiotics-and-probiotics/) - -----A $3.7 billion industry in the E.U. and just $150 million in the U.S., fortified yogurt, kefir, cottage cheese and sour cream fly off the shelves as food with preventive effects...
- [Nonstick Cookware, PFOA and Your Cholesterol](https://drjohnlapuma.com/nonstick-cookware-pfoa-and-your-cholesterol/) - With the fear of fat that still dominates Americans' nutritional interest came the widespread use of nonstick cookware, including panini makers, countertop grills and saute pans. But a recent Archives of Pediatrics cholesterol report analyzing over 12000 children finds that those with highest levels of PFOA and PFOS--chemicals used in nonstick cookware creation--also have, by
- [Osteoporosis - The Silent Disease](https://drjohnlapuma.com/osteoporosis-the-silent-disease/) - Osteoporosis is thought of as a women’s disease, but osteoporosis in men can be even more dangerous. Men are at greater risk of complication and death when they fracture their hip than are women: men are twice as likely to die as women after a fracture. Up to 25% of men over the age of
- [Vitamin D and Immunity.  Or, Why You Should Have Your Level Tested](https://drjohnlapuma.com/vitamin-d-and-immunity-or-why-you-should-have-your-level-tested/) - A Penn State/NIH vitamin D research trial on rheumatoid arthritis is testing whether taking 1000IU of vitamin D3 reduces symptoms. A Chicago woman with 8 years of chronic pain turned out to be deficient, and then much better. 57% of people admitted to a Boston hospital...deficient. I would try a supplement: I like NatureMade: http://drjlp.com/11GWe0K
- [New Prevention Data: Vitamin D Slows Breast Cancer Progression](https://drjohnlapuma.com/new-prevention-data-vitamin-d-slows-breast-cancer-progression/) - Food is good medicine, and can be good information. A new study of over 500 women with breast cancer (early, local and advanced) finds that those with early breast cancer had much, much higher levels of vitamin D than local or advanced. How? Vitamin D helps the proofreader gene in your body. The proofreader gene
- [Top Recommendation for Preventing Cancer](https://drjohnlapuma.com/top-5-dietary-cancer-recommendations/) - ...based on 7000 studies, objectively reviewed and published online. 49 percent of Americans believe it to be impossible or highly unlikely to prevent cancer. But risk isn't fate. The top conclusion: Excess body fat increases risk for prostate, breast, ovarian, colorectal and many other cancers. How do you know if it your extra weight is
- [How to Write a NY Times Best-Seller](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-write-a-ny-times-best-seller/) - I am giving a talk in Las Vegas this Fall at the Medical Fusion Conference, and the organizers asked me to write a preview on how to write a New York Times best-seller. There are about 170,000 books published annually. For about 20 years, there have been three ways to write a New York Times
- [Wise and Healthy Aging: Neutralize Work Stress](https://drjohnlapuma.com/wise-and-healthy-aging-neutralize-work-stress/) - Wise and healthy aging should not be left to the young: it should be practiced, so your RealAge can be younger as you age. New research from Stanford and Harvard's Schools of Business show that work stress (typically out-of-control hours, out-of-balance work-life ratio, and job insecurity) impact both productivity and health care costs: $190 billion
- [Depression: Facing the Facts](https://drjohnlapuma.com/depression-in-men-facing-the-facts/) - Depression: Facing the Facts: Before getting into the discussion on depression, I want to emphasize the fact that help is always available. The National Suicide Prevention Line provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress: 1-800-273-8255. You will be connected with crisis resources for you or your loved ones. Help is always available.
- [The Only Guacamole You'll Ever Need](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-only-guacamole-youll-ever-need-2/) - Recipe used with permission from Dr. La Puma's REFUEL: A 24 Day Eating Plan to Shed Fat, Boost Testosterone and Pump Up Strength and Stamina (Crown/Harmony 2014), Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 0 minutes Servings 4 Yield: about 1 cup Calories per serving: 64 Ingredients: 1 large ripe avocado, Haas preferred, peeled, seeded and diced
- [Weekly Wows: The Op-Ed Project, Gratitude music program, and CBD](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-the-op-ed-project-gratitude-music-program-and-cbd/) - What Resource I'm Sharing During the first week of the first Media and Medicine six month intensive at Harvard this month, we learned about this terrific site, The Op-Ed Project—and I wish I had known about it six years ago. It teaches you the basics of how to write an op-ed, and the guidelines are so
- [Health Articles for Kids: You Are What You Eat Edition](https://drjohnlapuma.com/health-articles-for-kids-you-are-what-you-eat-edition/) - Health articles for kids are too often not engaging: not fun, a lot like work, and oversimplified. But even advantaged kids can be stumped about where food comes from (does lettuce come from a bag?), how it grows (root, bush or tree?), and how their bodies use it (for energy, or just poop?). World
- [Culinary Medicine for Low Vision: The Braille Institute](https://drjohnlapuma.com/culinary-medicine-for-low-vision-the-braille-institute/) - Culinary medicine for low vision is a real possibility: for the Braille Institute I'm doing a (very) short demo and lecture shortly, and here is some of what I learned in preparing. Acute macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the few conditions in which dietary supplements have been shown to slow the progression of disease
- [Is Your Health As Egg-Cellent As It Can Be?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/is-your-health-as-egg-cellent-as-it-can-be/) - Today I had the privilege of speaking to the Pacific Egg and Poultry Association at their 92nd Annual Convention: what a great experience! I gave away rare citrus, and a golden egg, and signed lots of books. I hung easel slides with clothespins on a clothesline for the farm effect: kudos to Nancy Shobe for
- [Berries or Pharma for Erectile Dysfunction: How They Work](https://drjohnlapuma.com/berries-or-pharma-for-erectile-dysfunction-how-they-work/) - In a prospective epidemiological study, men who consumed as few as three portions of flavonoid-rich foods (red and purple berries, citrus fruits, red wine) were 14% less likely to develop erectile dysfunction (ED) compared to men who ate little or none. Wine gets short shrift here, sadly, but let's focus our attention on why foods
- [5 Unique Health Advantages and 2 Recipes for Pumpkin!](https://drjohnlapuma.com/5-health-advantages-and-2-recipes-for-pumpkin/) - From Shakespeare's reference to "pumpion" in The Merry Wives of Windsor to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, pumpkin is woven into the fabric of history and cuisine. Native Americans roasted long strips of pumpkin over an open flame and ate them. Colonists made pumpkin pie by slicing off the pumpkin top; removing the seeds; filling
- [Can You Rev-up Your Metabolism?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/can-you-rev-up-your-metabolism/) - It's not unusual to blame your shrink-resistant waistline on a slow metabolism. But in many cases that's not what's keeping you from reaching your ideal weight. What is Metabolism? Metabolism is your body's method of converting calories, from the food you eat, into energy needed to power all the physiological processes that keep you alive and kicking
- [Cholesterol and Heart Disease: New Insights, Foods](https://drjohnlapuma.com/cholesterol-and-heart-disease-new-insights-foods/) - For those who want to lower cholesterol with what you eat, it isn’t hard to do and simply put, you can use healthy heart foods as medicine. For breakfast, eat:
- [Top Smart Watches for Tracking: Consumer Reports 2014](https://drjohnlapuma.com/top-smart-watches-for-tracking-consumer-reports-2014/) - Is it time for smart watches? My patient who like to track like to use simple pedometers, the Fitbit One or one of its ilk (I list the top tracking devices and apps in REFUEL, and compare them). Consumer Reports has a first look at several devices...some of my patients have had a look too. Some
- [REFUEL Chicago Dinner with Chef Art Smith: Please Come!](https://drjohnlapuma.com/refuel-chicago-dinner-with-chef-art-smith-please-come/) - So happy to be going to Chicago next month to sign books, have fantastic meals, and speak to clinician colleagues and leaders about comfort food, culinary medicine and choices near the end of life. First, Chef Art Smith (of Oprah fame) and Chef Rey of Table 52 in downtown Chicago have put together a glorious REFUEL menu with
- [5 Questions for People to Ask About Their Prescriptions](https://drjohnlapuma.com/5-questions-for-older-people-to-ask-about-their-prescriptions/) - Everyone deserves the answers to five questions about their prescriptions, especially as they age. And if physicians and families can ask and honor the answers, care will be kinder, more respectful, more fulfilling, more transparent--and what people really want. Understanding the goals of care, which my colleagues and I have teach in clinical medical ethics,
- [What to Eat Pre-Run and Post-Run: Review and Recommendations](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-to-eat-pre-run-and-post-run-review-and-recommendations/) - Only one thing clearly emerged from my review of papers and positions about what to eat before and after you work out. Most people do not need to eat anything to complete most workouts. Weekend athletes, casual runners, sports players who are not elite or endurance athletes, or elderly and sarcopenic: make it easy on
- [6 Fictions About Antibiotic Resistance, and What to Do About It](https://drjohnlapuma.com/6-fictions-about-antibiotic-resistance-and-what-to-do-about-it/) - Antibiotic resistance is a real disease and it's one of our own making. Why there should be flesh-eating bacteria that cannot be controlled with antibiotics, in an era where robots perform surgery, is hard to understand. Yet by recognizing what many--even many doctors--still believe about antibiotics, and is not true, we can use the drugs
- [Rx: Exercise Daily: in Nature--- Doctor's Orders](https://drjohnlapuma.com/rx-exercise-daily-in-nature-doctors-orders/) - Medscape recently published a short essay of mine, Rx: Exercise Daily -- in Nature. Doctor's Orders. It is also viewable and downloadable here without login, as some people are not signed into Medscape but still want to read it. It is a quick summary of scientific evidence for how exercise in nature changes the brain, and your
- [Culinary Medicine for Gestational Diabetes](https://drjohnlapuma.com/culinary-medicine-for-gestational-diabetes/) - I recently gave a talk to clinicians setting guidelines about the Central Californian unified approach to treatment of gestational diabetes, and as always when researching and prescribing culinary medicine, learned a lot about what people should eat and avoid for a particular condition. (To see the Recommended Resources, scroll below) I already knew, as do
- [The Mediterranean Diet Recipes by Prescription](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-mediterranean-diet-recipes-culinary-medicine-rx/) - I've devoted several blogs to the Mediterranean Diet--its affect on cholesterol, on Alzheimer's prevention, its red wine and palliation near the end of life, and its easy, rustic preparations. The mechanisms of the Mediterranean diet remain elusive: whether it is because of its vascular effects and metabolic effects in preventing cognitive decline; because of its appetite
- [Caribbean Chicken with Black Beans, Sweet Potato and Lime](https://drjohnlapuma.com/caribbean-chicken-with-black-beans-sweet-potato-and-lime/) - Substituting protein for fat and cholesterol this Caribbean Chicken with Black Beans, Sweet Potato and Lime recipe, will help you become 4.2 days younger. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes Servings 4 Ingredients: 2 teaspoons canola or olive oil 1 medium white onion, chopped 1 medium sweet potato (8 ounces), unpeeled, diced (1/2
- [Healthier Holiday Eating, or, Why Chug Eggnog?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthier-holiday-eating-or-why-chug-eggnog/) - In looking forward to a little R and R (which is Rhones and Research, though separately, for me), I thought about and surveyed the advice given online to those who want to avoid the Holiday 5-- the dreaded poundage gain between Halloween and the day after New Years. Aside from the poundage gain being incorrect
- [Turmeric and Culinary Medicine](https://drjohnlapuma.com/culinary-medicine-turmeric-and-pancreatic-cancer-too/) - Filled with flavor, anti-inflammatories and in every yellow curry in the book, turmeric is not just for mustard coloring any more. In fact, culinary medicine--the art of cooking blended with the science of medicine-- is one of the great bargains of our time. That's essential in these times where value seems gone and security is
- [Diet Drug Redux: How Will Qsymia and Belviq Change Practice?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/diet-drug-redux-how-will-qsynia-and-belviq-change-practice/) - With the newly FDA-approved Qsymia available in the 4th quarter at earliest, and Belviq probably the same or later, it's too early to know what doctors will do. But nearly a generation has passed since 1997 when one too many docs recoiled in fear, having prescribed the off-label phen-fen to young women, some of whom
- [Drinks with Benefits- Diabetes Prevention](https://drjohnlapuma.com/drinks-with-benefits-for-diabetes-prevention/) - "Drinking 4 cups of coffee, decaf, or tea daily can reduce the chances of getting type 2 diabetes by about 25 percent to 35 percent." That's usually 6 ounce cups, that's Harvard University data, and that's almost 500,000 people...though a "small study." Nonsense. It's a big study. Chalk another one up for the convergence of
- [Meds Without Benefits: Drugs that Cause Dementia](https://drjohnlapuma.com/meds-without-benefits-drugs-that-cause-dementia/) - As many as a third of people over 65 take anticholinergic drugs---shown to increase risk for dementia, including Alzheimer's--significantly. But most don't know it. These drugs do have short term benefits, but many people do not even know that they are anti-cholinergic drugs. For an excellent guide, see Are Your Prescriptions Killing You? by pharmacologists Neel
- [How Much Salt Is Too Much Salt? High Blood Pressure? Why?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-much-salt-is-too-much-salt-high-blood-pressure-why/) - ----- ...low in sodium and high in potassium...and help to control blood pressure deliciously
- [Beverage Contracts Uncorked: Just $18 Per Student Goes To Schools from Soda Machines.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/beverage-contracts-uncorked-just-18-per-student-goes-to-schools-from-soda-machines/) - A new study of 120 beverage contracts at schools in 16 U.S. states shows that schools are lucky to keep 33 cents of every dollar deposited in a school (soft drink) vending machine. School vending machine contracts are, apparently, not as advertised. But because U.S. teens drink, on average, 66 cans or 40 20-ounce bottles
- [Tips to Make Healthy Eaters Out of Your Children: Excellent Ideas from Others](https://drjohnlapuma.com/tips-to-make-healthy-eaters-out-of-your-children-excellent-ideas-from-others/) - Lori Corbin, a dietitian and terrific Los Angeles-based KABC-TV health reporter suggests Tips to Make Healthy Eaters Out of Your Children. In other words, "What You Can Do to Get Your Children More Interested in Eating Healthy." She's right on target with a simple, preventive approach. So is Eating Well Magazine, with family-friendly menus and
- [Did Your Doctor Tell You About Obesity in Your Child?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/did-your-doctor-tell-you-about-obesity-in-your-child/) - Doctors are counseling fewer patients--including kids--to lose weight than ever. Weight-loss counseling between 1994 and 2000 by doctors dropped 2.4%. Living in the Midwest U.S. or the South put you at even greater risk of no physician offering obesity help. Why? "...lack of time, perception of patient noncompliance, inadequate teaching materials, lack of counseling training,
- [Why does our body need water?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/why-does-our-body-need-water/) - Athletic or not, we all need water—and plenty of it. Your body on water is far more resilient than your body without it; hydration affects how our body works in daily activities, how prone it is to injury, and how well it recovers from injury. Water facilitates hundreds of critical functions in the body, many
- [Our Planet, Climate Change, and EcoMedicine](https://drjohnlapuma.com/our-planet-climate-change-and-ecomedicine/) - There's a fantastic and groundbreaking new nature series out recently on Netflix called Our Planet. It's narrated by the inimitable David Attenborough of Planet Earth and Blue Planet (clearly he's got a niche!). But what makes this new show so exciting—and so different from those that have come before it—is how it acknowledges and shows the consequences of climate change
- [Nature Therapy: EcoMedicine for PTSD](https://drjohnlapuma.com/nature-therapy-ecomedicine-for-ptsd/) - Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can affect anyone subject to a huge stress, but veterans have it the toughest. More than a quarter of U.S. veterans of recent wars (Iraq and Afghanistan) have been treated by the Veterans Administration (VA) for PTSD. And that doesn’t count the veterans who never were seen in a VA
- [Digital Devices & the Health of Your Eyes](https://drjohnlapuma.com/digital-devices-the-health-of-your-eyes/) - We're in a new age of convenience and connectivity—and with it comes new health concerns. Our eyes are in front of digital screens more than ever for both work and play, from smart devices and computer monitors to televisions and movie screens. People of all ages are complaining of eye fatigue, headaches, blurry vision, dry
- [Herbs to Avoid When Pregnant](https://drjohnlapuma.com/herbs-to-avoid-when-pregnant/) - Because herbs come from nature, many people believe they're safe to take at any time. But that's simply not true. There are certain herbs you should avoid when pregnant or trying to become pregnant. In fact, many herbs should not be taken while trying to conceive, during pregnancy, or post-partum while breastfeeding. The constituents of
- [Does Your Body Have a Nature Deficit? Take the Test!](https://drjohnlapuma.com/does-your-body-have-a-nature-deficit-take-the-test/) - Four out of five in the U.S. now lives in cities, versus less than half just 100 years ago. Mega-cities are booming worldwide (Tokyo 38 million, Delhi 25 million, Shanghai 23 million). Plant and animal life can be scarce. Living in urban canyons with too little exposure to the natural world can injure your health.
- [Nature's Sweet Spice: Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/natures-sweet-herb-cinnamon-cinnamomum-verum/) - Naturally sweet cinnamon revives our senses with its wonderful aroma and can enhance health with its medicinal properties. Cinnamon was first used in China (2700 B.C.) to treat fever, digestive, and menstrual problems. Indian healers used cinnamon to treat gastrointestinal complaints, as well as sore throat and cough. Today, modern herbalists continue to use the
- [Top 10 Ways Nature Can Heal You: SlideShare](https://drjohnlapuma.com/top-10-ways-nature-can-heal-you-slideshare/) -  We all have a connection with nature and living things… Explore 10 ways nature can help you heal with Dr John La Puma.
- [Nature therapy and virtual reality for pain relief during flu vaccination injections](https://drjohnlapuma.com/nature-therapy-and-virtual-reality-for-pain-relief-during-flu-vaccination-injections/) - Happy to have our letter on nature therapy and virtual reality for pain relief during injections for flu vaccination published in the Wall Street Journal: credit to Zoë Silverberg and Mark Silverberg Md @Sansum Clinic for their creativity and imagination, and dedication to pediatric health. More information on this pilot program on the website to describe its
- [Heat, Smoke, Fire and Air: Protect Yourself from Air Pollution](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-importance-of-air-quality/) - Air quality is getting worse, and it's not just the fire, smoke and excessive heat: it's the cauldron of toxins, VOCs and, bizarrely, the threat of diabetes that loom. The worst? the Las Vegas area had 145 days of pollution and poor air quality in 2016, a little higher than Los Angeles, which had 138
- [What I Taught MDs in a Cooking and Organic Farming Demo](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-i-taught-mds-in-a-cooking-and-organic-farming-demo/) - Physicians are a sharp lot: that's often how they qualified for medical school. We take care of ourselves, however, badly. Too many docs are stressed out, overweight, don't exercise, and sleep little. It's no coincidence that these are the three areas in which REFUEL offers its quick solutions for men...which women often already know! So
- [Pesticides and Cancer: Basic Recommendations](https://drjohnlapuma.com/pesticides-and-cancer-basic-recommendations/) - Anyone who has been in gardening store knows the smell of synthetic artificial pesticides...it wafts into your nose and head as you are walking down the aisle towards the potting soil. That's herbicide Roundup Ready, and its ilk, and there are now weeds and other plants that are resistant. See here for an interactive timeline
- [H2O: Elixir of Health and Vitality](https://drjohnlapuma.com/h2o-elixir-of-health-and-vitality/) - Water. We can't live without it. It comprises about 70% of adult body weight and even more for infants and children. Essential to every cell in the body, water helps to: maintain normal temperature through sweating and respiration regulate thirst and appetite transport nutrients in the bloodstream remove waste and toxins through urination, perspiration, and
- [The ADHD – Diet Connection](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-adhd-diet-connection/) - Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): an abnormal defect of moral control in otherwise high functioning children. Two generations ago that was the definition and the belief. Today, we know better. And we know more. Lots more. What is ADHD? Today, ADHD is viewed as a multifaceted condition triggered by varying behavioral, biological and environmental factors, including
- [Aloe Vera Benefits the Gut](https://drjohnlapuma.com/aloe-vera-benefits-the-gut/) - With long, thick, plump and pointed deep green leaves, Aloe vera is one of the most well-recognized medicinal plants in the world and benefits the gut. It has a long history of use in pharmaceuticals, food and cosmetic products. A great deal of research supports the use of topical Aloe gel, balms and creams for
- [Weekly Wows: Keto diet, Jillian Michaels, and the Las Pilitas Nursery](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-keto-diet-jillian-michaels-and-the-las-pilitas-nursery/) - What Research I'm Investigating The keto diet is still all the rage and is even a verb now: I overheard someone ask, "Can you keto that?" at a taqueria recently, which made me wonder, given the corn tortillas. But recent research about keto—not to mention patient questions about keto breath, keto diarrhea, and even keto crotch—all make
- [Pan-Seared Mahimahi With Red Cabbage](https://drjohnlapuma.com/pan-seared-mahimahi-with-red-cabbage/) - Pan-Seared Mahimahi or Halibut with Red Cabbage: When I was creating recipes for my book REFUEL, I focused on simplicity, flavor, and maximum meal satisfaction. This recipe for Pan-Seared Mahimahi satisfies all three criteria, and is a regular go-to for me when some nice-looking fresh fish fillets have caught my eye at the seafood counter. According
- [Top 7 FAQ (and My Answers) On Protein Bars](https://drjohnlapuma.com/top-7-faq-and-my-answers-on-protein-bars/) - I recently gave a Cheat Sheet interview on Protein Bars, along with David Katz MD at Yale (a prolific writer, and head of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine) and Heather Mangieri RDN in Pittsburgh (sports nutrition expert and ADA spokeswoman. They did a great job in excerpting it, so I thought I'd include the
- [Celebrity Weight Loss: Powerful!](https://drjohnlapuma.com/celebrity-weight-loss-powerful/) - Celebrity is like royalty in the U.S. Some are going public in creating positive role models for weight loss and health. And they're doing it with lifestyle, diet and exercise. Not drugs or fads. Drew Carey, according to the medical journal People, has "cured" his type 2 diabetes with weight loss of 80#. His diet
- [National Spinach Day and the Many Healing Powers of Spinach](https://drjohnlapuma.com/national-spinach-day-and-the-many-healing-powers-of-spinach/) - Finally, it's everyone's favorite holiday of the year: National Spinach Day! Spinach has gotten a bad rap for a long time, although it's made a comeback recently as more and more people espouse this superfood's many health benefits. So what's the real story on spinach—average green or culinary medicine superhero? To be perfectly honest, I'm
- [Success Principles (and missing recipes) for Reducing Re-Admission](https://drjohnlapuma.com/success-principles-and-missing-recipes-for-reducing-re-admission/) - Doctors and hospitals, despite the moral underpinnings of the work, are much like other workers: they do more of what they are paid well to do. And less of what they are penalized for doing. This is not a tale of two financial profiles, but instead, of the same one. Ever since Medicare proposed reimbursement
- [The Surprising Health Benefits of Pineapple](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-surprising-health-benefits-of-pineapple/) - Who can resist the juicy, vibrant flavor of a sweet and tangy pineapple? Apparently, not many of us—this prickly plant often ranks as one of America's most in-demand tropical fruits. But beneath its rough exterior, the pineapple is hiding more than just flavor. There are many health benefits to eating pineapple you might not have
- [Shopping for Safer Fruits and Vegetables](https://drjohnlapuma.com/shopping-for-safer-fruits-and-vegetables/) - The Environmental Working Group's (EWG) 2017 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce is now available. This guide is based on the results of the USDA and the FDA's testing of pesticide residue on over 32,000 conventionally grown produce samples. As EWG notes, these samples were taken after produce was prepped to be eaten--meaning it had been washed and
- [2014: The Year of Man-Some](https://drjohnlapuma.com/2014-the-year-of-man-some/) - We're barely half way in and already it's apparent: if men have had undue attention to what it means to be a man focused on them in any year in this century, it's this one. Why? It could be the eruption of the Low T controversy: it might be that Colbert's skewering was finally enough,
- [Obesity, Calcium and Aging: Make Yourself Younger With What You Eat!](https://drjohnlapuma.com/obesity-calcium-and-aging-make-yourself-younger-with-what-you-eat/) - -----
- [Preventing Childhood Obesity With $500 million: Putting Money Where It Counts for Successful Programs](https://drjohnlapuma.com/preventing-childhood-obesity-with-500-million-putting-money-where-it-counts-for-successful-programs/) - Small changes can make a big difference in fast-growing bodies. And minds. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has new Grant Guidelines and a new budget for this problem. And it is going to the right places: increasing access to fruits and vegetables, supermarkets and better food and fitness chances. Did you know that childhood obesity
- [Call for 'Traffic Light' Food Labels to Fight Obesity--For Kids Only? Or Can Parents Use Them Too?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/call-for-traffic-light-food-labels-to-fight-obesity-for-kids-only-or-can-parents-use-them-too/) - -----
- [From Tuna to Spam: Why Diabetes and Obesity Are About to Explode](https://drjohnlapuma.com/from-tuna-to-spam-why-diabetes-and-obesity-are-about-to-explode/) - Food is medicine in much of the world, but as people move from tuna to spam that wisdom is being forgotten. Roughly 60% of all cases of diabetes can be directly attributed to weight gain, for example, and the world is gaining weight. Yach estimates that people with diabetes will "increase from 175 million in
- [Was Your First of Fall Weekend Fattening?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/was-your-fall-weekend-fattening/) - Obesity Research 11:945-949 (2003) � 2003 The North American Association for the Study of Obesity
- [Should YOU Be Gluten Free? Take the Quiz !](https://drjohnlapuma.com/should-you-be-gluten-free-take-the-quiz/) - It's funny how a simple, easy, confidential, secure self-test for a medical condition that food can cause and sometimes cure can actually help people...and create buzz. Over 500 people last week took the Gluten Free Quiz...many after GlutenFreeGirl featured it in her terrific round-up of Going Gluten-Free resources. I created the quiz with CHEF Clinic
- [Do Fortified Products Work for Cholesterol Lowering?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/do-fortified-products-work-for-cholesterol-lowering/) - Yes, they do--food can lower cholesterol 25-30%, irrespective of weight loss. But there's a trick: you have to be a weight watcher. Don't gain weight on health foods. Too many calories in and your plant sterol/stanol-enhanced health foods (which actively lower cholesterol) will mean obesity help and a diet plan. So, here are some tidbits:
- [How to Make Your Own Electrolyte Drink](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-make-your-own-electrolyte-drink/) - Electrolytes are electrically charged minerals, such as sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium, that are found in your bodily fluids. They perform many important functions including helping to balance pH; transporting nutrients into cells and waste out of them; and ensuring nerve and muscle cells are working properly. In the absence of acute illness or clinical
- [Fermented Foods](https://drjohnlapuma.com/fermented-foods/) - If you're looking to introduce more foods into your diet that promote gut health, fermented foods are an excellent way to go. Nutrient-potent and ranging in flavor from tangy to bitterly-sweet, these foods originated decades ago in the cultures of Japan, China, India, and Germany. Fermenting imbues foods with the health-enhancing properties of live bacteria,
- [Folate: Brain Food](https://drjohnlapuma.com/food-as-medicine-folate-for-your-brain-400-micrograms-is-not-enoughbut-its-a-start/) - Not bad for a simple B vitamin, widely available and inexpensive. 818 healthy people ages 50 to 75 took either 800 micrograms of folic acid/day or placebo for 3 years in a new Dutch dementia study, the abstract is below. On memory tests, the folate-takers were 5.5 years younger, and 1.9 years younger on tests
- [Broth: Health Benefits Approved by Mom](https://drjohnlapuma.com/broth-health-benefits-approved-by-mom/) - From Mom's best health advice - to top doctors everywhere - soup broth tops the list of healing foods to eat when you're feeling sick or simply need a soothing, light and nutritious meal. Varieties of soup broth include vegetable, fish, chicken, beef and bone broth without meat. A broth is made by simmering the
- [Obama on Eating Vegan For Health and Costs](https://drjohnlapuma.com/eating-vegan-or-vegetarian-for-health/) - Although I'm not vegan or vegetarian, I think the evidence is mounting that avoiding animal foods, even once a week, is good for you. And a lot of interesting, powerful people are giving it a try. A BusinessWeek piece on "The Power Vegans" has attracted 458 comments, at this writing. Bill Clinton famously has declared
- [Is Food the New Pharma or Woo-Woo?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/is-food-the-new-pharma-or-woo-woo/) - New exciting food is the new pharma initiatives seem to be fighting with an equally new governmental crack-down on food with pharma claims. Who should you believe? On the one hand, Nestle is about to invest $500m in a new company to create food-based solutions to diabetes, obesity, Alzheimers and more. I think this is
- [What is Metabolic Syndrome? And Why Should You Care If You Have It?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-is-metabolic-syndrome-and-why-should-you-care-if-you-have-it/) - Recent data from Australia and the U.S. suggest that 25% adults in each may have the metabolic syndrome. What is metabolic syndrome? It had 6 definitions, beginning with WHO in 1999, but now there is a consensus metabolic syndrome definition. It is central obesity (more like an apple than a pear--waist of 40 inches (94
- [Weekly Wows: Big tech, peaches, and the relationship between climate change and health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-big-tech-peaches-and-the-relationship-between-climate-change-and-health/) - What Article I'm Reading Tech is getting introspective! Silicon Valley is reckoning with the effects of its technology. Big Tech was supposed to be different. It was supposed to make the world a better place. Is the retreat to retreats like Esalen, Kripalu, and the Center for Humane Technology evidence of deep introspection—or of canny
- [The Power of Potassium for Muscle and Nerve Function](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-power-of-potassium-for-muscle-and-nerve-function/) - Potassium is a mineral that, once inside the body, operates as an electrolyte and becomes essential to the maintenance of proper neural and muscle function. In partnership with sodium, it helps maintain fluid volume and pH balance, and creates what's known as a concentration gradient that assists in heartbeat regulation and muscle contraction. Between the
- [Dietitians Can Prescribe Therapeutic Diets...But What Are They?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/dietitians-can-prescribe-therapeutic-diets-but-what-are-they/) - Dr John La Puma is a top personal nutritionist doctor and dietitian in Los Angeles. Consult with him for a personalized healthy nutrition plan and diet program!
- [Are GMO foods toxic?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/are-gmo-foods-toxic/) - -----
- [Qualifying for Weight Loss Without Regain*](https://drjohnlapuma.com/qualifying-for-weight-loss-but-not-weight-regain/) - "Weight loss programs have dismal success rates. Eleven pounds is the average lost after a year in a counseling based weight loss program. Yet dieting is the recommended strategy of most programs. After two years, 83 percent of participants have gained back more than they lost. Complete weight regain is the norm after five years.
- [Do Statins Raise Diabetes Risk?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/do-statins-raise-diabetes-risk/) - Do Statins Raise Diabetes Risk? Probably, in higher doses. A study of 18000 people without heart disease, called JUPITER, shows that Crestor (rosuvastatin) 20 mg showed that for every 1000 patients on high dose (40mg and up) statins, there are 6 more cases of new diabetes over 2 years. Crestor also prevented 11 cases of
- [Prescription for Abnormal Lab Test Syndrome](https://drjohnlapuma.com/prescription-for-abnormal-lab-test-syndrome/) - Recently I've seen several patients with terrible looking numbers: 260 LDL cholesterol, 35 HDL cholesterol, 375 triglycerides, 180/85 blood pressures, 222 blood sugars, 9% glycohemoglobin. The standard treatment for such numbers is clear: prescribe the right medicine in the right amount, and recheck in a few days or weeks. People with metabolic syndrome are up
- [Food Insecurity is a Treatable Medical Problem...Yet Undiagnosed](https://drjohnlapuma.com/food-insecurity-is-a-treatable-medical-problem-yet-undiagnosed/) - The Foodbank of Santa Barbara work I've been privileged to participate in has taught me a lot: especially that food insecurity is actually an undiagnosed but treatable medical problem. Why haven't I recognized it as such until recently? Maybe because so much of what clinicians see has to do with overeating (and underexercising). Exercise--even at
- [BluePrint Health: A New Idea for Health-Meets-Tech Businesses](https://drjohnlapuma.com/blueprint-health-a-new-idea-for-health-meets-tech-businesses/) - I recently agreed to be a mentor for Blueprint Health, a NYC residential program that helps very early stage health technology companies get started. With everything I have going on, why this new role? One, I get to hang out with the other healthcare mentors. And two, I get to teach. Teaching is not just
- [What Doctors are Learning About How to Help Kids (and their parents) Lose Weight](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-doctors-are-learning-about-how-to-help-kids-and-their-parents-lose-weight/) - Medscape, the excellent educational tool for physicians from WebMD, has a new series on pediatric obesity: "If children continue to gain weight at current rates, obesity will soon become the leading cause of death in the United States. and ...children today are at risk of becoming the first generation to die at an earlier age
- [In Praise of the Awesome Avocado: An Edible Santa Barbara Primer](https://drjohnlapuma.com/in-praise-of-the-awesome-avocado/) - There are so many reasons - and so many ways - to love avocado. A culinary superfood, awesome avocados provide up to 20 nutrients including vitamins K, C and E, as well as folate, magnesium, zinc, and potassium. In fact, they actually have more potassium than bananas. I wrote this Edible Santa Barbara primer on
- [Do You Have Seasonal Affective Disorder?  And Do You Know Your Vitamin D Level?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/do-you-have-seasonal-affective-disorder-and-do-you-know-your-vitamin-d-level/) - -----
- [Can Exercise Prevent Breast Cancer in PostMenopausal Women?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/can-exercise-prevent-breast-cancer-in-postmenopausal-women/) - -----18% decreased risk of breast cancer compared with inactive women...
- [Food as Medicine as a Movement](https://drjohnlapuma.com/food-as-medicine-as-a-movement/) - When Johns Hopkins Medicine happily and positively publishes "Take Two Carrots and Call Me in the Morning" and Hopkins Public Health researchers pen a NPR-covered pilot study of better-for-you hospital food---within 2 months of one another--you know something is changing in mediicne. When the Harvard School of Medicine/CIA 5th Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives conference is
- [Michelle Obama Loves Burgers And Fries (VIDEO): What's Wrong with This Approach?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/michelle-obama-loves-burgers-and-fries-video-whats-wrong-with-this-approach/) - LetsMove.gov is the new home for Michelle Obama's crusade against pediatric obesity...and bring it on! But let's find an opportunity to get kids to find out where food is from (not from the junk food packages with which food companies barrage kids, surrounding her in the White House Ceremony this afternoon). That teaches English, Math,
- [The Tasty MD: Why the Mediterranean Diet Reduces Risk for Alzheimer's, Heart Disease and Stroke](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-tasty-md-why-the-mediterranean-diet-reduces-risk-for-alzheimers-heart-disease-and-stroke/) - Eat, drink and be healthy--the Mediterranean Diet (MD) seems to be good for everything, even if you're not European: Alzheimer's disease risk was cut by 68 percent in a U.S. study of a Mediterranean Diet, US-style. But what is the real MD? And why does it work? It is rich in liquid fats and not
- [Choose Another Fish, Other Than Tuna Fish, for Your Healthy Kid](https://drjohnlapuma.com/choose-another-fish-other-than-tuna-fish-for-your-healthy-kid/) - A 10 year old, 60 pound previously healthy boy, Mathew Davis couldn't throw a football well or play baseball with his Dad 12 months after he began eating 3 to 6 ounces of albacore tuna daily. His grades fell off, and he couldn't speak well. His mercury levels were high, and off the fish, his
- [Metal Detection: Why Canned Tuna is Not for You](https://drjohnlapuma.com/metal-detection-why-canned-tuna-is-not-for-you/) - A 10 year old, 60 pound previously healthy boy, Mathew Davis couldn't throw a football well or play baseball with his Dad 12 months after he began eating 3 to 6 ounces of albacore tuna daily. His grades fell off, and he couldn't speak well. His mercury levels were high, and off the fish, his
- [DASH, Dairy and Diabetes--Don't Let Overweight Make You Sick](https://drjohnlapuma.com/dash-dairy-and-diabetes-do-you-know-where-your-cow-has-been-grazing/) - The best data suggest that low fat and nonfat dairy foods (not ice cream, cheese or whole milk) promote a little weight loss if you're overweight. This might be from the calcium; this might be from the protein; it might even be from the lactose. And a new JAMA study of 41000 men shows that
- [Supplements for Joint Pain](https://drjohnlapuma.com/glucosamine-chondroitin-sulfate-msm-for-joint-pain/) - Joint pain is extremely common; according to one national survey, 1 in 3 American adults reported feeling joint pain in the last 30 days. But despite its ubiquity, joint pain can still feel uniquely debilitating—and it's hard to know what to do or what supplements for joint pain to take. There are numerous causes of
- [Food Lowers Cholesterol: New Studies](https://drjohnlapuma.com/food-lowers-cholesterol-new-studies/) - Wayward cholesterol levels are some of the easiest labs to treat with the right foods: I help my patients do it here in the office, have taped ChefMD videoblogs and spoken with journalists about it. And the research continues to mount. Last week, an Australian meta-analysis of 14 studies showed that, on average, the equivalent
- [Is Obesity Infectious?....Or, Can Adenovirus 36 Make You Fat?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/is-obesity-infectiousor-can-adenovirus-36-make-you-fat/) - Research in chicken, mice and now people, shows that animals with antibodies to a particular adenovirus---in the family that gives you colds in the family---are 4 to 5 times more likely to be overweight than those without those antibodies. In other words, if you have been exposed to adenovirus 37 and you're a chicken, you
- [Why Eating Breakfast Can Lower Your Cholesterol...Even Without Steel-Cut Oats, a Pat of Benecol and a Shake of Cinnamon](https://drjohnlapuma.com/why-eating-breakfast-can-lower-your-cholesteroleven-without-steel-cut-oats-a-pat-of-benecol-and-a-shake-of-cinnamon/) - Hint...all 3 of the above foods actually do lower your LDL (read, lousy!) cholesterol...and for some Santa Barbara Institute successful patients, under 100 mg/dl! Skipping breakfast slows your body's response to insulin. More insulin accumulates in your bloodstream. Your insulin sensitivity declines. And you accumulate, store and keep fat longer. Your weight goes up, and
- [Excellent Web Resources, Including PowerPoints, on The Disease](https://drjohnlapuma.com/excellent-web-resources-including-powerpoints-on-the-disease/) - -----
- [Supplemental Knowledge: Should You Take Nutritional Supplements?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/supplemental-knowledge-should-you-take-nutritional-supplements/) - Of all the health products available, nutritional supplements are the most widely used, consumed by people of every age and every lifestyle. While supplements should not be used as a replacement for healthy lifestyle choices, whether prescribed by a physician or self-administered, even those of us who eat well and maintain active, healthy lives, will
- [Why Kids Should Not Drink Fruit Juices...and Why You Should Avoid Them Too If You're Trying to Lose Weight](https://drjohnlapuma.com/why-kids-should-not-drink-fruit-juicesand-why-you-should-avoid-them-too-if-youre-trying-to-lose-weight/) - -----
- [Obesity and Cancer: What is the Connection? How Can You Treat It?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/obesity-and-cancer-what-is-the-connection-how-can-you-treat-it/) - -----
- [Do Weight Loss Programs Actually Work?  And If So, Which Ones?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/do-weight-loss-programs-actually-work-and-if-so-which-ones/) - -----
- [Could Atkins Be Right?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/could-atkins-be-right/) - Back off, doc: Atkins diet may be good for you Study shows drop in pounds, cholesterol BY DANIEL Q. HANEY Associated Press CHICAGO - Multitudes swear by the high-fat, low-carbohydrate Atkins diet, and now a carefully controlled study backs them up: Low-carb diets actually may take off more weight than low-fat ones and may be surprisingly better for cholesterol, too. For years, the Atkins formula of sparing carbohydrates and loading up on fatty foods has been blasphemy to many in the health establishment, who view it as a formula for cardiovascular ruin. But now, some of the researchers who long scoffed at the diet are putting it to the test, and they say the results astonish them. Rather than making cholesterol soar, as they feared, the diet actually appears to improve it, and volunteers take off more weight. Still, only a small number of overweight people was studied, and the research does not examine possible long-term effects, including how long people keep the pounds off. For now, the scientists say much more research is necessary before the Atkins diet can be given an across-the-board endorsement. But they believe it is safe enough to take into much larger studies. At least three formal studies of the diet have been presented at medical conferences during the past year, and all have reached similar results. The latest, conducted by Dr. Eric Westman of Duke University, was presented Monday at the annual scientific meeting of the American Heart Association, long a stronghold of support for the traditional low-fat approach. `OFF THE SCALE' Westman, an internist at Duke's diet and fitness center, said he decided to study the Atkins approach because of concern over so many patients and friends following it on their own. He approached the Robert C. Atkins foundation in New York City to finance the research. Westman studied 120 overweight volunteers, who were randomly assigned to the Atkins diet or the heart association's Step 1 diet, a widely used low-fat approach. On the Atkins diet, people limited their carbs to less than 20 grams a day, and 60 percent of their calories came from fat. ''It was high fat, off the scale,'' he said. After six months, those on the Atkins diet had lost 31 pounds, compared with 20 pounds on the AHA diet, and more people stuck with the Atkins regimen. Total cholesterol fell slightly in both groups. However, those on the Atkins diet had an 11 percent increase in HDL, the good cholesterol, and a 49 percent drop in triglycerides. On the AHA diet, HDL was unchanged, and triglycerides dropped 22 percent. High triglycerides may raise the risk of heart disease. While the volunteers' total amounts of LDL, the bad cholesterol, did not change much on either diet, there was evidence that it had shifted to a form that may be less likely to clog the arteries. MORE DATA NEEDED ''More study is necessary before such a diet can be recommended,'' Westman said. ``However, a concern about serum lipid [cholesterol] elevations should not impede such research.'' No single study is likely to change minds on the issue, especially since an initial weight loss is hard to maintain on any diet. Some answers could come from a yearlong study being sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. That experiment, being directed by Dr. Gary Foster of the University of Pennsylvania, will test the Atkins diet on 360 patients. In the meantime, the heart association's president, Dr. Robert Bonow of Northwestern University, said the organization will reconsider the Atkins diet as more research results become available. ''Having our top academic centers look at this is wonderful,'' he said. ``We are still dealing with small numbers of patients. We just need more data.'' Dr. Sidney Smith, the heart association's research director, said it was a surprise that the Atkins diet did not raise LDL cholesterol. ''One small study like this flies in the face of so much evidence. We can't change dietary recommendations on the spot,'' he said. Dr. Alice Lichtenstein, a nutrition expert at Tufts University, said she thinks too much is made of the amounts of carbohydrates and fats in people's diets as they try to shed weight. ''There is no magic combination of fat versus carbs versus protein,'' she said. ``It doesn't matter in the long run. The bottom line is calories, calories, calories.'' -----
- [Weekly Wows: GOES Foundation, regenerative agriculture, and tennis](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-goes-foundation-regenerative-agriculture-and-tennis/) - What Trailer I'm Watching Wastewater is hardly given a second thought in most of the U.S. You flush, and it goes down the sewer or into the septic. But few people know that treated wastewater can have a positive and important effect on climate change! Check out this GoesFoundation video on treating waste water. (Pro tip: most antibiotics residues
- [Medical Meeting Meals Fatten Physicians: New Data](https://drjohnlapuma.com/medical-meeting-meals-fatten-physicians-new-data/) - -----
- [Meals Served at Medical Meetings--Sweetened Soda, Potato Chips and Really, Really Big Cookies](https://drjohnlapuma.com/meals-served-at-medical-meetings-sweetened-soda-potato-chips-and-really-really-big-cookies/) - -----What Will Doctors Eat? Anything?
- [What Can I Eat to Heal and Recover from Surgery?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-can-i-eat-to-heal-and-recover-from-surgery/) - Last year, my Mom had her first operation: a total knee replacement. What could she eat to heal and recover from surgery? Active and curious, and having recently celebrated her 29th birthday again, her mother was turning 100 shortly and needed assistance. Mom wasn’t able to get around well enough to help, with her osteoarthritis
- [Weekly Wows: Be mindful, eat right, and teach a dog to think outside the bowl](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-be-mindful-eat-right-and-teach-a-dog-to-think-outside-the-bowl/) - What I'm Reading Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life by the Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, who also co-wrote “Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life.” My copy is dog-eared, and mindfulness offers better focus. So does mindful eating: we need to be coming back to ourselves and saying: ‘Does my
- [Weekly Wows: The Daily Stoic, thyroid kits, and Yoast](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-the-daily-stoic-thyroid-kits-and-yoast/) - What I'm Reading Right now I can't put down The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living. This book spent weeks on every best-seller list you can name, but that's not what drew me to it. It's short, it's pithy, it's wise. And it may be ancient, but it's also still deeply
- [Weekly Wows: Burnout, cinnamon leaf oil, and EWG's sunscreen guide](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-burnout-cinnamon-leaf-oil-and-ewgs-sunscreen-guide/) - What I'm Reading Burnout is a hot topic in medicine—45% of doctors report symptoms of burnout—but it isn't just medicine that's suffering. Highly stressed professionals of all kinds are suffering from the idea that success only comes with emotional exhaustion, de-personalization, distress, and depression. In medicine, the chief causes of burnout include too little control over
- [Weekly Wows: Forest bathing, tap water, and Pixabay](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-forest-bathing-tap-water-and-pixabay/) - What I'm Listening To Forest bathing, a term coined as shinrin-yoku in 1982 by Dr. Qing Li in Japan, is deliberate time spent in the forest being immersed in its sounds. It has tangible medical benefits: better immunity, lower stress, lower blood pressure, among other things. There are now international associations, an academic journal, a
- [Weekly Wows: First Descents, Fleabag, and Spice Health Heroes](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-first-descents-fleabag-and-spice-health-heroes/) - What National Non-Profit I'm Exploring First Descents is an amazing Prescribe Adventure non-profit with 150 national events per year. Per their website, they provide life-changing outdoor experiences to young adults—all of which are free to participants under 40 who have cancer or MS. Their outcomes seem revolutionary: the program results in not just positive effects on body
- [Weekly Wows: Meditation apps, Teecchino, and eucalyptus](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-meditation-apps-teecchino-and-eucalyptus/) - What App I'm Liking You might be surprised to learn that anxiety and depression are both related to the food you eat and your environment.Although social media especially can exacerbate both conditions, some forms of technology can also be used for good when it comes to your mental health. At the end of my talk in Seattle
- [Weekly Wows: Tap app, Drew Ramsey, and eating local](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-tap-app-drew-ramsey-and-eating-local/) - What Free App I'm Using Using disposable water bottles is a habit that we have to change— immediately. More than one million bottles of water are purchased every minute worldwide, and nearly 80 percent of these end up in landfills and oceans. Carry a reusable water bottle already? Get the Tap app, where you enter your ZIP code
- [Weekly Wows: EWG's guide to sunscreens, Amazon Alexa, and MBSR](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-ewgs-guide-to-sunscreens-amazon-alexa-and-mbsr/) - What Resource I'm Recommending Don't buy another tube of sunblock without checking the EWG’s Guide to Sunscreens. I've returned several tubes already, thanks to the Environmental Working Group’s ranking and characterizing of sunscreens. Pro tip: if it has an SPF above 50, is a spray sunscreen, or contains oxybenzone, retinyl palmitate, or added insect repellent… you
- [Weekly Wows: Michael Greger MD, speciality chocolate, and hemp oil](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-michael-greger-md-speciality-chocolate-and-hemp-oil/) - What Physician Advocate I'm Following Michael Greger MD, formerly a director of the Humane Society, has created a very impressive video library of over 2,000 narrated, coherent, and focused short videos on different foods and chronic diseases.He uses a volunteer crew of retired clinicians to scour the medical literature and give him and his viewers
- [Eat your way to better health: how to avoid statins, PCSK9 drugs for cholesterol](https://drjohnlapuma.com/eat-your-way-to-better-health-how-to-avoid-statins-pcsk9-drugs-for-cholesterol/) - Though I've written about this in the WSJ and the NY Times before, I thought I'd lay out a more succinct approach to something that millions now struggle with. The fact that the FDA has approved a second new injectable drug to lower very high cholesterol, Amgen’s Repatha, means that we'll hear a lot more
- [Mighty Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/mighty-vitamin-b12-cyanocobalamin/) - Vitamin B12 is a member of the B Complex, a group of vitamins, each with a unique function in the body, but synergistically regarded for how they help the body's cells produce energy. Vitamin B12, along with thiamin (B1), niacin (B3), riboflavin (B2), pantothenic acid (B5), pyridoxine (B6), biotin, and folate make up the B
- [Because It's Natural Doesn't Mean It's Safe...Or, What Could Be Wrong With Herbalife's Sesame Herb?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/because-its-natural-doesnt-mean-its-safeor-what-could-be-wrong-with-herbalifes-sesame-herb/) - Nothing wrong with sesame, from toasted seeds to unsaturated roasted oil to white and black outside of our Double Sesame Salmon with Mango and Avocado Salsa (in Cooking the RealAge Way, on the cover!) But Israel's Health Ministry asked supplement king Herbalife to withdraw its Sesame Herb (see ingredients below). Eight people reported liver problems
- [Weekly Wows: Citrus & antibiotics, Testralin, and The Game Changers](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-citrus-antibiotics-testralin-and-the-game-changers/) - What I'm Writing I love growing fruit, flowers, nuts and seeds, and I’m lucky to grow rare citrus, from yuzus to etrogs to buddha's hands: all certified organic. So imagine my shock when I read this NYTimes piece on conventionally grown oranges sprayed with antibiotics. I wrote this comment, featured by the Times. The moral? Try to know
- [Weekly Wows: The Mind Explained, Thyrosol, and hummus](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-the-mind-explained-thyrosol-and-hummus/) - What Docu-Series I'm Watching Why are memories so unreliable? What does the brain look like in REM sleep? What do our dreams mean? How can a brief encounter with a psychedelic drug have such dramatic and varied effects? Why do so many of us feel so anxious (and what can we do about it)? To
- [Weekly Wows: Jujubes, The Field of Light at Sensorio Paso Robles, and sotol](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-jujubes-the-field-of-light-at-sensorio-paso-robles-and-sotol/) - What I'm Harvesting Jujubes are a Chinese date whose tall trees are rapid growers and very drought tolerant. The fruit can look like a plum/apple cross and can be eaten fresh or dried. One tree is plenty for a backyard, and the leaves are traditionally used for an infusion; they contain a compound, ziziphin, that suppresses your ability
- [Weekly Wows: Mindfulness videos, Silymarin, and cranberry relish](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weekly-wows-mindfulness-videos-silymarin-and-cranberry-relish/) - What Videos I'm Watching I discovered these five free videos made by mindfulness experts when researching an op-ed assignment we had to write for my Harvard Media and Medicine 6 month intensive. SAP used neuroscience and skills-based learning to answer an obvious, overwhelming need for reducing workplace stress. The formal training programs, now marketed other
- [Healthy Bites: A Good-for-you Grass and Nature for High Blood Pressure](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-a-good-for-you-grass-and-nature-for-high-blood-pressure/) - Healthy Bites: A Good-for-You Grass You may think of lemongrass only as an ingredient that adds a mild citrus and floral flavor to many Southeast Asian dishes. But this tropical grass has a lot of biochemical properties that make it not just good-tasting, but good for you, too. Its health-promoting power comes from a long
- [Healthy Bites: Adventure Therapy and Bilberries](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-adventure-therapy-and-bilberries/) - Healthy Bites: What is Adventure Therapy? As we continue our deep dive into the various types of nature therapy, we find ourselves at adventure therapy, also known as wilderness therapy or experiential therapy. So what exactly is it? Adventure therapy is hands-on and experiential therapy that usually (but not always) takes place outdoors. Activities like
- [Healthy Bites: National Lemonade Day & Toasted Quinoa with Prunes and Lemon](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-national-lemonade-day-toasted-quinoa-with-prunes-and-lemon/) - Healthy Bites: National Lemonade Day As you may know by now, there's a holiday for almost everything these days—and today is no exception: Happy National Lemonade Day! While lemonade itself can be a sugar bomb, I'll happily espouse the benefits of its number 1 ingredient: the lemon. This sour fruit packs a punch when it
- [Healthy Bites: Fermented Foods & Black Rice Sushi Rolls](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites-fermented-foods-black-rice-sushi-rolls/) - Healthy Bites: Fermented Foods If you're looking to introduce more foods into your diet that promote gut health, fermented foods are an excellent way to go. Nutrient-potent and ranging in flavor from tangy to bitterly-sweet, these foods originated decades ago in the cultures of Japan, China, India, and Germany. Fermenting imbues foods with the health-enhancing
- [Food Allergy Bible for Restaurants](https://drjohnlapuma.com/food-allergy-bible-for-restaurants/) - 8 food allergens cause 90% of food allergy illness: Dairy, Egg, Peanut, Tree nuts, Fish, Shellfish, Wheat, Soy Best restaurant chains: P.F. Chang's and Chipotle: (especially for celiac patients, and gluten free eaters) and Chipotle. Best reference for restaurants: Ming Tsai's Allergy Reference Bible for Restaurant Kitchens Important food allergy facts: 3.3 million: number
- [Worcestershire Winter Vegetables with Currant-Studded Bulgur](https://drjohnlapuma.com/worcestershire-winter-vegetables-with-currant-studded-bulgur/) - With this Worcestershire Winter Vegetables with Currant-Studded Bulgur recipe you are 7.3 days younger because of the high fiber and low calories in this filling, nutrient-dense dense. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 2¼ cups low-salt chicken broth, divided 1 cup coarse grain bulgur, such as Bob’s Red
- [Sweet Jicama Salad with Tangerine and Fennel](https://drjohnlapuma.com/sweet-jicama-salad-with-tangerine-and-fennel/) - This light Sweet Jicama Salad with Tangerine and Fennel recipe is a perfect and healthy side to any meat dish you might want to serve. Ingredients: 1/4 pound of jicama 1 small fennel bulb 1 small red onion 1 small seedless tangerine Salt & pepper to taste 1 tbsp chopped fennel leaves Directions: Peel and
- [Sun Dried Tomato and Mushroom Muffuletta Sandwiches](https://drjohnlapuma.com/sun-dried-tomato-and-mushroom-muffuletta-sandwiches/) - I couldn’t stop eating these Sun Dried Tomato and Mushroom Muffuletta Sandwiches. This recipe is meaty, colorful and a little salty, they’re packed with ingredients you can find any time of year. Preparation Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: Servings: 4 Serving Size: 1 Sandwich Ingredients: 1 package (8 ounces) sliced button mushrooms ½ cup drained bottled
- [Golden Polenta with Exotic Mushroom Ragout](https://drjohnlapuma.com/golden-polenta-with-exotic-mushroom-ragout/) - With its powerhouse of B vitamins, plus carotenoids from the carrots, and little fat, this Golden Polenta with Exotic Mushroom Ragout recipe is soothing, filling dish and makes your RealAge 4.6 days younger. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes Servings: 4 Servings Per Recipe: 4 Ingredients: For the polenta: 3 cups low salt chicken
- [Coconut-Banana Tapioca Pudding](https://drjohnlapuma.com/coconut-banana-tapioca-pudding/) - Desserts should be special, and this Coconut-Banana Tapioca Pudding recipe is no exception. A sprinkle of dark rum gives this new classic just a hint of the exotic... you won’t believe that tapioca pudding could be improved on, but you’ll never look at it the same way again. And best of all, it’s nearly instant! Preparation
- [Classic Split Pea Soup](https://drjohnlapuma.com/classic-split-pea-soup/) - Sure this Classic Split Pea Soup recipe is warming. Sure it's easy to make. Sure it's low calorie, low carb and even low fat. But how much does it cost? Virtually nothing! Split peas are a huge bargain--and because they're split, they cook in half the time of most whole beans. And they're a nutritional
- [Smoked Shrimp Quesadillas](https://drjohnlapuma.com/smoked-shrimp-quesadillas/) - Enjoy this wonderful, light smoked shrimp quesadillas recipe. Directions: Combine 1.5 ounces grated low fat smoked mozzarella cheese, 3 ounces diced cooked shrimp (or smoked chicken), ½ teaspoon ground cumin, ¼ cup diced red onion, 1 deseeded and chopped plum tomato, and 1 diced jalapeno (optional). Mix together. Spread mixture on two 8-inch whole-wheat tortillas.
- [Sweet Potato Pancakes with Apple and Cinnamon](https://drjohnlapuma.com/sweet-potato-pancakes-with-apple-and-cinnamon/) - This recipe for Sweet Potato Pancakes with Apple and Cinnamon is thick, fluffy, and perfectly spiced. Topped with a fresh apple compote, these sweet potato pancakes are an absolutely delicious and healthy breakfast! Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 8 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 1 large sweet potato, scrubbed (about 12 ounces) 1
- [Teriyaki Tofu with Red Bell Pepper and Shiitakes over Jasmine Rice](https://drjohnlapuma.com/teriyaki-tofu-with-red-bell-pepper-and-shiitakes-over-jasmine-rice/) - High in potassium and an unexpectedly rich source of folate, this Teriyaki Tofu with Red Bell Pepper and Shiitakes over Jasmine Rice recipe makes your RealAge 8.9 days younger. Preparation Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 12 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 3 tablespoons dark sesame oil, divided 2 tablespoons light teriyaki sauce, such as
- [Toasted Oatmeal with Double Mango and Toasted Walnuts](https://drjohnlapuma.com/toasted-oatmeal-with-double-mango-and-toasted-walnuts/) - This Toasted Oatmeal with Double Mango and Toasted Walnuts recipe makes your RealAge 11.8 days younger. Potassium is plentiful in fruits, especially dried fruits, and that, plus filling fiber and bright beta-carotene plus the linolenic acid in walnuts(an omega-3 fatty acid),. Preparation Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 15 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 3
- [Sweet Baked Apples with Cherries and Citrus](https://drjohnlapuma.com/sweet-baked-apples-with-cherries-and-citrus/) - This Sweet Baked Apples with Cherries and Citrus recipe is a great natural source of vitamin C .The citrus fruits add freshness, sprightliness, and flavor, making your RealAge 1.1 days younger. Preparation Time: 2 minutes Cooking Time: 18 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 2 large baking apples, such as Rome Beauty 1¼ cups apple
- [Smoky BBQ Soy Kabobs](https://drjohnlapuma.com/smoky-bbq-soy-kabobs/) - Amazingly loaded with fiber and chock full of vitamin C, just one serving of this Smoky BBQ Soy Kabobs recipe makes your RealAge 11.8 days younger. Preparation Time: 25 minutes Cooking Time: 10 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 24 ounces extra firm low fat tofu, such as Mori Nu brand 3 each: medium zucchini and
- [Thick, Sweet Balsamic-Glazed Oranges and Berries](https://drjohnlapuma.com/thick-sweet-balsamic-glazed-oranges-and-berries/) - This classic Northern Italian dessert recipe for Thick, Sweet Balsamic-Glazed Oranges and Berries is made with treasured balsamic vinegar aged like a great wine in Modena, Italy and combined with fresh berries. Real aged balsamic is rare and expensive, but we can offer a taste of what it’s like. Here, I’ve added a dusting of fresh
- [Warm Teriyaki Beef with Pea Shoots](https://drjohnlapuma.com/warm-teriyaki-beef-with-pea-shoots/) - The smoky sweetness of this Warm Teriyaki Beef with Pea Shoots recipe is irresistible. This dinner salad is deeply satisfying, and not heavy or the least bit oily. The simplicity of this dish makes it a great supper for friends, and a good picnic dish. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 6 minutes; standing time:
- [Roasted Pears with Raspberry Coulis, Chocolate & Pistachios](https://drjohnlapuma.com/roasted-pears-with-raspberry-coulis-chocolate-pistachios/) - Quick Roasted Pears with Raspberry Coulis, Chocolate & Pistachios recipe. Preparation Time: 3 minutes Cooking Time: 27 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 2 large Bartlett, Comice or Anjou pears, preferably red 1 cup white grape juice, such as Trader Joe's brand 1 package (12 ounces) frozen unsweetened raspberries, thawed, or 2 cups fresh raspberries
- [Milanese Gnocchi (Dumplings) & Vegetable Stew](https://drjohnlapuma.com/milanese-gnocchi-dumplings-vegetable-stew/) - This Milanese Gnocchi (Dumplings) & Vegetable Stew recipe is bursting with beta-carotene, and filled with age-reducing phytochemicals. One bowlful will make your RealAge 4.7 days younger. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 10 minutes Servings: 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 2 teaspoons olive oil (from the sun dried tomatoes packed in oil) 3 cloves garlic, minced
- [Maple-Cranberry Topped Frozen Yogurt](https://drjohnlapuma.com/maple-cranberry-topped-frozen-yogurt/) - Low in fat and in sugar, this Maple-Cranberry Topped Frozen Yogurt recipe tastes like a million bucks—and takes 2.6 days off your RealAge. Preparation Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 8 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries 1 cup fresh orange juice 1/2 cup dried cranberries 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup,
- [Grilled Sea Bass with Asian Red Lentils and Kale](https://drjohnlapuma.com/grilled-sea-bass-with-asian-red-lentils-and-kale/) - Packed with essential vitamins, nutrients and flavor, this Grilled Sea Bass with Asian Red Lentils and Kale is the perfect dinner recipe. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 1 pound fresh sea bass fillet cut into four portions, about 1/2 inch thick 2 tablespoons gluten-free Tamari, such as
- [Chocolate Strawberry Sundae](https://drjohnlapuma.com/chocolate-strawberry-sundae/) - Relax and enjoy this wonderful and quick chocolate strawberry sundae recipe. Preparation Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 0 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 4 (1/2 cup) scoops nonfat or low fat chocolate frozen yogurt 11/2 cups sliced strawberries 1 cup low fat granola cereal, such as Quaker brand 2 teaspoons powdered sugar Directions: Scoop
- [Chocolate Soy Sundae Smoothie](https://drjohnlapuma.com/chocolate-soy-sundae-smoothie/) - This Chocolate Soy Sundae Smoothie recipe is loaded with isoflavones from two soy foods, and with a surprisingly hefty fiber count, this quickie will make your RealAge 5.5 days younger. Preparation Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 0 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: 8 ounce servings Ingredients: 2 cups 1% low fat chocolate soymilk, such as
- [Black Bean and Fresh Cheese Enchiladas, with Warm Tomatillo Salsa](https://drjohnlapuma.com/black-bean-and-fresh-cheese-enchiladas-with-warm-tomatillo-salsa/) - Biting into this satisfying Black Bean and Fresh Cheese Enchiladas, with Warm Tomatillo Salsa recipe transported me back to Central Mexico, and the strong earthy nourishment that sustains people there every day. The richness of black beans, the sparkle of fresh cheese, the bright sweet/sour tang of roasty tomatillo sauce-here’s a lunch to satisfy anyone’s
- [Golden Saffron-Flavored Paella](https://drjohnlapuma.com/golden-saffron-flavored-paella/) - Although pungent at first, the saffron from this Golden Saffron-Flavored Paella recipe adds a floral note to the dish once cooked. Preparation Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 25 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 2 teaspoons olive oil 6 cloves garlic, minced 2 cups quick cooking brown rice, preferably Uncle Ben’s brand 2 cups reduced
- [Grilled Portobello Mushroom Barley Pilaf with Pine Nuts & Arugula](https://drjohnlapuma.com/grilled-portobello-mushroom-barley-pilaf-with-pine-nuts-arugula/) - High in fiber and low in fat, this Grilled Portobello Mushroom Barley Pilaf with Pine Nuts & Arugula recipe is a great lunch and also a terrific dinner—it makes your RealAge 4.2 days younger. Ingredients: 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar 4 large Portobello mushrooms (about 1 pound) Garlic flavored cooking spray 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon
- [Grilled Summer Vegetable Sandwiches with Fresh Goat Cheese](https://drjohnlapuma.com/grilled-summer-vegetable-sandwiches-with-fresh-goat-cheese/) - This densely satisfying Grilled Summer Vegetable Sandwiches with Fresh Goat Cheese recipe makes your RealAge 3.0 days younger. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 10 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 1 large yellow summer squash 1 large zucchini squash 1 small eggplant or white eggplant, about 8 ounces 1 large red or orange bell pepper
- [Keith’s Asparagus](https://drjohnlapuma.com/keith’s-asparagus/) - They're toasty, nutty and a little crazy. Sometimes, I've eaten half a pound, standing at the stove, leaning over the pan, trying not to let the juice run down my chin. This is a recipe for Keith’s Asparagus. Preparation Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 15-18 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 1 pound of asparagus,
- [Light but Hearty Hummus Sandwiches](https://drjohnlapuma.com/light-but-hearty-hummus-sandwiches/) - Silken tofu adds calcium and isoflavones; chickpeas add lots of fiber and very little fat—all of these combine make a delicious Light but Hearty Hummus Sandwiche recipe that makes you 5.2 days younger. Preparation Time: 12 minutes Cooking Time: 0 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 1 large clove garlic, peeled 1 can (15 or
- [Light but Hearty Tortellini Stew, with Fresh Soybeans](https://drjohnlapuma.com/light-but-hearty-tortellini-stew-with-fresh-soybeans/) - This satisfying Light but Hearty Tortellini Stew, with Fresh Soybeans recipe is a great vegetarian main to reset after a few weeks of meat-centered eating. Preparation Time: 6 minutes Cooking Time: 14 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: 1 1/4 cups Calories per serving: 273 Ingredients: 3 cups low salt chicken or vegetable broth 1/4 teaspoon
- [Mango Madness](https://drjohnlapuma.com/mango-madness/) - Absolutely delicious summer drink, this Mango Madness recipe will keep you refreshed and cool during those blazing summer months. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: Servings 4 Serving Size: 1 Cup Ingredients: 1 can (11.5 ounces) mango nectar, such as Trader Joe's Organic Mango Nectar 2 ripe mangos, peeled, seeded, cut into chunks (4 cups)
- [Mandarin Chicken With Almonds](https://drjohnlapuma.com/mandarin-chicken-with-almonds/) - The almonds in this Mandarin Chicken With Almonds recipe are high in monounsaturated fats, the same type of health-promoting fats found in olive oil, which are associated with reduced risk of heart disease. Preparation Time: 20 minutes Servings: 4 Calories: 184 per serving Ingredients One-quarter cup rice wine vinegar 2 teaspoons dark sesame oil 1
- [Multi Mushroom Risotto](https://drjohnlapuma.com/multi-mushroom-risotto/) - Low in fat and very low in sodium, our Multi Mushroom Risotto recipe is bursting with B vitamins, especially niacin—it makes your RealAge 5.3 days younger. Preparation Time: Cooking Time: Servings 0 Serving Size: Ingredients: 3 1/2 cups fat free beef broth or mushroom broth, such as Amy's Kitchen or Imagine Foods, gluten-free 1/2 ounce dried
- [Pan-Asian Shrimp & Vegetables](https://drjohnlapuma.com/pan-asian-shrimp-vegetables/) - Fragrent, colorful and extremely healthy, this recipe for Pan-Asian Shrimp & Vegetables is perfect for everyone. Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 15 minutes Servings: 4 Calories: 346 per serving Ingredients: 6 ounces gluten free brown rice spaghetti pasta, such as Tinkyada brand 1 large head (1-1/2 pounds) fresh bok choy 1 teaspoon canola or
- [Pan Grilled Citrus Salmon on Vegetable Slaw](https://drjohnlapuma.com/pan-grilled-citrus-salmon-on-vegetable-slaw/) - Thin wisps of pea pods underline a generous portion of salmon in the middle of the plate in this Pan Grilled Citrus Salmon on Vegetable Slaw recipe. Sweet, salty and savory, hoisin sauce is made from soy beans, sugar and vinegar. Look for products without added MSG. Preparation Time: 12 minutes Cooking Time: 8 minutes
- [Papaya Fruit Basket with Hint of Curry Yogurt Sauce](https://drjohnlapuma.com/papaya-fruit-basket-with-hint-of-curry-yogurt-sauce/) - You won’t believe this Papaya Fruit Basket with Hint of Curry Yogurt Sauce recipe; the touch of curry and richness of yogurt is just enough to wake you up, and remind you why the morning is the best time of day. If you can’t find crystallized ginger, don’t turn the page-currants will work too, and
- [Pineapple-Banana Frappe](https://drjohnlapuma.com/pineapple-banana-frappe/) - Chock full of potassium, and loaded with isoflavones, every glass of this Pineapple-Banana Frappe recipe makes your RealAge 3 days younger. Preparation Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 0 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: 8 ounce servings Ingredients: 2 large ripe bananas 1 cup 1% low fat soymilk 1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple in juice,
- [Pistachio Pilaf with Butternut Squash and Gingered Cranberry Sauce](https://drjohnlapuma.com/pistachio-pilaf-with-butternut-squash-and-gingered-cranberry-sauce/) - High in potassium, flavonoids, and fiber, the beautifully colored fork-tenderness of this Pistachio Pilaf with Butternut Squash and Gingered Cranberry Sauce recipe makes your RealAge 8.7 days younger. Preparation Time: 8 minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 1 box (6 ounces) wheat pilaf mix, such as Near East brand 1 tablespoon olive
- [Poached Salmon with Sautéed Kale and Cherry Tomatoes](https://drjohnlapuma.com/poached-salmon-with-sauteed-kale-and-cherry-tomatoes/) - Extremely chockfull of Omega 3's and other essential vitamins and minerals, this is a recipe for Poached Salmon with Sautéed Kale and Cherry Tomatoes. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 1 cup each: dry white wine and water 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1-½ teaspoons each: dried rosemary crushed and
- [Pumpkin Pecan Squares](https://drjohnlapuma.com/pumpkin-pecan-squares/) - This is a recipe for Pumpkin Pecan Squares. Pumpkins are an excellent source of fiber. Fiber helps reduce bad cholesterol levels, protect the body against heart disease and diabetes. Preparation Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 25 minutes Servings: 16 Calories: 103 per serving Ingredients: 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour pinch of stevia powder 1
- [Quinoa-Stuffed Chayote Squash](https://drjohnlapuma.com/quinoa-stuffed-chayote-or-zucchini-squash/) - An excellent source of age-lowering calcium and filling fiber, one serving of this Quinoa-Stuffed Chayote Squash recipe will make you 1.4 days younger. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 1 cup quinoa* 2 cups low-salt chicken broth 1 cup frozen baby lima beans 2 large chayote squash (about
- [Rainbow Shrimp Moo Shu Roll Ups](https://drjohnlapuma.com/rainbow-shrimp-moo-shu-roll-ups/) - This Rainbow Shrimp Moo Shu Roll Ups recipe is a loaded protein and vegetable one-dish meal that is healthy and delicious.Preparation Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 5 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 12 ounces uncooked peeled and deveined small, medium or halved large shrimp, thawed if frozen 2 tablespoons chili puree, such as Lee
- [Grilled Tuna Nicoise with Tarragon Mesclun](https://drjohnlapuma.com/grilled-tuna-nicoise-with-tarragon-mesclun/) - A good source of protective polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids, and a treasure trove of monounsaturated fats too, this Grilled Tuna Nicoise with Tarragon Mesclun recipe will make you 5.5 days younger. Preparation Time: 8 minutes Cooking Time: 10 minutes Servings 4 Calories per Serving: 291 Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon coarse grained mustard, such
- [Linda D's Orange Fruit Smoothie](https://drjohnlapuma.com/linda-ds-orange-fruit-smoothie/) - Packed with vitamin C, it offers great possibilities. And other great plytochemicals. This Linda D's Orange Fruit Smoothie recipe has been known to make your total cholesterol level fall. This makes you 6.8 days younger! Preparation Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 0 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: 8 ounce servings Ingredients: 2 cups cut up
- [Roasted Pepper & Fresh Mozzarella Paninis](https://drjohnlapuma.com/roasted-pepper-fresh-mozzarella-paninis-sandwiches/) - Red bell peppers have much more vitamin C than green ones—they stay on the bush a few weeks longer to earn it. Rich in calcium and beta carotene too, these Roasted Pepper & Fresh Mozzarella Paninis (Sandwiches) recipe are easy to make lunches that make your RealAge 6 days younger. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking
- [Sliced Peaches with Raspberries, Blueberries, and Chocolate Chips](https://drjohnlapuma.com/sliced-peaches-with-raspberries-blueberries-and-chocolate-chips/) - This simple Sliced Peaches with Raspberries, Blueberries, and Chocolate Chips recipe dessert is easy to make and full of fresh fruit flavor and packed with essential nutrients and vitamins. It’s a perfect dessert for warmer months when fruit is in season. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 0 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 2
- [Smoked Mozzarella & Veggie Stuffed Pizza](https://drjohnlapuma.com/smoked-mozzarella-veggie-stuffed-pizza/) - One huge slice of this baby has less than 300 calories, but nearly 3,000 mcg of beta-carotene, and plenty of lycopene and potassium, this Smoked Mozzarella & Veggie Stuffed Pizza recipe help make your RealAge younger by 10.0 days. Preparation Time: 8 minutes Cooking Time: 14 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: Cooking spray 1
- [Smoky Pozole with Chipotles, Chilies and Avocado](https://drjohnlapuma.com/smoky_pozole_with_chipotles/) - No wonder so many of us love a fiesta! With fiber like this, and the monounsaturated goodness of avocados, your RealAge drops by 3.2 days with every serving of this Smoky Pozole with Chipotles, Chilies and Avocado recipe. Preparation Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 15 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: about 5 cups total Ingredients:
- [Stir-Fried Sea Scallops and Summer Squash over Minted Couscous](https://drjohnlapuma.com/stir-fried-sea-scallops-and-summer-squash-over-minted-couscous/) - High in potassium and rich in seaside protein, this Stir-Fried Sea Scallops and Summer Squash over Minted Couscous recipe will make your RealAge 5.1 days younger. Preparation Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 12 minutes Servings 4 Calories per serving: 268 Ingredients: ¼ cup light soy sauce 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar 16 large sea scallops
- [Thick Yogurt with Strawberries, Toasted Almonds & Whole Grain Granola](https://drjohnlapuma.com/thick-yogurt-with-strawberries-toasted-almonds-whole-grain-granola/) - This Thick Yogurt with Strawberries, Toasted Almonds & Whole Grain Granola breakfast recipe is speed and simplicity. Our double whammy of flavor makes this berry berry good to you, so you get strawberries two ways. What a luscious way to start the day! Preparation Time: 6 minutes Servings 4 Ingredients: 4 cups fat free or
- [Double Sesame Salmon with Mango-Avocado Salsa](https://drjohnlapuma.com/double-sesame-salmon-with-mango-avocado-salsa/) - Way more omega 3 fatty acids than omega-6, this Double Sesame Salmon with Mango-Avocado Salsa recipe is the tastiest way we know to get your essential fatty acids, and make your RealAge 4.2 days younger. Preparation Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 6 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 1/4 cup plus 4 teaspoons hot mango
- [Double Apple Cinnamon Smoothie](https://drjohnlapuma.com/double-apple-cinnamon-smoothie/) - Rich in potassium this Double Apple Cinnamon Smoothie recipe is shown to lower blood pressure and make your RealAge younger. Each 8 ounce cup of smoothie lowers your RealAge by 1.9 days. Preparation Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 0 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: 8 ounce servings Ingredients: 1/2 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, not
- [Tomato Bruschetta](https://drjohnlapuma.com/tomato-bruschetta/) - This Tomato Bruschetta appetizer or side dish makes a crispy complement to any Italian entree. The tomatoes in this recipe help with reducing the risk of heart disease and are loaded with antioxidants. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 8 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: 16 crostini Ingredients: 1 small whole wheat or French bread
- [Tomato Potato Salad With Canola Oil Mayonnaise](https://drjohnlapuma.com/tomato-potato-salad-with-canola-oil-mayonnaise/) - Tomato Potato Salad With Canola Oil Mayonnaise is super easy to make and very filling as well. The warm potatoes soak up the savory flavors of the vinaigrette making this a delicious side dish. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 12 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: about 5-1/2 cups Ingredients: 2 pounds red potatoes, unpeeled,
- [Triple Berry Blender Blaster](https://drjohnlapuma.com/triple-berry-blender-blaster/) - This recipe for Triple Berry Blender Blasters are a refreshing and delicious way to enjoy a hot summer day. These smoothies are wholly packed with nutrients from the berries and take a second to make! Preparation Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 0 Servings: 4 Serving Size: 8 Ounces Ingredients: 2 cups mixed frozen berries such
- [Tunisian Egg Scramble with Golden Raisins and Paprika](https://drjohnlapuma.com/tunisian-egg-scramble-with-golden-raisins-and-paprika/) - Eating this Tunisian Egg Scramble with Golden Raisins and Paprika recipe will strengthen your cardiovascular system and will keep your skin better nourished and ward off wrinkles longer. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 5 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 2 medium poblano chile peppers 2 teaspoons olive oil 1/2 cup chopped onion 5
- [Tuscan Tuna with Grilled Tomato, Onion & White Bean Salad](https://drjohnlapuma.com/tuscan-tuna-with-grilled-tomato-onion-white-bean-salad/) - Quick and easy to make for lunch or even a light dinner, this healthy Tuscan Tuna with Grilled Tomato, Onion & White Bean Salad recipe places high protein front and center. Preparation Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 10 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 3 tablespoons high quality aged balsamic vinegar 11/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive
- [Two Bean Chili With Avocado and Salsa](https://drjohnlapuma.com/two-bean-chili-with-avocado-and-salsa/) - What a difference a bean makes! Full of protein and energy, when paired with the monounsaturated fat of avocado Two Bean Chili With Avocado and Salsa recipe makes an age reducing combo that sizzles, producing a RA Factor of 8.3 days younger. Preparation Time: Cooking Time: Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 2 teaspoons canola or
- [Warm Chinese Greens with Shiitake Mushrooms and 5 Spice Pancakes](https://drjohnlapuma.com/warm-chinese-greens-with-shiitake-mushrooms-and-5-spice-pancakes/) - Super fragrant and colorful, this Warm Chinese Greens with Shiitake Mushrooms and 5 Spice Pancakes recipe will fill a void that has been inside you for a long time. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 15 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 2 large eggs plus 2 large egg whites 1/2 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice
- [Roasted Chicken with Pesto Gemelli Pasta and Roasted Asparagus](https://drjohnlapuma.com/roasted-chicken-with-pesto-gemelli-pasta-and-roasted-asparagus/) - Engulf in this fragrant, healthy, appetizing Roasted Chicken with Pesto Gemelli Pasta and Roasted Asparagus recipe. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 10 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 8 ounces whole grain pesto gemelli pasta, such as Eden brand 12 ounces boneless, skinless chicken thighs 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 teaspoons dried herbs d’ Provence—the
- [Wasabi Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Sweet Onions](https://drjohnlapuma.com/wasabi-mashed-potatoes-with-caramelized-sweet-onions/) - Enjoy this simple, quick and healthy Wasabi Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Sweet Onions recipe. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 2 pounds red potatoes or red steamers, scrubbed 1 1/4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 cups chopped sweet or yellow onion 1 1/4 teaspoons salt 1 1/4
- [Warm Spinach Salad with Chicken, Apples, and Toasted Almonds](https://drjohnlapuma.com/warm-spinach-salad-with-chicken-apples-and-toasted-almonds/) - Apple, almonds and cinnamon combine beautifully to flavor this Warm Spinach Salad with Chicken, Apples, and Toasted Almonds recipe. If you have leftover roast or grilled chicken, this is a perfect use. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 5 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 1/4 cup sliced almonds 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons apple
- [Portuguese Bean Soup](https://drjohnlapuma.com/portuguese-bean-soup/) - Old Portugal meets new in this updated classic Portuguese Bean Soup recipe. Caldo Verde is a staple, transforming ordinary sweet potato, tomatoes and beans into a deeply flavored meal. Add the balsamic vinegar for an extra sweet/sour note. Preparation Time: 12 minutes Cooking Time: 12 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 2 teaspoons olive oil
- [Mocha-Almond Wake Up Shake](https://drjohnlapuma.com/mocha-almond-wake-up-shake/) - A solid foundation of calcium gives structure and real oomph to this Mocha-Almond Wake Up Shake recipe and makes your RealAge younger—unfortunately, each glass of low fat (1%) milk makes your RealAge 0.2 days older. (We goofed: all the other recipes in the book make you younger; but all also taste great; when we tried
- [Rich and Spicy Black Bean Soup](https://drjohnlapuma.com/rich-and-spicy-black-bean-soup/) - Loaded with the antioxidant lycopene, and not weighed down at all with fat, this recipe for a rustic Rich and Spicy Black Bean Soup goodness makes you 8.1 days younger. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 21 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 1 teaspoon olive oil 1 small red or yellow onion, chopped 3 cloves
- [Roasted Red Pepper and Kalamata Olive Sicilian Salad](https://drjohnlapuma.com/roasted-red-pepper-and-kalamata-olive-sicilian-salad/) - The age-reducing quality of olives, filling your stomach happily and making everything taste better with their lovely healthy green oil, is a special feature of this Roasted Red Pepper and Kalamata Olive Sicilian Salad recipe. It has a RealAge Factor of 3.4 days younger. Preparation Time: 12 minutes Cooking Time: 0 minutes Servings 4 Ingredients:
- [Meaty Tofu and Stir-Fried Bok Choy over Udon Noodles](https://drjohnlapuma.com/meaty-tofu-and-stir-fried-bok-choy-over-udon-noodles/) - Enjoy this delicious, vegan, Meaty Tofu and Stir-Fried Bok Choy over Udon Noodles recipe. Preparation Time: 12 minutes Cooking Time: 8 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 8 ounces udon noodles (thick Japanese buckwheat noodles) 2 tablespoons seasoned black bean paste 2 tablespoons mirin 10 ounces firm style tofu, such as White Wave brand 3 teaspoons
- [Meal Man Pasta Fagioli Soup](https://drjohnlapuma.com/meal-man-pasta-fagioli-soup/) - "Meal Man Pasta Fagioli Soup" -endulge. Another one of my favorite recipes. Preparation Time: 8 minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: 1.5 cups Ingredients: 1 teaspoon olive oil 2 carrots, thinly sliced 4 cloves garlic, minced 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 3 cups low salt vegetable or chicken broth 1/2 cup
- [Golden Banana Pancakes with Fresh Raspberries](https://drjohnlapuma.com/golden-banana-pancakes-with-fresh-raspberries/) - These Golden Banana Pancakes with Fresh Raspberries will please all of your family members. This recipe is the perfect combination of deliciously sweet, warm, soft, and fluffy pancakes. Preparation Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 10 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: 2, 4 inch pancakes Ingredients: 1 cup whole wheat pancake mix, such as Aunt Jemima brand
- [Ginger, Carrot and Orange Cappuccino Cup Soup](https://drjohnlapuma.com/ginger-carrot-and-orange-cappuccino-cup-soup/) - This Ginger, Carrot and Orange Cappuccino Cup Soup is a fresh, delicious, and nutritious recipe. This one-pot soup recipe is an easy weekday meal or side dish that’s vegan and gluten-free! Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 30 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: 5 1/2 cups Ingredients: Cooking spray ½ cup thinly sliced yellow or
- [Ginger Sesame Salmon](https://drjohnlapuma.com/ginger-sesame-salmon/) - A super easy and flavorful Ginger Sesame Salmon recipe chockfull of heart-healthy protein, vitamin A and omega-3 fatty acids! Preparation Time: 10 min Cooking Time: 2 min Servings : 1 Ingredients: 4 ounces salmon 1/4 cup Tamari gluten-free soy sauce such as Sanchi 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil 2-inch peeled ginger 1 teaspoon
- [Ginger Chicken Salad](https://drjohnlapuma.com/ginger-chicken-salad/) - Looking down on this Ginger Chicken Salad recipe is no fair really-from the side, you get heaps of green snow peas, tender pink whispers of sliced pickled ginger, dark sesame oil perfuming the whole dish, and enough chicken to gnaw on and be happy. Preparation Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 0 minutes Servings 4 Ingredients: 1
- [Currant-Apple Muesli Shake Rattle and Roll Shake](https://drjohnlapuma.com/currant-apple-muesli-shake-rattle-and-roll-shake/) - This is an excellent recipe for Currant-Apple Muesli Shake Rattle and Roll Shakes. Ingredients: 3/4 cup low fat muesli 1 cup fat-free milk 1/2 of a crisp, diced medium apple 2 tablespoons dried currants Cinnamon Half a medium banana 1/2 tablespoon honey 2 ice cubes Nutmeg Directions: Combine 3/4 cup low fat muesli (or low
- [Coriander Crusted Sea Bass and Asparagus over Sweet Potato Puree](https://drjohnlapuma.com/coriander-crusted-sea-bass-and-asparagus-over-sweet-potato-puree/) - The carotenoids of sweet potatoes and the omega-3s of fish in this Coriander Crusted Sea Bass and Asparagus over Sweet Potato Puree recipe combine to make your RealAge up to 14.2 days younger. Preparation Time: 12 minutes Cooking Time: 18 minutes Servings: 4 Ingredients: 2 large sweet potatoes (about 1 1/4 pounds) 1 bunch (about
- [Garlicky Orzo with Spinach, Fennel and Orange Zest](https://drjohnlapuma.com/garlicky-orzo-with-spinach-fennel-and-orange-zest/) - This Garlicky Orzo with Spinach, Fennel and Orange Zest is a quick and healthy recipe. Preparation Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 12 minutes Servings 4 Ingredients: 2 teaspoons garlic infused or extra virgin olive oil 6 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup (6 ounces) orzo pasta, (a rice-shaped pasta), uncooked 2 cups low salt chicken broth
- [Frothy Raspberry Orange Smoothie](https://drjohnlapuma.com/frothy-raspberry-orange-smoothie/) - Packed with vitamin C this Frothy Raspberry Orange Smoothie recipe is a great way to start your day and get your antioxidants, as each serving makes you 6.8 days younger. Preparation Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 0 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: 8 ounce servings Ingredients: 2 cups nonfat or 1% vanilla soymilk 2 ripe
- [Fabulous French Toast with Spiced Fruit and Powdered Sugar](https://drjohnlapuma.com/fabulous-french-toast-with-spiced-fruit-and-powdered-sugar/) - The natural goodness of soy protein reduces coronary artery aging, now a FDA approved claim. This Fabulous French Toast with Spiced Fruit and Powdered Sugar recipe breakfast carries a RA Factor of 8.9 days younger. Preparation Time: 8 minutes Cooking Time: 12 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 2 cups unfiltered apple juice or apple cider
- [Double Strawberry Blender Blast](https://drjohnlapuma.com/double-strawberry-blender-blast/) - The strawberries from this Double Strawberry Blender Blast recipe are loaded with vitamin C. Each cup makes your RealAge 5.7 days younger. Preparation Time: 8 minutes Cooking Time: 0 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: 1 cup servings Ingredients: 3 cups (12 ounces) halved hulled fresh strawberries 1 cup fat free or light soymilk 1 cup
- [Double Peach Parfait, with Gingersnaps](https://drjohnlapuma.com/double-peach-parfait-with-gingersnaps/) - Low fat and low calorie, this simple Double Peach Parfait, with Gingersnaps breakfast recipe was never so much like a dessert. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 0 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 1/2 cup coarsely crushed ginger snap cookies 1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted 2 cups low fat peach yogurt 2 cups sliced
- [Caramelized Banana Pecan Pancakes](https://drjohnlapuma.com/caramelized-banana-pecan-pancakes/) - Nothing is more comforting than these Caramelized Banana Pecan Pancakes! This recipe adds naturally sweet nuggets of dried cranberries to a great whole-wheat mix, and you have the goodness of homemade with almost no work. With just a bit of heat, the sugar in bananas caramelizes and turns into sugar you can see. Preparation Time:
- [Artichoke Heart Salad](https://drjohnlapuma.com/artichoke-heart-salad/) - Enjoy this simple and wonderfully healthy artichoke heart salad recipe. Directions: Toss together a quarter head of chopped romaine lettuce with 1/4 medium cucumber (sliced), 2 ripe plum tomatoes (diced), and 4 ounces artichoke hearts (water-packed, drained and quartered). For the dressing, mix a small minced garlic clove, 2 teaspoons olive oil, the juice of
- [Apricot Breakfast Polenta](https://drjohnlapuma.com/apricot-breakfast-polenta/) - This Apricot Breakfast Polenta recipe is bursting with potassium, and even RealAge reducing omega-3 fatty acids, our Breakfast Polenta makes your RealAge 8.4 days younger. Preparation Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 10 minutes Serving Size: 4 Ingredients: 1.5 cups (12 ounces) apricot nectar, such as Santa Cruz Organic 1 cup coarsely chopped dried apricots 1
- [Best Broccoli Sandwich](https://drjohnlapuma.com/best-broccoli-sandwich/) - Enjoy a healthy Broccoli Sandwich recipe. This particular recipe is one of my favorites. Ingredients: ¾ cup (6 ounces) extra firm light silken tofu, such as Mori Nu brand 2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley 1-1/2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 tablespoon water ½ teaspoon salt, divided 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 cup thinly sliced red
- [Succulent Ripe Berry Parfait](https://drjohnlapuma.com/succulent-ripe-berry-parfait/) - Blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries have incredibly high antioxidant capacities—and they’re delicious, to boot. This Succulent Ripe Berry Parfait recipe will make your RealAge 8.4 days younger. Preparation Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 0 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 24 ounces low-fat soy vanilla yogurt, such as White Wave brand 4 teaspoons honey ½ teaspoon
- [Donna's Basic Guacamole](https://drjohnlapuma.com/donnas-basic-guacamole/) - This is a recipe for Donna's Basic Guacamole. Preparation Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 0 minutes Servings: 4 Yield: About 1.5 cups Calories per serving: 178 Ingredients: 2 ripe medium avocados, Haas preferred 1 large plum tomato, diced (1/2 cup) 1 tablespoon minced white or yellow onion 1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice 2 teaspoons minced seeded
- [Dijon Chicken](https://drjohnlapuma.com/dijon-chicken/) - This is a recipe for Dijon Chicken. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 10 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 1/4 cup and 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, divided (in separate portions) 2 tablespoons white wine (such as a Chardonnay or Pinot Blanc) 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce Black pepper to taste 2 tablespoon finely minced shallot,
- [Curried Lentil Soup](https://drjohnlapuma.com/curried-lentil-soup/) - A blockbuster for beta-carotene, this Curried Lentil Soup recipe is a winner of a main dish that makes your RealAge younger. With a RA effect of 4.6 days younger. Preparation Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 25 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: about 6 cups total Ingredients: 1 carton (8 ounces) plain fat free or low
- [Creamy Veggie-Salsa Soup](https://drjohnlapuma.com/creamy-veggie-salsa-soup/) - This is a Creamy Veggie-Salsa Soup recipe. Preparation Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: Cooking spray 1 cup each: small cauliflower florets, chopped onion and chopped carrot 2 cloves garlic, minced 3 cups low salt vegetable broth ½ cup canned evaporated skim milk ½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon freshly
- [Creamy Goat Cheese Omelet with Chives and Corn](https://drjohnlapuma.com/creamy-goat-cheese-omelet-with-chives-and-corn/) - Replacing egg yolks with egg whites in this Creamy Goat Cheese Omelet with Chives and Corn recipe substitutes protein for fat and cholesterol, helping you become 0.1 day younger. Preparation Time: 8 minutes Cooking Time: 5 minutes Servings 2 Serving Size: Ingredients: Cooking spray 1/2 cup fresh or thawed frozen corn kernels 3 large egg
- [Cioppino (Seafood Stew)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/cioppino-seafood-stew/) - This Cioppino (Seafood Stew) recipe makes your RealAge 1.2 days younger; low calorie, high lycopene, great flavor makes this an easy winner. Preparation Time: 8 minutes Cooking Time: 15 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 cup chopped white onion 4 cloves garlic, minced 1/4 cup dry white wine or vermouth
- [Caramelized Ripe Tropical Fruit](https://drjohnlapuma.com/caramelized-ripe-tropical-fruit/) - This recipe if for Caramelized Ripe Tropical Fruit. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 6 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: Cooking spray 2 ripe but firm bananas, peeled, halved lengthwise 4 wedges (1½ inches thick) cored fresh ripe pineapple ½ cup dark rum ¼ teaspoon ground allspice 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar 8 small
- [Cajun Crusted Monkfish](https://drjohnlapuma.com/cajun-crusted-monkfish/) - This a recipe for Cajun Crusted Monkfish. Preparation Time: 12 minutes Cooking Time: 8 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 2/3 cup uncooked whole-wheat couscous 2 to 3 teaspoons Cajun seasonings, as desired 1 egg white 1 tablespoon skim milk or nonfat soymilk 1 pound skinless monkfish fillet Cooking spray 4 ounces (1/2 cup) extra-firm
- [Barbecued Red Snapper with Spicy Red Beans & Rice](https://drjohnlapuma.com/barbecued-red-snapper-with-spicy-red-beans-rice/) - This Barbecued Red Snapper with Spicy Red Beans & Rice recipe is another beta-carotene winner, and with more healthy omega-3s than omega-6s, one serving makes your RealAge 11.4 days younger. Preparation Time: 8 minutes Cooking Time: 12 minutes Servings 4 Serving Size: Ingredients: 1/3 cup hickory barbecue sauce, such as KC Masterpiece brand 2
- [Salmon with Spinach and Mustard Sauce](https://drjohnlapuma.com/salmon-with-spinach-and-mustard-sauce/) - Can a recipe like Salmon with Spinach and Mustard Sauce be this simple, this rich in Omega-3s, this absolutely good-for-you, actually taste great? You bet! I'm inspired by the Mustard Museum in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin, and its 4000 mustard collection: those people love! mustard. Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 10 minutes Servings 4 Ingredients:
- [The Cost of Calories: A Disruptive Technology](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-cost-of-calories-a-disruptive-technology/) - Eating for health doesn't have to be expensive. And it's some of the best medicine: for weight loss, for pre-diabetes, for cancer prevention, for cholesterol control. Courtesy of MyMoneyBlog are easy ways to understand the cost of calories. In speaking with health professionals about what is new and next in nutrition, and the power of
- [Is a Chef a Doctor?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/is-a-chef-a-doctor/) - "...when asked about all the gouty feet and engorged livers he had left behind him, [Bocuse once said] "A chef is not a doctor." So writes Josh Osersky, in "Fine Food and Fat: Are Chefs to Blame for Obesity?" about Paul Bocuse (famous chef, French Cuisine ambassador, and admired teacher). Au contraire. Actually, a chef
- [Getting Back Into Shape, the CEO Way](https://drjohnlapuma.com/getting-back-into-shape-the-ceo-way/) - Successful weight loss for executives is something I have experience with, andGetting back into shape, the CEO way has got one thing right: there's no use in making millions of dollars annually---or even less!-- if you don't have the health to use it. CEO Tim Gordon gets one other thing right: "Analyze, execute a plan,
- [Obesity Withouta Northern Border, With a Clear Difference](https://drjohnlapuma.com/obesity-withouta-northern-border-with-a-clear-difference/) - 23 percent of Canadians aged 18 or older – approx 5.5 m adults – are obese, and 8.6 million more or 36 percent are overweight, as of 2004. It's nearly as many as the U.S, with 40% overweight and 24 percent obese, as of 2004. So, Canada wisely consulted thousands of nutritionists to create a
- [Binge Eating: Do You Have It?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/binge-eating-do-you-have-it/) - The study of binge eatingin over 9300 people, many of whom are obese is very important. It shows that it affects 3.5 percent of women and 2 percent of men...and that it is treatable and curable. Binge eating disorder lasts 8 years, on average (vs. anorexia, which lasts less than 2 years on average). If
- [Diet Can Help Lift Depression](https://drjohnlapuma.com/diet-can-help-lift-depression/) - Several years ago, a woman named Barbara came to me for help with weight loss. At the time, she was 52 and she had gained nearly her age in weight (42 pounds) over the previous year. She was a biology professor and she'd been passed by for tenure for a second time. She felt despondent
- ['Tis the Season for: Soups!](https://drjohnlapuma.com/tis-the-season-for-soups/) - I find soups especially satisfying this time of year. They're warming, as nutrient packed as you want them to be, and since they're the original one-pot meal, typically pretty simple to put together. Below, you'll find three of my favorite soup recipes, which you can follow to a tee or modify by adding any need-to-be
- [Writing a Best-Seller: Resources!](https://drjohnlapuma.com/writing-a-best-seller-resources/) - In Las Vegas last week, I gave a talk last week to 75 physicians on writing, publishing and marketing--specifically, how to write a New York Times Best-Seller (see previous post for strategies). I also love being with out-of-the-box people, who think beyond their training or degree, and are keenly interested in something else too. That
- [Diet experts share advice on how to help kids eat healthier](https://drjohnlapuma.com/diet-experts-share-advice-on-how-to-help-kids-eat-healthier/) - USATODAY.com offers succinct behavioral advice from 3 dietitians on how kids should eat. Sensible, clear, somewhat helpful. But not when kids should eat (not before bed, and always breakfast). What they should eat depends on, so often, how much time there is, what event to get to next, and what is in the fridge or
- [If You Have Metabolic Syndrome, Your Teen Daughter May Have PCOS--Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome](https://drjohnlapuma.com/if-you-have-metabolic-syndrome-your-teen-daughter-may-have-pcos-poly-cystic-ovarian-syndrome/) - Why weight? Researchers at the University of Chicago looked at Moms and Dads of kids with PCOS...the disease that too often leads to infertility, endometrial cancer and heart disease. The symptoms of which are excess hair growth, acne pain and....obesity? Or is that a cause? The thinking is changing because parental metabolic syndrome--also known as
- [Y W8? New obesity initiative targets 'multi-faceted' approach](https://drjohnlapuma.com/y-w8-new-obesity-initiative-targets-multi-faceted-approach/) - New obesity initiative targets 'multi-faceted' approach is the U.K.'s latest answer to childhood obesity, and they're on the right track. England is catching up to the U.S.: 33% of men and 28% of women in the U.K. will be obese by 2010, approximately 13 million people. And 37% of U.K. women are on a diet
- [Why Tea Reduces Stress: Quickie Culinary Medicine](https://drjohnlapuma.com/why-tea-reduces-stress-quickie-culinary-medicine/) - Brits drinking 4 cups of black tea daily for 6 weeks may sound like a lot of going to the loo. But new well-done tea and stress research shows 20 percent lower (stress hormone) cortisol levels less than an hour after a stress, with less sticky blood platelets--meaning a lower risk of clots and heart
- [Pummeling Your PSA--A Glass of Pomegranate Juice Daily Slows Prostate Cancer Recurrence](https://drjohnlapuma.com/pummeling-your-psa-a-glass-of-pomegranate-juice-daily-slows-prostate-cancer-recurrence/) - PSA and the pomegranate...more than onomatopoeia. New research at UCLA tested 50 men with prostate cancer who had surgery or radiotherapy and had PSAs less than 5 ng/mL and Gleason score less than or equal to 7 afterwards. These men drank 8 ounces of pomegranate juice daily, and their PSAs doubled almost 4 times as
- [Natural Solutions for Digestive Troubles](https://drjohnlapuma.com/natural-solutions-for-digestive-troubles/) - Now that it's November, the time of the year is swiftly approaching that involves eating, eating... and more eating. I love a good holiday meal as much as the next guy, but the temptation to over indulge (turkey! stuffing! potatoes! pie! okay, one more piece of pie...) can leave you feeling bloated, nauseated, and unwell.
- [Toxin Free Water: Is Filtering Enough?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/toxin-free-water/) - We are mostly water. That doesn't mean we're dear or deeply sought...though we are. It does mean that we are what we drink. And the quality of our water helps determines our health. Stewards of water quality, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that carcinogenic hexavalent chromium, the "Erin Brockovich chemical", is present in 88%
- [The Cancer Fighting Properties of Green Tea](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-cancer-fighting-properties-of-green-tea/) - When it comes to tea, the more pure the leaf in your brew, the better the health benefits—and green tea (Camellia sinensis) leaves, which do not go through an oxidation process, have the richest nutrient profile among all varieties of tea. Research shows that people who drink four or more cups of green tea each
- [How To Do a Breast Self-Exam](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-do-a-breast-self-exam/) - Performing a breast self-exam (BSE) at least once per month is the best way to detect a lump or other abnormality. It is best to do a BSE the same time every month. For those who are menstruating, choose a time in the month after your cycle completes. How to do a breast self-exam Note:
- [Dr. Oz' 4 Secret Reasons Women are Exhausted](https://drjohnlapuma.com/dr-oz-4-secret-reasons-women-are-exhausted/) - Our ABC station (KEYT, and former CNN editor Shirin Rafaee) asked me about Dr Oz' 4 Secret Reasons Women Are Exhausted (previously, we spoke about belly fat). Here they are: 1. Carb Coma: a catchy way to sum up the sharp drop in blood sugar and shunting of blood to your stomach (not to your
- [EU May Ban Misleading Health Claims, Which are Ordinary in the U.S.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/eu-may-ban-misleading-health-claims-which-are-ordinary-in-the-us/) - -----
- [Back to School:  Calories in Kids Food When Eating Out](https://drjohnlapuma.com/back-to-school-calories-in-kids-food-when-eating-out/) - It's not just kids who are going back to school this Fall. It's Kids' Menus. Except that they're failing already! Adult menus are usually far healthier. Read the whole report The Book of Eli move , free, here. Have your kid order from the adult menu! And then split the meal with her! For example,
- [Someone’s in the Kitchen With Michelle: The Secret Ingredient Is Politics](https://drjohnlapuma.com/someones-in-the-kitchen-with-michelle-the-secret-ingredient-is-politics/) - One of the most powerful messages a country can send to parents is in the organic---and it did not have to be organic--garden on the White House Lawn. And of the best ways to find food-interested people is on Food TV: Marian Burros of the NY Times reports: "(On January 3, 2010, on Iron Chef
- [Does Childhood Obesity Cause Thyroid Disease, Or Vice Versa?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/does-childhood-obesity-cause-thyroid-disease-or-vice-versa/) - A new study shows that over 3 years, of 186 obese kids, 73 had ultrasound tests that looked like Hashimoto's Disease. Hashimoto's Disease is an auto-immune destructive disease. They body's immune system attacks they thyroid, causing it to fail. The body makes antibodies against the thyroid, by mistake. In this same study, 23 kids (12%)
- [Make a Wish: Once Upon a School Makes a Difference](https://drjohnlapuma.com/make-a-wish-once-upon-a-school-makes-a-difference/) - TED is helping "you find a creative way of supporting your local public school." Like many other efforts, it has a chance of getting kids excited about food and health. It also shares ideas and inspiration freely. daybreakers 2010 One of the most popular videos is about chocolate. https://vimeo.com/2840754 Sure it's messy, but if kids
- [Home Cooking--A Vote for Wherever You're From](https://drjohnlapuma.com/home-cooking-a-vote-for-wherever-youre-from/) - -----
- [Food-Drug Interactions: Why Grapefruit Juice Gives You More Drug Than You Bargained For](https://drjohnlapuma.com/food-drug-interactions-why-grapefruit-juice-gives-you-more-drug-than-you-bargained-for/) - -----grapefruit juice increases availability of some drugs to your system is not new, but not well known
- [National Lemonade Day & The Health Benefits of Lemons](https://drjohnlapuma.com/national-lemonade-day-the-health-benefits-of-lemons/) - As you may know by now, there's a holiday for almost everything these days—and today is no exception: Happy National Lemonade Day! While lemonade itself can be a sugar bomb, I'll happily espouse the health benefits of its number 1 ingredient: the lemon. This sour fruit packs a punch when it comes to flavor, but
- [Strategies for Dealing with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/strategies-for-dealing-with-ibs/) - When the smooth rhythm of the muscles of the digestive tract is disrupted—either moving too quickly or too slowly—we experience digestive distress. For some of us, this distress can be frequent and painful, creating a major disruption in our life and in our lifestyle. Several health conditions are marked by severe digestive distress, including ulcerative
- [Low-FODMAP Diet for IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/low-fodmap-diet-for-ibs/) - Digestive complaints are among the most common health concerns, and IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) is one of the most commonly diagnosed causes. If you're experiencing distress, and you've determined after my previous article on IBS that you want to do something to mitigate your symptoms, the low-FODMAP diet is a great place to start. I've
- [Is it the Carbs? Or the Calories? Or Both?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/is-it-the-carbs-or-the-calories-or-both/) - Two interesting takes on the new Harvard study in the NEJM that shows that some foods fatten Americans...and by how many pounds per year. Marion Nestle at Food Politics believes that "people who eat potato chips and fries also tend to eat too much in general, making these foods markers for a diet leading to
- [Your Doctor Should Measure Your Kid's Body Mass Index](https://drjohnlapuma.com/your-doctor-should-measure-your-kids-body-mass-index/) - -----
- [Confused about Your Symptoms? Keep a Symptom Journal](https://drjohnlapuma.com/confused-about-your-symptoms-keep-a-symptom-journal/) - If you're confused about or exasperated by persistent symptoms that are affecting your quality of life, keeping a symptom journal is one of the most effective ways you can help yourself and your doctor. Whether you have a known medical condition or are experiencing vague clusters of symptoms that don't fit nicely under a given
- [Slow-Cooker Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic](https://drjohnlapuma.com/slow-cooker-chicken-with-40-cloves-of-garlic/) - Easy, simmered slow-cooker chicken is perfect for a back-porch meal—and this slow-cooker chicken with 40 cloves of garlic is especially delectable. To insure optimal flavor and a tender entree, opt for bone-in thighs instead of white meat which can dry out when cooked for long periods. Make prep easier with pre-peeled organic garlic, and pretty-up
- [100 Years Ago, JAMA Thought that a Liter of Water at Meals Was Too Much](https://drjohnlapuma.com/100-years-ago-jama-thought-that-a-liter-of-water-at-meals-was-too-much/) - JAMA has a section called "100 years ago" in which the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) quotes a column from its archives, verbatim. Last week, it was January 13, 1912 WATER-DRINKING WITH MEALS "...While the ingestion of moderate quantities of water with meals may be harmless in persons with good gastric motility, since
- [How Do Nuts Lower Cholesterol?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-do-nuts-lower-cholesterol/) - -----nuts appear to be one of the few foods with actual medical effects
- [Fat Parents to Blame for Childhood Obesity?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/fat-parents-to-blame-for-childhood-obesity/) - A new, long UK medical school study reported in the Telegraph suggests that over-feeding preschoolers--not under exercising them--is the key behavior to help change. "Maybe the focus of childhood obesity prevention should be on parents-to-be...Children compensate for what they do or do not get," says Terry Wilkin, a professor of endocrinology and metabolism at Peninusal
- [M&M Math for Fat Kids...or, Do You Look Like a Hershey's Kiss Because You Learned Hershey's Milk Chocolate Weights and Measures"?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/mm-math-for-fat-kidsor-do-you-look-like-a-hersheys-kiss-because-you-learned-hersheys-milk-chocolate-weights-and-measures/) - M&M math for fat kids - Los Angeles Times This smart editorial by a former middle school math teacher says "until we refuse to buy junk food that masquerades as lesson plans..." our kids health problems will mulitply, divide and add up so fast we won't know what to subtract first. Short, LA Times Listed
- [Childhood Obesity Off the Scale in California - Los Angeles Times](https://drjohnlapuma.com/childhood-obesity-off-the-scale-in-california-los-angeles-times/) - Why does Southern California have a pediatric obesity epidemic? Childhood Obesity Off the Scale in California. The LA Times lays it out: "28% of (5th, 7th and 9th graders) are overweight, a 6% increase since 2001". Latinos, Pacific Islanders and blacks are more overweight than others---but it's not just ethnicity: it's *acceptable to eat more
- [Nipping Parental Obesity in the Bud: Avoiding the Junk Food Trap (a WSJ Excerpt)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/nipping-parental-obesity-in-the-bud-avoiding-the-junk-food-trap-a-wsj-excerpt/) - -----
- [Who is Responsible For How Much You Eat? What Chefs Think.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/who-is-responsible-for-how-much-you-eat-what-chefs-think/) - Can diner obesity be predicted? And if so, do chefs have anything to do with it? A new survey of executive chefsattending culinary conferences (which means their cooks are back at the ranch, cooking) shows that most chefs serve large portions because customers want them, and perceive better value when they get them. Ho hum.
- [Improving Memory in Alzheimers: Can Diet Do It?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/improving-memory-in-alzheimers-can-diet-do-it/) - Alzheimer's accounts for about 60% of memory loss in elderly people, but it is not a part of normal aging. Short-term memory fails first. Then language skills and judgment. Food timing affects memory, behavior and cognition: giving more carbs at night worsened agitation and behavior in one study. But carbs are important, as are fat
- [Listening When Your Body Talks](https://drjohnlapuma.com/listening-when-your-body-talks/) - Your body speaks a language—but one that needs a little translation! So be sure you're listening when your body talks... There is an extraordinary two-way communication going on between your body and mind that affects both your physical and emotional health. Instead of words, our body talks to us in the form of symptoms. For
- [Move Well, Move Often](https://drjohnlapuma.com/move-well-move-often/) - Move well and move often: it's smart advice for maintaining a strong, healthy body from head-to-toe, inside and out. With mounting evidence of the ill-effects associated with sitting too much, moving well has become essential for living well. The way your body functions is in direct relation to its structure and vice versa. To get
- [Coffee, Chocolate, Caffeine and Kidney Stones: Do the Drinks Help or Hurt?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/coffee-chocolate-caffeine-and-kidney-stones-do-the-drinks-help-or-hurt/) - -----
- [How to Promote Healthy Blood Vessels](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-promote-healthy-blood-vessels/) - The health of your heart - and actually of your entire body - depends upon a strong network of healthy blood vessels. From the womb through old age, healthy arteries, capillaries and veins are essential for optimal functioning of all organs, muscles and nerves. They fuel and cleanse your body in two ways: efficient nutrient
- [Sweet Potato, A Superhero Superfood](https://drjohnlapuma.com/sweet-potato-a-superhero-superfood/) - Here's an interesting fact for you: one medium sweet potato provides 100% of your daily needs for Vitamin A—as well as a healthy dose of vitamin C, several of the B vitamins, plus the minerals potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium and zinc. That's one powerful potato! But that's not all.... Sweet potato is also abundant in
- [The Sushi Diagnosis: Diet or Dementia?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-sushi-diagnosis-diet-or-dementia/) - The new reports on total body burden of mercury appearing to cause atopic dermatitis, or eczema, and of high mercury counts in Pacific seabirds reminds me of Matthew Davis, the previously healthy 6 year old whose daily tuna habit showed up as learning problems and disinterest in school. The Wall Street Journal reported it, and
- [Obesity: Follow the Money](https://drjohnlapuma.com/obesity-follow-the-money/) - Adult obesity has nearly doubled in the U.S. in 16 years. Obesity-related quality of life has been nearly cut in half (using QALYs, which Eddie Lawlor and I showed had ethical challenges and predicted the health care financing problems we're having now). And following the money gives a direct answer to this obesity problem. (see
- [Disney to Limit Character Licensing to 'Healthful' Foods](https://drjohnlapuma.com/disney-to-limit-character-licensing-to-healthful-foods/) - Disney's obesity charge is actually about dollars and liability, not obesity. CEO Iger: "There is also a business opportunity here." Disney currently has deals untily 1/1/09 with the Big Three of Childhood Obesity: Kellogg for cereal and Keebler cookies; Coca-Cola and its sugar-loaded Minute Maid; and McDonald's for Happy Meals...and no, the trans fats are
- [Diet Soft Drinks: Do They Cause Weight Gain?  And Why? Lessons from Clinical Practice](https://drjohnlapuma.com/diet-soft-drinks-do-they-cause-weight-gain-and-why-lessons-from-clinical-practice/) - The Framingham Heart Study has been ongoing for 50 years and three generations. Boston University researchers studied those without metabolic syndrome. That means any 3 of a large waist, low HDL (good) cholesterol, higher blood sugar, blood pressure or triglyceride levels. Metabolic syndrome puts you at greater risk for heart disease and stroke. At least
- [The Lancet : Fast-food habits, weight gain, and insulin resistance (the CARDIA study): 15-year prospective analysis](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-lancet-fast-food-habits-weight-gain-and-insulin-resistance-the-cardia-study-15-year-prospective-analysis/) - "How often do you eat breakfast, lunch or dinner at places such as McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Arby's, Pizza Hut, or Kentucky Fried Chicken?" That was the question answered by The Lancet's new 15-year prospective study Over 3000 people who ate meals from fast-food restaurants more than twice a week gained 4·5 kg (11 pounds)
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- [6 Weekly Sessions Treat Childhood Obesity...for 6 Months](https://drjohnlapuma.com/6-weekly-sessions-treat-childhood-obesityfor-6-months/) - Childhood obesity model programs are few and far between. But one in Los Angeles, with over 500 kids, including 60 percent girls, for 9 year olds, has promise. It was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson foundation and implemented by Kaiser Permenante. 45 percent were Hispanic, 7% were African American and 12% were biracial. The
- [What vegetable is highest in antioxidants?  Do organics have more?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-vegetable-is-highest-in-antioxidants-do-organics-have-more/) - -----
- [Vitamin A for Eye Health](https://drjohnlapuma.com/vitamin-a-for-eye-health/) - Vitamin A is part of a family of substances called retinols and is vital to our overall health—most specifically our skin, immune system, and eyes. Most people think of carrots when they hear Vitamin A, but Vitamin A can be acquired from both plant and animal sources of food. The source makes a difference in
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- [Night Eating Syndrome: Underdiagnosed and Sadly Untreated](https://drjohnlapuma.com/night-eating-syndrome-underdiagnosed-and-sadly-untreated/) - -----
- [New Cholesterol Reducing Foods Top Shopping Lists](https://drjohnlapuma.com/new-cholesterol-reducing-foods-top-shopping-lists/) - -----
- [Snack Attack on Big Fat](https://drjohnlapuma.com/snack-attack-on-big-fat/) - By Libby Copeland Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, November 3, 2002; Page F01 Oh, it's important to be on the right side and all, but what really gets John Banzhaf going is being on the short side of a long-odds fight. He likes to position himself as a little fellow with a pickax, digging away at social ills and wrongheaded industries. He did it with tobacco for 35 years, arguing for nonsmoker's rights, helping eliminate cigarette advertising on television, helping establish nonsmoking sections in public places and smoking bans on planes, trains and buses. Now, he wants to sue for obesity. The public, he allows, may not quite be ready for this; they may find the notion downright "bizarre." But they'll come around. After all, this is about "using legal action for what seems to me very important," says Banzhaf, an unflappable, roly-poly law professor at George Washington University. "Saving human lives." It's too bad it has to be this way, Banzhaf says, but when legislators don't step up to the plate, the lawyers have to push for social reform. So, in the past, for causes ranging from discrimination to preventing a tobacco-sponsored tournament, he has sued Hertz, Spiro Agnew and the Interstate Commerce Commission, filed legal complaints against dry cleaners, male-only clubs, the National Park Service, Rep. Barney Frank and Mrs. Simpson's Dance Classes, threatened Dulles Airport, and delivered a Freedom of Information Act to the Office of the President. Sue 'em all! When Banzhaf digs into a new crusade, he starts generating pithy sayings for the cable news shows and planning gimmicks. (Bring on a dog for the Hill testimony? A motorcycle helmet and asbestos gloves for the news conference?) He starts thinking about how to pick off the more vulnerable targets (say, school board members) to make it easier to get the big companies. In the obesity cause, Banzhaf has established himself smack dab in the center of all the controversy. (And, um, publicity.) He has been attending conferences on the legal tactics, advising on key lawsuits, and talking up the issue for anyone who breathes. Who will he sue now? For starters, schools with food contracts that provide sugary and fatty food, and fast-food companies in general. His argument: Many food companies have neglected to inform consumers about just how bad their products are, have made misleading health claims about them and, worst of all, have exerted enormous pressure on their most gullible audience -- children. Eventually, he predicts, the states could sue to recover the billions they spend on obesity-related diseases (diabetes, strokes), and then the companies could settle, presumably for oodles of money, like the tobacco companies did. Banzhaf, 62, is an unpaid informal adviser on two New York lawsuits brought by attorney Samuel Hirsch: one filed in July against four fast-food companies on behalf of a 5-foot-11, 270-pound man, and another filed weeks later against McDonald's on behalf of two overweight young people. Although it looks like only the latter suit will go forward, Banzhaf thinks both are a harbinger. People may laugh about them now, he says, as they once did with tobacco, but one day they'll see the wisdom. Go ahead, call the Big Fat fight frivolous. He's heard it before. "Everything's always called frivolous," Banzhaf says with a twinkle, "but we just keep winning the damn things." Weighty Matters There is no doubt obesity is a serious health crisis. Last December, then-Surgeon General David Satcher said obesity might surpass tobacco as the leading cause of preventable deaths in the nation, and he linked it to 300,000 deaths a year (tobacco is linked to 430,000). Sixty percent of adults and 13 percent of children are overweight or obese, Satcher said. He recommended better nutrition in schools and promotion of exercise in schools, workplaces and communities, and called on restaurants to offer more nutrition information. Those fighting Big Fat frame their enemy as a powerful industry with enormous influence on the country's attitudes toward food and nutrition and a considerable stake in getting the public to eat, a lot. "It has become a social norm that it's okay to drink soft drinks all the time," says Marion Nestle, chair of New York University's Department of Nutrition, whose new book "Food Politics" is sharply critical of the food industry. "There isn't a place where it's not okay to eat. . . . You have to ask, when did this happen and how did it happen and to whose advantage did it happen." Banzhaf and Nestle are part of a growing movement that wants to do something about fat America. She'd like to get food marketing out of schools. Others recommend taxes on fatty food; Banzhaf suggests perhaps raising health insurance costs for the obese. And, of course, suing. Making the Case The way John Banzhaf sees the obesity lawsuits, they're just the latest in his lifelong effort toward "pushing the boundaries." He says he has nothing personal against the food industry; in fact, he used to eat in fast-food joints several times a week. He says he will make no money from the New York litigation. No, it's nothing personal. It's about personality. On Banzhaf's Web site, he boasts of having been called a "legal terrorist." He has built a public persona on this principle, for decades teaching a legal activism course that encourages law students to bring to court social reform lawsuits. His favorite saying -- "Sue the bastards" -- has been linked to him so many times, it's downright trite to bring it up. The saying is on his office wall, and also on his office wall in Latin. His license plate says SUE BAST. Needless to say, certain people rather dislike him. "He is the loudest and most relentless voice," says John Doyle of the Center for Consumer Freedom, a Washington-based restaurant trade association, who finds Banzhaf a little, um, shrill and likes to tell about the time he says a radio station had to turn off Banzhaf's mike to shut him up. (Banzhaf doesn't remember it that way.) If you ask Doyle -- and indeed, some of the very same lawyers who pushed for Big Tobacco litigation along with Banzhaf -- the problem with suing Big Fat is that it ignores the consumer's free will. "This portrays Americans as the most pathetic, pitiable people in the world, that we are incapable of limiting what we eat," says Donald W. Garner, a Southern Illinois University law professor and anti-tobacco crusader. Garner and others can point to a number of places where the comparison between Big Tobacco and Big Fat falls short. First of all, food has an inherent value. It sustains life, and even fatty food can be acceptable in moderation. Tobacco, on the other hand, has arguably no "social utility." Another discrepancy is that there's no hard evidence that fast-food companies have engaged in the coverups and intentional misrepresentation that Big Tobacco did. Even Banzhaf will say as much, though he says he has heard intimations and suspects he'll find "embarrassing" things once more lawsuits get rolling. A more crucial distinction is that many smokers were able to cite addiction in their inability to stop smoking. This made it tougher for tobacco companies to argue that smokers were responsible for their own actions, particularly if they started smoking as children. Will Banzhaf claim Big Macs are addictive? Here, things get complicated. Banzhaf and his cohorts argue that the concept of "free will" is a fallacy. "Choice is based on what? Where do people get information about food?" says Richard Daynard, a law professor at Northeastern University who has been in discussions with Banzhaf about the obesity crisis. "They get it from where America learns everything, which is basically television and advertising on television." Free will is particularly thorny when it comes to children. Nearly every parent, Banzhaf and his cohorts argue, knows how enchanting fast-food restaurants are to kids, knows their Pavlovian salivation at the sight of the golden arches, their back seat chants for chicken nuggets and fries. "The kids are lured into McDonald's," Banzhaf says. "If you've just seen Star Wars and you want the Princess Leia doll . . . you've got to go in, got to get a Happy Meal to get it." Are the parents partly responsible? Sure, Banzhaf says, but that doesn't excuse the restaurants. But Banzhaf doesn't think addiction needs to be a component of future litigation. He believes he might be able to bring these cases under product liability law. He offers the examples of how companies put warnings for parents on toys with small parts, or warnings on stepladders not to stand on the top step. " 'Don't give to kids under certain age -- choking hazard.' This should be obvious to anyone of any intelligence, much more so than the dangers of fast food, and yet they know that if they don't have that warning, they can be held liable," Banzhaf says. What does the consumer know and not know? If you walk into Burger King and order a bacon cheeseburger, don't you know what you're doing? "The law doesn't protect you from bad choices, particularly when the risks are obvious," says Banzhaf's colleague at GW, law professor Jonathan Turley. "Few people view Burger King as a place to slim down." To which Banzhaf replies: "In general somebody may know fast food is fattening, but that's very different from being told" just how bad it is, in hard numbers: fat, saturated fat, sodium, calories. Two years ago, students in Banzhaf's legal activism class instigated what eventually became lawsuits against McDonald's for flavoring its french fries with beef extract without telling all of its customers, angering vegetarians and Hindus. McDonald's settled by donating $10 million and issuing an apology. Banzhaf believes this makes his point succinctly: Some companies aren't giving consumers enough information to make smart choices. Where is this all going? Banzhaf would like to see clear nutrition information at fast-food counters, ideally up on the board, next to the price. Maybe there should be signs on the doors: "Eating out frequently can lead to obesity." The way he sees it, a cheeseburger-and-fries order is a potentially dangerous product and deserves a warning, just like a pack of cigarettes. How else, he asks, can society counter all the expensive advertising the food industry puts out? Where do the lawsuits end? Banzhaf rules little out. Junk-food packagers who label nutrition information correctly are probably safe from suits, he says, but theoretically it would be possible to sue other chains, like Denny's or even Starbucks. He does not propose suing mom-and-pop restaurants because it's not practical (money-wise) or effective (for producing big changes). But could we sue gun companies? Alcohol manufacturers? Banzhaf says it's all fair game; some economic theory would suggest such suits would be beneficial to society. They would cause the prices of certain products to rise, forcing those who buy them to pay for the crime and accidents that inevitably occur. It might even be possible to increase the extent to which dog owners are held liable for the cost of keeping their dogs, even if they aren't negligent, on the principle that there are an inevitable number of dog bites yearly. Lobbyist Doyle says the whole thing is insanity -- any product is potentially dangerous, if you stretch the potential far enough. If Banzhaf puts a label on every burger, "I would argue he would have to put the same warning label on a bag of carrots because if one ate just carrots and water they would be dead in two months," Doyle says. To which Banzhaf replies: "His statement is proof that you carry any good idea to an illogical extreme it becomes illogical." The Human Factor There's yet another impediment to likening junk food to cigarettes, and it's key. Consider all the factors that contribute to obesity, from genetics to sedentary lifestyles. In the tobacco suits, lung cancer could be more directly associated with smoking. But how can you prove that Joe Blow's obesity was caused by too many trips to Wendy's, especially if he eats most of his meals at home? Add to that the number of different restaurants a person might eat at, and the picture gets even murkier. Banzhaf acknowledges that many factors play into obesity, but points out that the scourge of fatness is on the rise nationwide. There's no reason to think our genes have changed, or our willpower, he says. What's different now is the nation's lack of exercise and "the proliferation of fast-food restaurants with their ubiquitous advertising and their supersized portions." Manhattan attorney Hirsch believes his latest suit illustrates this connection. There are two plaintiffs and five proposed plaintiffs, all between the ages of 13 and 19. They are all overweight. One is a 15-year-old boy with diabetes who weighs 400 pounds. Some are from poor families with little parental supervision and have eaten the majority of their weekly dinners at McDonald's. The restaurant became a home away from home. Hirsch alleges that McDonald's failure to provide more prominent and understandable nutrition information amounts to a deceptive practice. He says the chain's marketing implies that its food is healthy and that if children eat it, they will grow big and strong. But if McDonald's food is consumed as intended -- which is not in moderation, he says -- it amounts to a true health threat to youngsters. McDonald's officials are aggressively defending themselves. "We believe that the New York lawsuits are frivolous and really don't have merit, and common sense will tell you that they don't make much sense," says spokesman Walt Riker, on the speakerphone with others from McDonald's headquarters in Oak Brook, Ill. Riker declines to detail the company's legal response but is happy to discuss the "misconceptions and, frankly, propaganda" surrounding his company. The hype has "reached incredibly unfair proportions," he says. "We take nutrition extremely responsibly around here and we have for a really long time." Ann Rusniak, the company's chief nutritionist, says nutrition brochures are available in all its stores, as well as online and through a toll-free number. She points to McDonald's menu items like low-fat fruit and yogurt parfait, grilled chicken sandwiches and a new salad line due out this month. Even the Happy Meals, Rusniak says, are "right-sized for kids," calorically speaking. "Our wide range of choices on our menu makes it possible for people to eat there three times a day if they wanted to, mixing and matching," Rusniak says. "Those three meals that you can eat at McDonald's fits in under 2,000 calories," says Riker. He adds a little boast: He has eaten at McDonald's every day for 10 years and, at 5 feet 11, weighs only 153 pounds. Interestingly, though, McDonald's France, a division of the U.S. corporation, sponsored a media campaign earlier this year quoting a nutritionist who advised that parents not allow children to eat at McDonald's more than once a week. "We're highly decentralized," Riker says of his company. "We strongly disagree" with the ad. Tipping the Scales Is public opinion changing? For the time being, the weight of it does not appear to fall on Banzhaf's side. Samuel Hirsch's first obesity suit involved the 270-pound maintenance supervisor Caesar Barber, whose capacity to elicit sympathy was questionable. Barber kept eating fast food even after a heart attack and the warning of a doctor. Hirsch has since decided to put Barber's suit on hold because he thinks it may be tough to bring for a variety of reasons. Anyway, when Hirsch, Barber and Roberta Pelman (mother of an overweight girl in the second suit) appeared on the Dr. Phil show in September, they got . . . perhaps the best word is creamed. Dr. Phil McGraw: Did you choose the food? Pelman: Yes, I did. McGraw: And did you serve it to your child? Pelman: Yes, I did. McGraw: So she could sue you for putting it in front of her? Pelman: Well, you know . . . Hirsch: Yes, she could. McGraw: Okay. Anyway. Next, a grown man who makes his own decisions and also blames fast-food chains for his super size. Reactions like this are why Banzhaf's efforts have as much a public relations goal as a legal one. One hopeful scenario is that, as more information about the food industry comes to light, companies will be shamed into changing their ways, or into settling cases instead of taking them to trial. Eye of the Storm The way Banzhaf talks about the fat litigation, it all just sort of happened. After the surgeon general's report came out, reporters who knew him as an anti-tobacco warrior started calling him to ask him what he thought of obesity suits. "Here I am thrust by accident into this maelstrom," he says, sitting in his GW office beneath a sign that says "Honest Lawyer." The thing about Banzhaf is, he's always in a maelstrom. If there were a homing device for maelstroms, he would have invented it. Look up "maelstrom" in the dictionary and . . . you get the point. "A few people have said I get far more publicity than I deserve," Banzhaf allows. "Which may mean I'm doing well." As a bright young lawyer in the mid-'60s (he received his law degree from Columbia University and an electrical engineering degree from MIT), Banzhaf hit on a clever idea to fight what was just beginning to be considered a public health problem. He filed an action with the FCC requesting airtime for anti-tobacco messages, an effort that eventually ended cigarette advertising on television. Later, he founded Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), an organization instrumental in nonsmoker's rights issues. He likes to tell war stories: About the time he almost served as an expert witness for Larry Flynt on anti-smoking ads in Hustler. About how during Watergate, he filed a suit calling for a special prosecutor. About the time as a law student when he managed to register what he says were the first copyrights ever for computer programs, and the time, also as a student, when he testified in Congress. One of Banzhaf's colleagues at GW describes him as a "lone wolf." Victor Schwartz, a Washington lawyer who went to law school with Banzhaf, says, "He was exceptionally bright, very serious . . . I believe I was the only person on Columbia Law Review who would make him laugh." Maelstroms. In one of his more famous incidents, on a talk show in the mid-'80s, Banzhaf dumped water on a right-to-smoke lawyer who was lighting up. When talking about school contracts with companies that market junk food and soda, Banzhaf compares school boards to prostitutes. During a recent legal activism class (naturally known on campus as "Sue the Bastards"), Banzhaf instructs a tiny seminar group on the "care and feeding of the press." His main message is: Be helpful, be quotable and be everywhere. He offers tips on everything from what font to use on news releases ("I use Ariel bold 12") to what to write ("Hidden deadly ingredients! . . . Whoa!") to how many speakers to have at a news conference ("Even Ralph Nader shares the podium with others"). Why is all of this important? The students understand. Publicity puts pressure on the other side. It lends legitimacy to a cause. It helps draw allies. And let's not forget one more benefit -- not the most important one, Banzhaf cautions, but a factor nonetheless. "Some psychic satisfaction," he says. "You get on TV . . . there's something to that." After class, the students give their assessment. They appreciate the power of their professor's tactics. "People might say the obesity lawsuit is frivolous," says 23-year-old Jake Kramer. "But they're still talking about it, and that's what matters." -----
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- [Cholesterol: Statins, Praluent or Mediterranean Diet?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/cholesterol-statins-praluent-or-mediterranean-diet/) - Controlling cholesterol is a small part of preventing heart disease. Yet physicians seldom offer the most powerful, least risky weapons we have against it. Instead, we recommend statin medications, and soon can prescribe a just-FDA approved biotech medication called Praluent. For decades, physicians have been trained to lower Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels below
- [7 Translated Toxic Ingredients on Food Labels](https://drjohnlapuma.com/7-translated-toxic-ingredients-on-food-labels/) - When you are cruising the grocery store aisles, you probably flip over a few items to scrutinize their nutrition labels. But do you understand what you're looking at? The government is working on updating the label to reflect today's nutritional concerns and include more realistic serving sizes, but that's a long way off. Until then,
- [Just Two Changes And You're Golden](https://drjohnlapuma.com/just-two-changes-and-youre-golden/) - If we made only two changes in the way we ate, and one of them was to drink water (preferably citrus water, as seen yesterday on Dr Oz) instead of sugar sweetened beverages, what would the other be? You start by acknowledging that soda is the new cigarette and energy drinks, sweet tea and juice
- [Alcohol Rx for Men Who Survive Heart Attacks: Has the Time Come?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/alcohol-rx-for-men-who-survive-heart-attacks-has-the-time-come/) - The purpose in preventing a man's second heart attack is to prevent death. And disability. In other words, it's quality of life, not just quantity. For decades, American physicians have proscribed alcohol to men, warning of its dangers (which are real, if done in excess) and putting aside the data which show regular, moderate drinking
- [TedMed Great Challenges: 20 or Nothing?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/tedmed-great-challenges-20-or-nothing/) - TEDMED is about to transform the conference into a platform for change, instead of a giant intellectual cocktail party (and a very good one at that). This year (it's in DC, not San Diego, sadly), attendees winnow down 50 "large, intractable problems of health care," to the most important 20 great challenges. And if your institution
- [Restaurant Calorie Counts: How Accurate? How Relevant?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/restaurant-calorie-counts-how-accurate-how-relevant/) - A new JAMA study of calories from Tufts shows that the single serving take-out portions of solid foods (not beverages or buffets) from 14 large-chain quick-service restaurants (e.g, Chipotle, McD's, Bob Evans) vary widely but have about the calories their websites claim. Sides, desserts, salads and carb-rich foods, however, often have more. On The Border
- [When Omega-3s? After Bypass, During Fatty Liver, Before Eye Disease](https://drjohnlapuma.com/when-omega-3s-after-bypass-during-fatty-liver-before-eye-disease/) - Omega-3 fatty acids are powerful: with vitamin D, they're something that almost everyone needs to supplement, no matter how good your diet. Why? Because people with heart disease who just had a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) had a 49% lower risk for dying 30 days after their CABG than those who didn't take 882mg
- [How Employers Pay for Childhood Obesity Treatment](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-employers-pay-for-childhood-obesity-treatment/) - Employers are going to begin being asked to pay for childhood obesity treatment. And it may be in their best interest to do so. The two largest health care costs for employers are employees who are "heavy users" (interestingly, the same term is used in the fast food industry for diners who eat-in 14x/week or
- [Is Sugar Toxic? Gary Taubes' Lab Reports](https://drjohnlapuma.com/is-sugar-toxic-gary-taubes-lab-reports/) - Gary Taubes blew the top off the New York Times readership with his carefully researched "What if it's all been a big fat lie?" about fat and heart disease in 2002 (translation: it's the type of fat that matters, not total fat). He's doing it again with "Is Sugar Toxic? (translation: yes, it's poisoning you
- [17 Winning Ideas for Child Obesity](https://drjohnlapuma.com/17-winning-ideas-for-child-obesity/) - How can we raise kids' awareness of the benefits of fresh food so they can make better choices? This question was posed by OpenIdeo and Chef Jamie Oliver: they winnowed nearly 600 ideas to a top 17. The winnowing process seems like popularity plus social networking plus eye appeal. But that's a good way to
- [Treating Overweight Kids...With What?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/treating-overweight-kids-with-what/) - Dr Molly Ferguson is a naturopath in Michigan who is courageous enough to discuss treating childhood obesity. Video: Treating Childhood Obesity Putting kids on a diet has long been terrifying to physicians because we are frightened about creating eating disorders (the other way!) But there is good data to show that the suggestions she makes:
- [La Puma's List: Six Steps to Chocolate Bliss (SLACCR)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/la-pumas-list-six-steps-to-chocolate-bliss-slaccr/) - In Portland this Spring at IACP, I spoke on Culinary Medicine...to foodies, food writers and chefs. I lead a chocolate tasting to show how great flavor can lead us to better health, if we truly appreciate it. I've had multiple requests for the how-to (using David Briggs' Criollo wonder), so here it goes: 1. Sit:
- [Stress Reduction: Bottom Line Impact](https://drjohnlapuma.com/stress-reduction-bottom-line-impact/) - Chronic stress affects productivity and the bottom line. It also increases and worsens heart disease, stroke, impotence, hypertension, back problems and depression. Obesity and flu go up too. Stress can kill...or at least injure. It causes rigidity and diminishes the ability to help others. Working well under acute, short-term pressure is one thing, and can
- [Prevention Will Be Cheap. But Fun?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/prevention-will-be-cheap-but-fun/) - For 43 million Americans on September 23 and probably the rest of the U.S sometime in 2011, preventive services just got cheaper. No co-pays, no deductibles, no direct charges for stuff that works. Now, we must figure out how to make it fun, sexy and easy. For kids and adults. But doctors getting paid to
- [Top Online Diet Program Ratings](https://drjohnlapuma.com/top-online-diet-program-ratings/) - We rated 10 of the top online diet programs. We used the National Weight Control Registry's core finding that people who keep weight off use personalized programs that teach and achieve four principles: accountability, self-monitoring, individualization of diet and adequate exercise. We assigned each program a total possible of 100 points, with each of the
- [The Business Case for Prevention](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-business-case-for-prevention/) - There is a great business case for prevention. And the government is making the argument, and putting our money, towards it. Starting 2011, small companies---those with 100 employees or fewer, and no existing wellness program in place--will be able to get grants for up to five years to establish employee wellness programs. With a 30%
- [No Meds Rx: Why People Stop Taking Medications](https://drjohnlapuma.com/no-meds-rx-why-people-stop-taking-medications/) - Why people stop taking their prescribed medications is really important, because everyone loses. The patient and her family lose the needed medical effect. The clinician and clinic lose a tool. Employer and health insurance company lose an employee's health and dollars. Pharma company loses continuity and a customer. Reasons fall into 3 categories: reminders; financial/physical;
- [No Meds Rx II: Hidden Money](https://drjohnlapuma.com/no-meds-rx-ii-hidden-money/) - Last week I covered common reasons people stop taking their medications: reminders, financial/physical barriers, and poor communication. This week, money. But saving real money appears to be with reminders (last week) and communication (next week). Even bigger money? Small lifestyle changes that let you avoid the need for medication, or reduce your dependence on it.
- [No Meds Rx III: Why Patients Stop: Communication](https://drjohnlapuma.com/no-meds-rx-iii-why-patients-stop-communication/) - Why do patients stop taking their medication? 3 reasons: reminders, money and communication. Nonadherence is costly, physically dangerous, unnecessary and important. One in four patients prescribed antihypertensives stop them within 6 months. One in three patients are off their statins within 12 months. And not because they have lowered their cholesterol level with food (although
- [Food as Medicine: Cancer Treatment, from TED](https://drjohnlapuma.com/food-as-medicine-cancer-treatment-from-ted/) - Food as medicine has had a long history, but until recently in the U.S., it's been seen as a sort of fringe element. A little scruffy, not very tasty, and honestly, a bit weird. Foodies often don't like the idea because food should be about flavor, love, aroma, authenticity, personality and nuance. Or boldness. But
- [You Are What You Eat Out](https://drjohnlapuma.com/you-are-what-you-eat-out/) - I was having lunch out with a friend last month, and we couldn't decide what to order. Everything in the deli case looked good, from the lasagna squares to the sauteed kale. But not until we tasted the food and read the labels did we know what was in it: not just calories, but the
- [How to Start a Movement in 3 Minutes: Be a First Follower](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-start-a-movement-in-3-minutes-be-a-first-follower/) - We all want to change the world. At least, I do. But without help, it’s impossible to do alone. Inspire people to enjoy the food fully. Teach anyone who wants to learn how to transform their lives with what they eat. Re-imagine hospital food as therapeutic and delicious, not disease-causing and bland. Entertain audiences well
- [Coaching for a Healthier Lifestyle](https://drjohnlapuma.com/coaching-for-a-healthier-lifestyle/) - The training in culinary medicine next month is getting lots of interest (thanks jillianmichaels.com! thanks RealAge.com! thanks ChefMD readers!). So I thought I’d show you what you might expect. It’s easy to say eat more whole foods, fewer processed ones, walk/train 60 minutes, know your palate, handle stress, get a coach. Everyone says that already, and
- [Is Sugar Worse than Saturated Fat? Dollars and Sense.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/is-sugar-worse-than-saturated-fat-dollars-and-sense/) - Sure, they’re vintage ads. But three reports show how the heart of seduction still beats louder than a baby’s cry or early rock-n-roll. Though Sugar Inc was right about the pink packets then, and dollars now. First, the WSJ reports 7-Up is picking up market share in the U.S., by adding an extra crispiness to its
- [What Should Doctors Eat](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-should-doctors-eat/) - The revealing WSJ piece “Checking Up on the Doctor: What Patients Can Learn From the Ways Physicians Take Care of Themselves” revealed not much, at all. And that’s really sad. Because although doctors smoke only 10% as much as the general public, we are just as obese, more stressed and by many accounts, not as
- [Trans Fats: Where to Find Them, and What to Eat Instead!](https://drjohnlapuma.com/trans-fats-where-to-find-them-and-what-to-eat-instead/) - -----
- [Cholesterol: How Can You Raise Your HDL?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/cholesterol-how-can-you-raise-your-hdl/) - -----For every 10% drop in HDL, your risk of heart disease goes up 13%. What works to raise HDL?
- [The Rising: heavy metal for dinner](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-rising-heavy-metal-for-dinner/) - Study Records Elevated Mercury From Diets Heavy With Fish October 20, 2002 BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) -- A study of Californians who loaded their lunch and dinner menus with fish shows 89 percent wound up with elevated mercury levels in their bodies. The research, presented Saturday by San Francisco internist Dr. Jane Hightower at a symposium of environmental health experts in Vermont, is one of the first studies to document mercury levels in Americans who eat more fish than the Environmental Protection Agency recommends. Doctors are increasingly interested in the possible risks of eating too much mercury-tainted fish, and the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration are trying to better inform the public about the subject. -----
- [What the Low Carb-ers Have Right: New Information about Diabetes, High Fructose Corn Syrup, and the New Buzz Word: Whole Foods](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-the-low-carb-ers-have-right-new-information-about-diabetes-high-fructose-corn-syrup-and-the-new-buzz-word-ibwhole-foodsbi/) - -----
- [Walnuts Lower Cholesterol and the FDA Approves the Science and the Claim](https://drjohnlapuma.com/walnuts-lower-cholesterol-and-the-fda-approves-the-science-and-the-claim/) - -----
- [How to Make Weight Loss Fun](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-make-weight-loss-fun/) - I've been thinking about ways to make weight loss fun. What's missing from most programs is just that. My most successful group program was Chef Clinic, which our contestants (we had contestants, like Jillian Michaels!, back in '98) called "Camp for Adults." No panty raids, but a lot of campfires, and incredible success. Now I'm
- [Two Inspirational Models for Excellence](https://drjohnlapuma.com/two-inspirational-models-for-excellence/) - In the last few days, I attended 2 classes--in online branding and in grape growing. In both, the presenter over-delivered, and I learned a lot more than the information. Richard Sanford is a famous guy. He was the first to plant pinot noir in Santa Barbara County, and the first CCOF grower. He founded Sanford-Benedict
- [Taste the Transformative Power of Lifestyle Changes](https://drjohnlapuma.com/taste-the-transformative-power-of-lifestyle-changes/) - The transformative power of lifestyle changes is the best medicine...and synergistic with meds and devices. But what if you can't eat the best diet possible, exercise most efficiently, alleviate stress in the model way and be nakedly intimate in your closest relationships? You start wherever you are. Perfect is often the enemy of good. Dean
- [Cereal Facts, Not Serial Killers. Best and Worst!](https://drjohnlapuma.com/cereal-facts-not-serial-killers-best-and-worst/) - The Yale Rudd Center Report on Marketing Cereal to Kids is out, and it isn't pretty. Here's an excerpt: "Compared to cereals marketed to adults, those marketed to children have 85% more sugar, 65% less fiber, and 60% more sodium. Together, cereal companies spend more than $156 million per year marketing to children. ■ Products
- [Parents Often Can't Tell That Kids Are Fat: But You Can. Here's How.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/parents-often-cant-tell-that-kids-are-fat-but-you-can-heres-how/) - Reality check: childhood obesity can be treated. First, diagnose childhood obesity. A new University of Michigan study of 2,060 adults found that only 13 percent of parents with an obese kid (ages 6-11) know it. 43 percent said the child was "about the right weight." Only 31 percent of parents with an obese adolescent (ages
- [Parents Often Can't Tell That Kids Are Fat: But You Can. Here's How.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/165/) - Reality check: childhood obesity can be treated. First, diagnose childhood obesity. A new University of Michigan study of 2,060 adults found that only 13 percent of parents with an obese kid (ages 6-11) know it. 43 percent said the child was "about the right weight." Only 31 percent of parents with an obese adolescent (ages
- [Fast Food in Children's Hospitals](https://drjohnlapuma.com/fast-food-in-childrens-hospitals/) - Fast Food in Children's Hospitals Seems like an oxymoron, or a crime against kids, doesn't it? But 59 of the 200 hospitals with pediatric training programs had fast food restaurants, largely McDonalds. Is there anything wrong with this? Dean Ornish, MD, champion of a very low fat diet for the reversal of heart disease (which
- [Does Your Pediatrician Measure Body Mass Index? 19 of 20 Do Not!](https://drjohnlapuma.com/does-your-pediatrician-measure-body-mass-index-19-of-20-do-not/) - Pediatricians are some of the nicest people in medicine. And some of the busiest. Few take the time to measure Body Mass Index (BMI) in kids. Very few. But they should, because it is the best single way to tell if your kids is overweight, and at risk for obesity, diabetes, an enlarged heart and
- [Weight Loss Recipes for Kids: A Specialized, Filtered Search Engine](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weight-loss-recipes-for-kids-a-specialized-filtered-search-engine/) - Weight loss for kids, like for adults, is hard. How kids learn to eat and cook when they are overfat determines whether they will be overfat or lean as adults. To deal with this tendency, kids need to make just one change, write it down, and tell someone else. One change a week is best,
- [F as in Fat:  State-by-State Grades for Child Obesity](https://drjohnlapuma.com/f-as-in-fat-state-by-state-grades-for-child-obesity/) - The invaluable 120 page report on Obesity in America 2007 shows that the rate of childhood obesity tripled from 1980 to 2004. The report gives each state's rate of childhood obesity, and adult obesity too. And of every little detail important in your school lunch program, and people to contact. In no state did obesity
- [How to Tell If Your Kid is Obese...And Not Kid Yourself](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-tell-if-your-kid-is-obeseand-not-kid-yourself/) - In infancy, these are the risk factors: *low birthweight *parents' obesity (you are obese if you multiply 703 times your weight in pounds, divide it by your height in inches, and get 30 or more. This is your Body Mass Index. And this is BMI for Kids In early childhood, the risk factors are *parents'
- [Big-Box Clinics and Overweight Kids: Fast Food or Just Deserts?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/big-box-clinics-and-overweight-kids-fast-food-or-just-deserts/) - It's been a dream of mine to have a clinic in a store that sells food, for a long time. Now drugstore clinics have popped up. Are they good or bad for overweight kids? Criticisms include fragmentation of care--nurse practitioner, dietitian or physician? less than regular followup for counseling and nutritional guidance (overweight is mostly
- [Where's the Fruit? Over 50 Percent of Fruit Products for Kids Have No Fruit](https://drjohnlapuma.com/wheres-the-fruit-over-50-percent-of-fruit-products-for-kids-have-no-fruit/) - The sharp dietitians at The Prevention Institute in Oakland analyzed the top advertised food products to kids. They excluded food products that could not be expected to have fruit (Coke, Twinkies). They included food products that advertised that they contained fruit or fruit juice...right on the package. That left them with 37 products. Nineteen (19)
- [Preteen/Teens Start to Overtake Adult Obesity](https://drjohnlapuma.com/preteenteens-start-to-overtake-adult-obesity/) - Teen obesity rates in the UK are accelerating too. A study of 2,000 kids found amost half of teenage girls and more than one of 3 teenage boys in England are overweight or obese. Adolescent obesity increases girls' cancer risk by 21 per cent and boys by 14 per cent. One of four UK adults
- [Kid Friendly Winner for Healthier Schools](https://drjohnlapuma.com/kid-friendly-winner-for-healthier-schools/) - The Alliance for a Healthier Generation helps create healthier schools--schools can apply. The American Heart Association, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Clinton Foundation team to help parents: *"help children create healthier habits, * make fast food healthier, * deal with a picky eater, * choose portion sizes, * limit TV time and * stimulate
- [California School Lunch Laws...Are They Really Leaders?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/california-school-lunch-lawsare-they-really-leaders/) - Even in California, 28 percent of kids are overweight or obese. That pales in comparison with 66 percent of adults, but kids' biggest models are their parents. California has 2 newer tougher junk food laws, signed September 2005, which limits calories, sugar and fat, and stops soda sale in all schools--not just elementary and middle
- [Inside Advice to Doctors...Plus, New Free Program at Blue Cross for Parents, with Online Materials](https://drjohnlapuma.com/inside-advice-to-doctorsplus-new-free-program-at-blue-cross-for-parents-with-online-materials/) - To reduce costs which are predicted to be astronomical, and to address the one of 3 Californian kids who are overweight or obese, Blue Cross has a new *"Get up and get moving" workbook *Educational childhood obesity videos *Prevention and treatment articles for parents *Kids in Charge of Calories Tools: BMI calculator. It's now a
- [Alliance For a Healthier Generation - Go Healthy!](https://drjohnlapuma.com/alliance-for-a-healthier-generation-go-healthy/) - Alliance For a Healthier Generation - Go Healthy! has a new website. It helps parents, teachers and teens learn about how to make your school and home healthier. It links to free DVDs to clinicians about pediatric obesity. It's hooked up with Nickelodeon Let’s Just Play Go Healthy Challenge. And it has American Heart Association
- [Does Obesity Start in Infancy?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/does-obesity-start-in-infancy/) - -----
- [Eating Out for Kids: Heart Disease, Diabetes or Good News?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/eating-out-for-kids-heart-disease-diabetes-or-good-news/) - Sadly, it's early heart disease and diabetes. Why? These kids are developing a heart disease lifestyle--they are more sedentary, they eat more sugar, bad fats and salt. Can convenience foods and fast foods be at fault? Are there convenience foods and fast foods that are healthy? A community-based study in Wausau, Wisconsin shows that kids
- [Does it matter what type of fat you feed your infant?   Saturated or Unsaturated?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/does-it-matter-what-type-of-fat-you-feed-your-infant-saturated-or-unsaturated/) - Several Finnish investigators studied over 1000 infants and saturated fat over 11 years. Some were given a low saturated (but still full fat) diet, and some an unrestricted diet. Too much saturated fat contributes to heart disease, stroke and vascular disease...in kids, it sets them up early. Saturated fat is solid at room temperature, and
- [Cool Games for Pediatric Obesity Treatment](https://drjohnlapuma.com/cool-games-for-pediatric-obesity-treatment/) - Counseling for kids, especially about their weight, is ineffective without making the counseling about something else...like fun, activity, farming, cooking, energy, dance, studying or play. And, of course, parents. So games are a natural. Sound Advice makes the NoteNiks Healthy Eating & Exercise CD. It's for kids ages 3 – 8, about selecting healthy foods
- [Can 2 Weeks at a Weight Loss Camp Help Your Kid's Heart? When Is It Too Late?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/can-2-weeks-at-a-weight-loss-camp-help-your-kids-heart-when-is-it-too-late/) - Probably, according to American Heart Association presenter and Pritikin obesity physician James Barnard. It's not a weight loss program, but a family program for heart protection: kids ages 9-15 lowered cholesterol and fat-tissue-derived risk factors for heart disease, such as leptin, which fell 57 percent, and TNFa, which dropped 43 percent, in 2 weeks. Autopsy
- [An Institute Report with Real Facts, Real Solutions, Real Help](https://drjohnlapuma.com/an-institute-report-with-real-facts-real-solutions-real-help/) - -----
- [Low Saturated Fat Diet in Pre-Teens Appears to Reduce Breast Cancer Risk](https://drjohnlapuma.com/low-saturated-fat-diet-in-pre-teens-appears-to-reduce-breast-cancer-risk/) - -----
- [Where Hidden Calories Lie in Popular Snacks...Cramming Calories](https://drjohnlapuma.com/where-hidden-calories-lie-in-popular-snackscramming-calories/) - -----
- [Summary of  School Changes in the U.S.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/summary-of-school-changes-in-the-us/) - School lunches can be healthy, and taste good.
- [If My Child is Overweight, What Should I Do about It?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/if-my-child-is-overweight-what-should-i-do-about-it/) - This colorful, inexpensive ($5) 2004 pamphlet is a how-to guide for parents. Topics covered include how to tell if your child is overweight, how to help a child from overeating, choosing healthy meals and snacks, increasing physical activity, dealing with self-esteem and stigmatization issues, and a guide to healthy food options. Recommended by Jane Brody,
- [Clinton/American Heart Association Create Goal of  Stopping Pediatric Obesity by 2010](https://drjohnlapuma.com/clintonamerican-heart-association-create-goal-of-stopping-pediatric-obesity-by-2010/) - "Creating a Healthier Generation: Preventing Obesity" is a new initiative with coming website for kids ages 9-13, and industry partnerships to promote healthier foods and activity. It's a crusade worth joining, with good strategies to boot.
- [2005 Metabolic Syndrome in the E.U.:  A Pediatric Epidemic About to Explode, and Steps to Take Now](https://drjohnlapuma.com/2005-metabolic-syndrome-in-the-eu-a-pediatric-epidemic-about-to-explode-and-steps-to-take-now/) - Metabolic syndrome--a thick waist, borderline blood pressure or diabetes, and a low protective HDL level, plus overweight--is estimated to affect 50 million U.S. adults....but kids? In the E.U.? Task Force on Metabolic Syndrome report shows that insulin resistance, another name for this syndrome, affects 15% of Europeans. Go to drjohnlapuma.com to learn more about glycemic
- [What Do Kids Snack On? Scientific Data from the UK...and Beyond](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-do-kids-snack-on-scientific-data-from-the-ukand-beyond/) - Reports NutraIngredients "...When it comes to eating between meals, just one out of the top five snacks of choice prove to be a healthier option. The top choice is potato crisps (41 per cent), followed by chocolate (39 per cent), then comes fruit (35 per cent), sweets (29 per cent) and sweet biscuits (22 per
- [Interventions for preventing obesity in children (Cochrane Review)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/interventions-for-preventing-obesity-in-children-cochrane-review/) - Interventions for preventing obesity in children (Cochrane Review)...This state of the art review says little: it says we don't know what we don't know. Sadly, that's not enough: many parents know that their kids watch too much TV, drink too much pop, snack while walking, and sit while or instead of playing. It's not easy,
- [William J. Clinton Foundation](https://drjohnlapuma.com/william-j-clinton-foundation/) - William J. Clinton Foundation "Creating a Healthier Generation: Preventing Obesity"---excellent content, resources, Good Morning America interview, News. Check it out.
- [Should You Put Your Child on a Diet, or Give Her Diet Drugs?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/should-you-put-your-child-on-a-diet-or-give-her-diet-drugs/) - No! Having a fit and healthy body and spirit are more important, and more long lasting than hitting a specific weight. Especially for adolescents and pre-adolescents--some of whom now undergo gastric bypass. Teasing, tormenting, scapegoating and ostracizing can come from merciless peers, and obese kids end up feeling lonely, alone and hungry---or at least, wanting
- [Turning Back Your Biological Clock--Is There a "Right Maternal Weight" for a Healthy Baby?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/turning-back-your-biological-clock-is-there-a-right-maternal-weight-for-a-healthy-baby/) - -----
- [Should Adolescents Receive Medication for Obesity?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/should-adolescents-receive-medication-for-obesity/) - -----
- [What would an ideal weight loss drug look like?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/what-would-an-ideal-weight-loss-drug-look-like/) - Differently for doctors than for patients. For most doctors, what counts is what can be measured. Weight is just one parameter to be measured. For doctors, five percent weight loss can make a big difference in other numbers. That means if you are 240 pounds, losing 12 pounds is what can help. The drug might
- [Whole Grain Cereals Help With Heart Failure](https://drjohnlapuma.com/whole-grain-cereals-help-with-heart-failure/) - It's conference season in medicine and the ACC abstract "Consumption of Breakfast Cereals and Risk of Heart Failure: The Physicians' Health Study" has nothing to do with the usual treatments, but doesn't fight them, either. Eating a bowl of wholegrain cereals every day could reduce the risk of heart failure by 27 per cent: if
- [How to Evaluate Weight Loss Programs](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-evaluate-weight-loss-programs/) - You can tell a lot about a weight loss program by looking at its approach to “maintenance.” Online pages are especially telling, because they combine many aspects of the company: nutrition, marketing, technology, and the service value. Patient-centered pages tend to be offered by the most patient-centered medical practices and companies. For example, consider the
- [Reduce Your Risk of Breast Cancer With What You Eat...But Who Eats Flavonoids and Lignans?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/reduce-your-risk-of-breast-cancer-with-what-you-eatbut-who-eats-flavonoids-and-lignans/) - If you are a postmenopausal woman, foods rich in flavonoids and lignans reduce your risk of developing the most common type of breast cancer by about 35 per cent. A new U.S. study of over 1400 women with breast cancer shows the power of food as medicine--in cancer. The most common breast cancer in the
- [Grand Rounds Coming! Theme: Diet and Food](https://drjohnlapuma.com/grand-rounds-coming-theme-diet-and-food/) - Happy new year! Drjohnlapuma.com will host Grand Rounds early early a.m. on January 9, 2007; the deadline is this Sunday January 7, 2007 at 3 p.m. PST; here are the original submission guidelines. The theme is Diet and Food. Diet and food in medicine usually mean disease, but sometimes that's upside down: spicy foods don't
- [Food As Medicine on Squidoo](https://drjohnlapuma.com/food-as-medicine-on-squidoo/) - Check out Food As Medicine on Squidoo: a smart, easy way to look at the what, how and how much to eat, deliciously, for what ails you.
- [Childhood Obesity Poll](https://drjohnlapuma.com/childhood-obesity-poll/) - What should a website on childhood obesity do? Tell us on Child Obesity Poll Results will be reported here!
- [Poll: What Should a Website on Childhood Obesity Do?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/poll-what-should-a-website-on-childhood-obesity-do/) - Take the poll at the new site Child Obesity on Squidoo: you can help make it, and www.pediatricobesity.com, something you really need!
- [Lutein--Yes, Spinach!--Helps Prevent AMD--the Leading Cause of Severe Vision Loss in the West](https://drjohnlapuma.com/lutein-yes-spinach-helps-prevent-amd-the-leading-cause-of-severe-vision-loss-in-the-west/) - Spinach may be scary for now, but wait until it gets back on track, because leafy greens help prevent age-related macular degeneration. New NIH-sponsored data of nearly 1800 women over 10 years show that AMD progression can drop by 43 percent in those under 75 years old and otherwise healthy. The people who had the
- [How Fruit Works Against Cancer: The Case of Smoking](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-fruit-works-against-cancer-the-case-of-smoking/) - Bladder cancer risk factors are smoking, dyes, schistosomiasis and chemical exposure. But fruit can cut the risk of bladder cancer in smokers. In a study of 178 cases, Belgian researchers found that for people who had bladder cancer who had ever smoked, how much fruit they ate lowered their risk--the more the better. Why? Fruit
- [Fattest and Slimmest States, 2005](https://drjohnlapuma.com/fattest-and-slimmest-states-2005/) - Fattest states, by self-reported weight and height in the U.S., are Louisiana, Mississippi, and West Virginia: each has an obesity rate over 30 percent. Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, and Vermont are the slimmest, with less than 20 percent. This is for adults over the age of 20. Obesity overall was self-reported as 23.9 percent--a full one-third
- [How to Get Kids (and Adults) to Eat Veggies](https://drjohnlapuma.com/how-to-get-kids-and-adults-to-eat-veggies-for-kids/) - Salad Days in the WSJ makes sense on the surface, with the stock market up, but this time, it's an excellent piece on how to get kids to eat vegetables. And it also serves adults. Including French Fries and Potato Chips, which the government counts as vegetables, kids under age 11 average 2.2 servings daily.
- [Do You Eat the Whole Plate of Cookies?  And Then Another?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/do-you-eat-the-whole-plate-of-cookies-and-then-another/) - Binge Eating is a problem which runs in families, and until the patients who have it haven't received serious scientific attention. Binge Eating is at least 2 episodes per week of unusually high levels of food consumption for a period of hours. The diagnosis is made for those who binge at least twice weekly for
- [Probiotics for Irritable Bowel Syndrome:  Tasty Food as Medicine](https://drjohnlapuma.com/probiotics-for-irritable-bowel-syndrome-tasty-food-as-medicine/) - Probiotics are beneficial bacteria, many of which live in your GI tract already. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), also known as spastic colon and a hypersensitivity intestinal disease, affects at least 22 million Americans, women more than men. IBS patients have twice the number of healthcare visits per year as age-matched controls. IBS symptoms are abdominal
- [When Kids Eat What They See](https://drjohnlapuma.com/when-kids-eat-what-they-see/) - How television fast food ads are related to pediatric obesity and the promotion of non healthy dinners for kids. Learn who sponsors your kids' TV shows.
- [Good Fat, Bad Fat...Plants or Animals?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/good-fat-bad-fatplants-or-animals/) - The Chicago Tribune has fat on the page: here is its list, improved: GOOD FATS Monounsaturated fat Main Sources: Olive, peanut and canola oils; avocados, olives, most nuts and seeds Polyunsaturated fat Main Sources: Corn, soybean, safflower, sunflower and cottonseed oils Omega-3 fatty acids Main Sources: Polyunsaturated fats found mostly in cold water marine fatty
- [Why Chocolate Creates Beauty Within the Skin](https://drjohnlapuma.com/why-chocolate-creates-beauty-within-the-skin/) - Chocolate as sun-block? Yes, but chocolate science is more than skin-deep. German researchers gave 24 healthy women 3 ounces of a high flavanol cocoa (326 milligrams) or low flavanol (27 milligrams) cocoa as a powdered drink for 12 weeks. UV light caused less skin sensitivity in the high flavanol group. And that group had more
- [Why There Is  Benzene in Soda, and How to Avoid It](https://drjohnlapuma.com/why-there-is-benzene-in-soda-and-how-to-avoid-it/) - There can be, legally, 5 parts benzene per billion parts of water (5 ppb) in your drinking water in the U.S., and 1 ppb in the UK. But there is no limit for how much benzene can be present in soda, and the FDA doesn't think benzoate plus vitamin C commonly results in benzene...though it
- [Top Ten Questions to Ask When You See A Doctor in the Office](https://drjohnlapuma.com/top-ten-questions-to-ask-when-you-see-a-doctor-in-the-office/) - David Schiedermayer, MD, volunteer physician and hospitalist and published poet and physician mentor and I offer these to you: we hope they help you get care you need. In the Office, Ask Your Doctor: 1. Can I take generic medication? *(crib note: You'll save money, and safely!) 2. Am I taking too many medicines and
- [Carbs, Food Timing and Sport...Why It Works](https://drjohnlapuma.com/carbs-food-timing-and-sportwhy-it-works/) - Food timing can be flaky (eat root vegetables at night, because they are in the dark all the time). Or logical, scientific and test-able. Food timing is used by athletes whose careers and salaries depend on their fitness...even the smallest edge can make a big difference in big competition. You can use it too. 16
- [Study Tests Alternatives to Gastric Bypass - But Do You Have to Wait?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/study-tests-alternatives-to-gastric-bypass-but-do-you-have-to-wait/) - Study Tests Alternatives to Gastric Bypass is a planned 3 year Buffalo, NY study of a weight loss powder, fat blocker, appetite suppressant or no medication...plus behavioral counseling and exercise consultation, and a 2 year followup. $5 million to treat 280 people who need to lose 100#...under $18k for 3 years...not bad! Donated drugs, 800-1200
- [Pop Holiday Bloating with Yogurt?  Yes, If You Have a Queasy Colon](https://drjohnlapuma.com/pop-holiday-bloating-with-yogurt-yes-if-you-have-a-queasy-colon/) - Yogurt has billions of healthful bacteria--and the more active, the better, especially if you have irritable bowel syndrome. Probiotics are bacteria that do good. They're among the best food-as-medicine--easy to recommend, and easy to eat. Popular tasty yogurts--especially strawberry--will get you started. So will kefir. A new Mayo Clinic study shows that probiotics help flatulence
- [Flavonoid-Rich Dark Chocolate--Better for You](https://drjohnlapuma.com/flavonoid-rich-dark-chocolate-100-g/) - Flavonoid-rich dark chocolate lowershigh blood pressure. That's the logical conclusion of this research study, which shows brachial artery (your arm's major artery) relaxation after eating 100 grams. How much is 100 g? (3.6 ounces...a very large individual bar). How dark is Dark Chocolate? (no milkfat, dairy products...about 60% or higher). Who is making pure, high-flavonoid,
- [Bright Lights, Big Happy: Why Lights Treat Depression, including S.A.D.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/bright-lights-big-happy-why-lights-treat-depression-including-sad-2/) - Now that daylight savings time in the U.S. is here, we'll see more weight gain from seasonal affective disorder affects millions of people worldwide. Who? *Up to 17% of people living above the line drawn between L.A. and Atlanta--only 2% below that. *Three times as many women as men. *A craving for sugary and starchy

## Pages

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- [The La Puma Letter](https://drjohnlapuma.com/the-la-puma-letter/) - Culinary Medicine & Outdoor Rx The La Puma Letter: Nature, Food & Health Discover the Life-Changing Power of Culinary Medicine & Outdoor Rx What if your next health breakthrough wasn’t in a pill…but in your kitchen or a walk in the woods? From the New York Times Best Selling Author of Indoor Epidemic – 93% Inside Steals
- [Nature Number Tools & Resources](https://drjohnlapuma.com/nature-number-tools/) - Extra help when you need it Nature Number Tools & Resources Getting outside is the goal, and you do not need to buy anything to raise your Nature Number. These are the few tools I suggest when darkness, travel, or a disrupted schedule gets in the way. For dark mornings Carex Day-Light Elite A 10,000-lux
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- [Workplace Outdoor Rx](https://drjohnlapuma.com/workplace-outdoor-rx/) - Workplace Outdoor Rx Your team crashes at 3 PM. Why? It could be your sealed conference room: 1,000 ppm CO₂ can drop cognitive performance by about 15 percent. It could be your light: dim indoor light accelerates myopia and increases eye strain and fatigue. It could be burnout: not a character flaw or a personality
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- [Indoor Epidemic by Dr. John La Puma](https://drjohnlapuma.com/indoor-epidemic-by-dr-john-la-puma/) - INDOOR EPIDEMIC You’re not exhausted. You’re indoors. The fix isn’t more discipline. It’s biology. From Dr. John La Puma: board-certified physician, two-time New York Times bestselling author, and pioneer of nature-based medicine. Indoor Epidemic: 93% Inside Steals Sleep, Focus & Years—The 7% Outdoor Rx Restores Them. Get the Book Get it on Apple Books Get
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- [Nature Resources](https://drjohnlapuma.com/nature-resources/) - indoor epidemic toolkit Get the Indoor Epidemic Toolkit The 7-Day Outdoor Reset Plan Where should I send your toolkit? SubscribeBuilt with Kit I won’t send you spam. Unsubscribe anytime. These organizations align with research showing that regular outdoor exposure can support sleep, mood, cardiometabolic health, and nervous system regulation. The Sierra Club Conservation & Advocacy
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- [Homepage Popup Testing](https://drjohnlapuma.com/homepage-popup-testing/) - John La Puma, MD Physician. Chef. Farmer. Thirty years of internal medicine pointing to one underdiagnosed cause of modern exhaustion, and the food, light, and outdoor protocols that reverse it. The Science and Soul of Living Well – TEDx Santa Barbara Salon Get the Free 7-Day Outdoor Reset Dr. La Puma’s Weekly Letter Short, science-backed
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- [Nature Therapy Resources](https://drjohnlapuma.com/nature-therapy/) - Nature therapy describes the idea of healing our physical and mental illnesses by immersing ourselves in nature. Check out these helpful resources...
- [Home Wine Making](https://drjohnlapuma.com/wine-labels/) - I love making wine, especially wines that I like to drink. I make wine at home in my garage as a hobby, to barter, give away and share...
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- [Doctors Got Their Hands Dirty to Benefit Their Patients—and Saw Measurable Health Benefits Themselves!-New](https://drjohnlapuma.com/doctors-got-their-hands-dirty-to-benefit-their-patients-and-saw-measurable-health-benefits-themselves/) - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJune 24, 2025 DOWNLOAD HIGH-RESOLUTION PHOTOS AND CAPTIONS HERE WATCH THE CME TAKEAWAYS ON YOUTUBE HERE Groundbreaking UCLA CME Event at La Puma Farms Trains Over 20 Physicians in Nature-Based Medicine SANTA BARBARA, CA – June 25, 2025 — Doctors got their hands dirty—and experienced measurable health benefits—in a groundbreaking Continuing Medical Education
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- [ChefMD® Recipes on Lifetime TV](https://drjohnlapuma.com/chefmd-video-wall/) - Dr John La Puma co-hosted the weekly national cable Lifetime TV series "Health Corner", and hosted ChefMD® cooking and shopping segments for nearly 5 years.
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- [Culinary Medicine Training: 45 Minute Transcript and Tutorial](https://drjohnlapuma.com/culinary-medicine-training-transcript/) - Culinary Medicine Transcript and Tutoria Final Transcript: First 45 Minutes of “Culinary Medicine Training” Santa Barbara, CA, June 2010: unedited, direct. Dr. La Puma You guys all filled out a survey online, and as I said in the e-mail to you you’re all top communicators, you’re all connected, you’re all interested in social networking, but
- [Culinary Medicine Primers/Recipe Healthy Foods List for 10 Conditions](https://drjohnlapuma.com/culinary-medicine-primersrecipe-healthy-foods-list-for-10-conditions/) - Valuable healthy foods list for each of the following 10 conditions: ADHD, BPH, Bronchitis, Common Cold, Constipation, Diabetes, Depression, Hair, skin, nails.
- [What Is Your Comfort Nature Place?](https://drjohnlapuma.com/quizzes/what-is-your-comfort-nature-place/) - Answer these questions and we’ll show you your comfort nature place — somewhere to go when you need a mental health boost.
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- [Healthy Bites](https://drjohnlapuma.com/healthy-bites/) - Dr John La Puma Healthy Bites Newsletter archives through the present, filled with recommended products, services, research tools and tips.
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- [Ethics Papers and Books](https://drjohnlapuma.com/ethics-articles/) - Ethics Papers and Books Dr John La Puma The first physician in the U.S. to undertake and complete the first postgraduate fellowship in clinical ethics, at the University of Chicago, Dr La Puma’s clinical care and papers have identified, analyzed and sometimes resolved moral problems in a particular patient’s care. Dr La Puma also established
- [John La Puma, M.D.](https://drjohnlapuma.com/john-la-puma-m-d/) - John La Puma MD, ChefMD® is the leading physician voice for nature therapy and culinary medicine. He is also a New York Times best-selling author and PBS host.
- [Outdoor Rx: Science New](https://drjohnlapuma.com/outdoor-rx-science/) - Nature’s Rx: Science Intro Why Nature? Green Therapy Blue Therapy Nature Indoors Planetary Health Nature’s Untapped Potential for Viral Wellness In our fast-paced, screen-dominated world, many of us feel a growing disconnect from the natural environment. This isn’t just a feeling; it’s linked to concepts like the “indoor epidemic” and “nature-deficit disorder,” highlighting the real
- [My Nature Dose](https://drjohnlapuma.com/my-nature-dose/) - Struggling with anxiety or stress? Try My Nature Dose, a free, 10-day program with mindful walks in nature to reduce anxiety and boost mental well-being.
- [ChefMD® on PBS and Lifetime TV](https://drjohnlapuma.com/tv-media/chef-md/) - ChefMD® On PBS and Lifetime TV Watch Dr. La Puma host Lifetime TV’s award winning “What’s Cooking with ChefMD®?, inspiring health-conscious consumers to look, feel and actually be measurably healthier with what they eat. Dr. La Puma also co-hosted Lifetime TV’s national cable TV series “Health Corner” every Sunday morning for over four years, with Leeza
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- [Plant With a Doc](https://drjohnlapuma.com/plant-with-a-doc/) - Plant With a Doc is a new, four week, medically proven, nature-based stress management and burnout (moral distress) technology for employees.
- [Typical Weight Loss Program Results](https://drjohnlapuma.com/clinic/weight-loss-program-results/) - Dr La Puma is a licensed nutritionist and dietitian doctor in Los Angeles. Check the fantastic results of his weight loss programs on several clients!
- [PBS Series: Download Dr John La Puma's ChefMD Shorts](https://drjohnlapuma.com/watch/pbs-series-download-dr-john-la-pumas-chefmd-shorts/) - PBS Series Download Dr John La Puma’s ChefMD Shorts These short pieces are between 1 and 3 minutes long and air nationwide on PBS Stations through May 2016. They’re numbered and linked in a dropbox folder, in .mp4 format. Enjoy! Note: it’s a very big file: 1gb+ [emember_protected] Download Dr John La Puma’s ChefMD Shorts for
- [Registration issue: Please contact us](https://drjohnlapuma.com/registration-issue/) - There was an issue with your registration attempt. Please contact us for assistance.
- [Social](https://drjohnlapuma.com/social-stream/) - Stay connected with Dr. John La Puma for expert health advice, food as medicine, and nature therapy tips. Join us on social media!
- [Privacy Policy](https://drjohnlapuma.com/privacy-policy/) - Privacy Policy A Note to European Union Users We adhere to the United States / European Union Data Protection Safe Harbor Arrangement, which can be located at http://www.export.gov/safeharbor (the “Safe Harbor”). YOU EXPRESSLY CONSENT TO THE PROCESSING OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT. YOUR PERSONAL DATA MAY BE PROCESSED IN THE COUNTRY IN
- [Videos](https://drjohnlapuma.com/tv-media/videos/) - Videos: Talks and Demonstrations Short clips and full talks. Entertaining and accessible, Dr La Puma inspires audiences to look and feel better, and transform their lives with what they eat. Videos: TV Appearances Live and taped interviews; live and taped cooking demos, hosting/cohosting, public service announcement, promotional spots. Video Blogs and Reports On the spot
- [Nature Dose - About](https://drjohnlapuma.com/nature-dose-about/) - About the Nature Dose Program to naturally cure your anxiety.
- [Doctors Got Their Hands Dirty to Benefit Their Patients—and Saw Measurable Health Benefits Themselves!](https://drjohnlapuma.com/get-your-guide/doctors-got-their-hands-dirty-to-benefit-their-patients-and-saw-measurable-health-benefits-themselves/) - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJune 24, 2025 DOWNLOAD HIGH-RESOLUTION PHOTOS AND CAPTIONS HERE Groundbreaking UCLA CME Event at La Puma Farms Trains Over 20 Physicians in Nature-Based Medicine SANTA BARBARA, CA – June 25, 2025 — Doctors got their hands dirty—and experienced measurable health benefits—in a groundbreaking Continuing Medical Education (CME) workshop that may signal the future
- [Doctors Are Getting Their Hands DIRTY to Help Patients!](https://drjohnlapuma.com/get-your-guide/doctors-are-getting-their-hands-dirty-to-help-patients/) - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: -5/05/25 Doctors Are Getting Their Hands DIRTY to Help Patients with Nature-Based Medicine! Groundbreaking CME Course with David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and Dr. John La Puma Brings Physicians Outdoors for Evidence-Based Nature-Based Medicine Training—From the Ground Up Photos Linked Below [Santa Barbara, CA – May 1, 2025] — What
- [La Puma Wines](https://drjohnlapuma.com/2012-la-puma-wines/) - About the 2012 wines: Arneis (our-nace) (Honea Vineyard, Los Olivos) Arneis translates as Little Rascal, in Piedmont. I’ve always liked rascals, and this is a white one that tastes minerally, grippingly red. The fruit came in lean and tight, at just 20 brix. Plumeria decorated the half kilo of yeast (58W3), of which I used only
- [Sneak Peek](https://drjohnlapuma.com/sneak-peek/) - SNEAK PEAK INSIDE DR. JOHN LA PUMA’S BOOK INDOOR EPIDEMIC READ EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT BELOW PRE-ORDER ON AMAZON Here’s what is realistic: you’re already spending 93% of your time indoors, anyway. That means the 7% you do venture outside needs to work like medicine. The core truth of this book is that real, measurable health is
- [Nature Therapy: Green Rx VideosNew](https://drjohnlapuma.com/nature-therapy-green-rx-videosnew/) - Green Rx Nature Therapy videos with Dr. John La Puma Use nature to look, feel and actually be less stressed, healthier and happier. Check back for new Nature Therapy Green RX episodes! Nature therapy is an essential prescription for health, from forest therapy to park prescriptions to gardening, and it’s fun! More resources on www.AGreenRx.com. Meet
- [GLP-1 VIP Membership!-New](https://drjohnlapuma.com/glp-1-vip-membership-new/) - Enjoy The Benefits of VIP Membership! Unlock all the Resources & Facts About Nutrition You Didn’t Know! MEMBER BENEFITS! Join hundreds of Dr La Puma VIP Members for only $29.95 … Unlock Dr. La Puma’s proven insights on nature therapy, lifestyle and nutrition. Enjoy full site access to bonus materials, unpublished healthy recipes and so
- [Weight Loss Transformation](https://drjohnlapuma.com/weight-loss-transformation-page/) - Weight Loss Transformation Visualizer See your potential future at a healthy BMI of 22-24 kg/m² Courtesy of Dr. John La Puma’s Ozempic Blueprint Newsletter How it works Calculate your current BMI Upload a current photo of yourself Our AI will generate a visualization of you at a healthy BMI (22-24 kg/m²) Compare the before and
- [Free Dr. La Puma Recipes for Good Healthy MealsNew](https://drjohnlapuma.com/free-dr-la-puma-recipes-for-good-healthy-mealsnew/) - Free Healthy Recipes Dr. John La Puma healthy recipes! Reclaim your health with free healthy recipes using food as medicine and awesome meals with Dr John La Puma Apricot Breakfast Polenta Artichoke Heart Salad Barbecued Red Snapper with Spicy Red Beans & Rice Best Broccoli Sandwich Black Bean and Fresh Cheese Enchiladas, with Warm Tomatillo
- [Watch](https://drjohnlapuma.com/watch/) - Explore Dr. John La Puma's insightful videos on culinary medicine, nature therapy, and how food can transform your health
- [Food FAQ](https://drjohnlapuma.com/food-faq/) - Food FAQ: Food as medicine, Weight Loss and Nutrition - Transform Your Life With What You Eat.
- [EverCompare](https://drjohnlapuma.com/evercompare/) - [evercompare_table]
- [Indoor Epidemic Exclusives](https://drjohnlapuma.com/indoor-epidemic-by-dr-john-la-puma/indoor-epidemic-exclusives/) - Thanks for scanning! Exclusive content for Indoor Epidemic readers will appear here soon.
- [TV & MEDIA](https://drjohnlapuma.com/tv-media/)

## My Templates

- [Dark by Five - pre launch QA fixes - 2026-10-02](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=dark-by-five-pre-launch-qa-fixes-2026-10-02) - John La Puma, MD.Author, Indoor Epidemic (2026) November to March Dark by Five: What to Do About It Now Your personal plan for better sleep, energy and mood in winter. You are flat on the couch by seven. It gets darker every week until late December. It is dark by five. You wake too early
- [Celebities One](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=celebities-one-2) - Featured on The Oprah Podcast A conversation on what living 93% indoors costs—and the science-backed prescription for reconnecting with nature. Oprah Winfrey with Dr. John La Puma
- [Homepage – 7-Day Outdoor Reset (Mobile 20s + Scroll)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=homepage-7-day-outdoor-reset-mobile-20s-scroll) - The La Puma Newsletter Get access to the 7-Day OutdoorRX Reset free, plus get physician-led wellness insights, exclusive assets, early access, and updates. Subscribe Download Your Free Health Reset Guie
- [Homepage – 7-Day Outdoor Reset (20s + Exit Intent)](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=the-la-puma-synthesis-2) - The La Puma Newsletter Get access to the 7-Day OutdoorRX Reset free, plus get physician-led wellness insights, exclusive assets, early access, and updates. Subscribe Download Your Free Health Reset Guide
- [Elementor Single Post #47692](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=elementor-single-post-47692) - It Was Never Just the Screens It Was Never Just the Screens Your nine-year-old can’t see the board. The school sends a note home…. Read More Indoor Epidemic: How “Analog Wellness” Can Transform Your Kid’s Focus, Sleep, and Health If you are raising a child with ADHD or simply trying to keep your kids healthy
- [Elementor Footer #45359](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=elementor-footer-45359) - Get the 7 day Outdoor Rx Reset Free! GET IT NOW Your Health Is Your Greatest Asset Let’s Talk Booking Dr. La Puma for a keynote, media appearance, or corporate program? Start here. Your name Your email Your message John La Puma, MD board-certified physician, trained chef and regenerative organic farmer, founded Chef Clinic™ and
- [Elementor Header #38645](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=elementor-header-38645) - NEW: Dr. La Puma featured in The New York Times — Read the story → Join Our Newsletter Speaking Free Resources Get Your Free Nature-Based Toolkit Here Contact Us TOOLS & RESOURCES Search By Tag anti-inflammatory antioxidants avocados BMI celebrity chef clinic chef md chefmd cholesterol cooking diet dietary supplements ecomedicine education exercise food as
- [indoor epidemic press page](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=indoor-epidemic-press-page) - Indoor Epidemic Press Kit Photos, media links and contact information Press Kit Highlight Reel, Topic Menu, Interview Questions, Speaker One Sheet, B Roll, Upcoming Press, Recent Press, Endorsements. Download Press Kit
- [Elementor Products Archive #50341](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=elementor-products-archive-50341)
- [about](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=about) - Food as Medicine in Daily Life Food isn’t just fuel, it’s information for your body. Every meal impacts your energy, metabolism, and long-term health. Choosing real, nutrient-dense foods helps your body function better, recover faster, and stay balanced. Food as medicine is about using everyday meals to support your health—without extreme diets or complexity. It’s
- [2 del](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=2-del) - WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING “ Indoor Epidemic reframes nature exposure as a measurable medical intervention, not a lifestyle preference.” Stefanos N. Kales MD MPH, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING “ Dr. La Puma is among the few medical doctors who truly understands what it takes to keep people healthy, rather
- [products  tabs](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=products-tabs) - Explore Products & Programs Books Recipes Nature Therapy Indoor Epidemic Toolkit Press Releases Indoor Epidemic: 93% Inside Steals Sleep, Focus & Years—The 7% Outdoor Rx Restores Them Buy Now about Indoor Epidemic: 93% Inside Steals Sleep, Focus & Years—The 7% Outdoor Rx Restores Them Refuel: A 24-Day Eating Plan to Shed Fat, Boost Testosterone, and
- [Elementor Single Product #50183](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=elementor-single-product-50183) - Related Products Indoor Epidemic Starter Kit $0.00 Details Audible $20.53 Details Indoor Epidemic $9.99 Details LEVELS $0.00 Details No products found
- [Celebities five](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=celebities-five) - Featured alongside global leaders, media networks, and health innovators. Sharing science-backed insights on national stages, with world-renowned figures, and across major media platforms. Beth Frates, MD | Immediate Past President, American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM)
- [dean ornish](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=dean-ornish) - Proven Impact “ Chronic inflammation, accelerated aging, and preventable disease often share the same root causea: disconnection from real food, real movement, and real environments. Indoor Epidemic is a timely, evidence-based guide to restoring that connection. Dr. La Puma’s prescription is simple, free, and profoundly healing.” Dean Ornish, MD Founder and Director, Preventive Medicine Institute
- [testimonial Stefanos N. Kales](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=testimonial-stefanos-n-kales) - WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING “ Indoor Epidemic reframes nature exposure as a measurable medical intervention, not a lifestyle preference.” Stefanos N. Kales MD MPH, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
- [Dan Buettner](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=dan-buettner) - WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING “ Dr. La Puma is among the few medical doctors who truly understands what it takes to keep people healthy, rather than just treating them when they’re sick.” Dan Buettner 6x New York Times Bestselling Author, Blue Zones Books
- [Celebities four](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=celebities-four) - Featured alongside global leaders, media networks, and health innovators. Sharing science-backed insights on national stages, with world-renowned figures, and across major media platforms. Dr. John La Puma
- [Celebities Three](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=celebities-three) - Featured alongside global leaders, media networks, and health innovators. Sharing science-backed insights on national stages, with world-renowned figures, and across major media platforms. Beth Frates, MD
- [Celebities One](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=celebities-one) - Featured alongside global leaders, media networks, and health innovators. Sharing science-backed insights on national stages, with world-renowned figures, and across major media platforms. Dr. John La Puma
- [Celebities Two](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=celebities-two) - Featured alongside global leaders, media networks, and health innovators. Sharing science-backed insights on national stages, with world-renowned figures, and across major media platforms. Dr. John La Puma
- [heel yourself with food nature updated](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=heel-yourself-with-food-nature-updated) - INDOOR EPIDEMIC Culinary Medicine & Outdoor Rx The La Puma Letter: Nature, Food & Health Discover the Life-Changing Power of Culinary Medicine & Outdoor Rx What if your next health breakthrough wasn’t in a pill…but in your kitchen or a walk in the woods? From the New York Times Best Selling Author of Indoor Epidemic – 93%
- [Quick Question](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=quick-question) - Quick Questions What best describes how you feel most days? Pick one and we will send you the right prescription. Tired and wires Can’t sleep, can’t switch off Foggy and slow Low energy, hard to focus Inflamed and off Joint pain, gut issues, recurring illness Anxious and stuck Worried, overwhelmed, indoors too much Next No
- [indoor epidemic](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=indoor-epidemic) - What is your Indoor Epidemic costing you? 3 questions. 60 seconds. Find out what indoor living is costing you, free. – from John La Puma, M.D. Take Quiz Now No spam, Unsubscribe anytime
- [Search Header](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=search-header) - Shop 7 Days to Reset Your Biology tabs slider Prescribing Nature: My New Peer-Reviewed Paper on the Clinical Science of Outdoor Rx The Social Media Trial Won’t Save Your Kids. The Backyard Might. Why Your Environment, Not Your Workload, Is Driving Burnout Indoor Epidemic Starter Kit Not Anti-Technology. Pro-Biology. Here Is Why the Difference Matters.
- [Elementor Loop Item #41164](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=elementor-loop-item-2)
- [Download the toolkit](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=download-the-toolkit) - John La Puma MD Claim Your Free Outdoor Rx Toolkit Fill in Your Email Address Below to Receive a Link to the ToolKit Send Me the Toolkit
- [old about](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=old-about) - [vc_row content_placement=”middle” ult_hide_row=”ult_hide_row_value” ult_hide_row_mobile=”mobile” ult_hide_row_mobile_large=”xl_mobile” css=”.vc_custom_1755516501272{background-color: #F9F9F9 !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/2″ delay=”0ms” el_class=”main-header” offset=”vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][ultimate_spacer height=”50″ height_on_tabs_portrait=”30″ height_on_mob_landscape=”30″ height_on_mob=”30″][themeone_header txtcolor=”#004770″ section=”true”] Dr John La Puma is a board-certified internationally recognized internist. [/themeone_header][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1758115753046{margin-top: 20px !important;}”]He has been called “a secret weapon” by The Wall Street Journal, and is a regular health, nutrition and culinary medical contributor in
- [Arhive Testing](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=arhive-testing) - Clinical Research EcoMedicine Prescribing Nature: My New Peer-Reviewed Paper on the Clinical Science of Outdoor Rx April 10, 2026 A New Paper in Integrative and Complementary Therapies on the Neurobiological Rationale for Nature Prescriptions… Read More EcoMedicine Nature Therapy The Social Media Trial Won’t Save Your Kids. The Backyard Might. April 8, 2026 My Op-Ed
- [Video Template 3](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=video-template-3)
- [Video Slider two](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=video-slider-two)
- [Video Slider ONe](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=video-slider-one)
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- [Sidebar Menu](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=sidebar-menu) - TOOLS & RESOURCES Search By Tag anti-inflammatory antioxidants avocados BMI celebrity chef clinic chef md chefmd cholesterol cooking diet dietary supplements ecomedicine education exercise food as medicine Food Benefits gardening gut health health corner tv heart disease immunity kids la puma lifestyle men's health mental health natural wellness nature nature activities nature therapy nutrition obesity
- [Slide left sidebar](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=slide-left-sidebar) - TOOLS & RESOURCES
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- [cheat Sheet popup](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=cheat-sheet-popup) - John La Puma MD Nature Prescription Cheat Sheet By subscribing here, you’ll get a quick reference guide to give you a few core points about Indoor Epidemic and your health, and a list of analog devices mentioned in the book that readers have found helpful in converting their incidental minutes outside to intentional ones Download
- [Optimizer or Biohacker video popup](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=optimizer-or-biohacker-video-popup) - http://drjohnlapuma.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Optimization_Final.mp4
- [Overloaded Parents video popup](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=overloaded-parents-video-popup) - http://drjohnlapuma.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Parenting_Final.mp4
- [Overweight or Inflamed video popup](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=overweight-or-inflamed-video-popup) - http://drjohnlapuma.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Weight_Final.mp4
- [Wired & Tired Professional video popup](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=wired-tired-professional-video-popup) - http://drjohnlapuma.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Wired_Final.mp4
- [tv10-25](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=tv10-25) - ChefMD Recipes on Lifetime TV TV Health Corner Get the Food + Nature Healing Kit – Free [videogallery slider=”ChefMD wall Lifetime” id=”ChefMD wall”]
- [hire-9-12](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=hire-9-12) - Dr. John La Puma is a Thrilling Keynote Speaker Audiences are inspired and motivated once they hear him. People crowd around him at the end, smiling and wanting more. Dr La Puma is generous with his time, available and friendly, and loves giving audiences what they want…and what they need. He has spoken at TEDMED,
- [Elementor Loop Item #41150](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=elementor-loop-item) - Nature as Medicine UCLA/La Puma Farms CME! Nature is Medicine: The Doctor Is In (the Dirt) Imagine this: I’m in a sterile exam room, nothing on the walls, stethoscope dangling loose, scribbling another prescription for another patient who’s anxious, overweight, and glaring at me like I’m not catching on. I was a board-certified internist, trained
- [Outdoor RX Newsletter](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=outdoor-rx-newsletter) - Get your free food and nature kit!
- [exit in trigger](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=exit-in-trigger) - Stay Updated on GLP-1 News and Tips — Join Our Newsletter. Submit
- [popup](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=popup) - Bucks County & Richboro Area save 15% with your first order
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- [“Your Health Reset Starts Here” — Empathic & Empowering](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=your-health-reset-starts-here-empathic-empowering) - Your Health Reset Starts Here Still Losing Weight? Let’s Make It Last. A free 5-part email series from Dr. John La Puma NY Times best-selling author, physician and medical educator to help GLP-1 users build real, lasting habits. Get My Free Guide What’s Inside? Discover the nutrition, mindset, movement, and nature-based methods that help you
- [GLP-1 Playbook](https://drjohnlapuma.com/?elementor_library=glp-1-playbook) - Preventing Weight Regain After Weight Loss Your Complete GLP-1 Success Roadmap The ultimate guide to maximizing your results with GLP-1 medications through nutrition, movement, and mindset strategies. Submit What’s Inside The Playbook? A comprehensive, science-backed guide to optimize your GLP-1 medication journey for sustainable results. 🥗 Nutrition Strategies Customized meal plans and food recommendations that

## Products

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- [Longevity](https://drjohnlapuma.com/product/longevity/) - 30 Servings Per Container: $3.66/Serving A science-led formula designed to support cellular energy, balance, and long-term resilience. 6 clinically-studied ingredients that work together Targets core cell functions - beyond just NAD⁺ Promotes brain function + DNA integrity
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- [Anti-Inflammatory Stack for Women](https://drjohnlapuma.com/product/anti-inflammatory-stack-for-women/) - The Anti-Inflammatory Stack for Women was developed with Dr. Stacy Sims to address inflammation and oxidative stress—particularly in women using hormonal birth control. This stack includes Creatine, Turmeric, and Vitamin D3, each selected for its role in supporting immune function, recovery, and hormone-related health. Creatine supports cellular energy production and enhances the body's antioxidant defense. Turmeric provides powerful inflammation-fighting compounds like curcumin, while Vitamin D3 aids in immune regulation and overall resilience. Together, these ingredients help active women train harder, recover faster, and protect long-term health from the inside out.
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- [Collagen Peptides 10-Travel Packs](https://drjohnlapuma.com/product/collagen-peptides-10-travel-packs/) - Collagen Peptides helps promote natural collagen synthesis and supports soft tissue for long-term joint health and resilience against injury.† Collagen Peptides powder delivers 10 grams of grass-fed bovine collagen peptides plus 5g of FORTIGEL®, a patented, clinically researched collagen peptide source designed to promote collagen synthesis in tendons and ligaments.† Vitamin C is included to help increase collagen formation and aid in the development of stronger collagen.† Our formula is free from fat, sugar, cholesterol, purines, and additives for a clean nutritional profile.
- [L-Glutamine](https://drjohnlapuma.com/product/39156/) - L-Glutamine is a conditionally essential amino acid that plays a critical role in muscle repair, immune function, and gut health. It’s the most abundant amino acid in the body and becomes especially important during times of physical stress, intense training, or illness. This supplement helps support post-exercise recovery by reducing muscle breakdown, maintaining gut lining integrity, and fueling immune cells. It’s an ideal addition for athletes, endurance trainers, or anyone focused on performance and recovery from the inside out.
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- [L-Theanine](https://drjohnlapuma.com/product/l-theanine/) - L-Theanine is a naturally occurring amino acid found in tea leaves that promotes calm, focused mental states without causing drowsiness. It works by increasing alpha brain wave activity and supporting neurotransmitters like GABA and serotonin—helping you stay relaxed yet alert. Often used to reduce acute stress, improve focus, and support the transition into restful sleep, L-Theanine is a safe, non-sedating option for managing mental performance and emotional balance throughout the day.
- [Inositol](https://drjohnlapuma.com/product/inositol/) - Inositol is a naturally occurring carbohydrate that plays a key role in brain signaling, mood regulation, and sleep quality. As a precursor to serotonin, dopamine, and melatonin pathways, Inositol supports a calm mind, balanced mood, and healthy circadian rhythm—making it especially useful for those struggling with nighttime wakeups or anxious thinking. Each capsule contains pure Inositol to support relaxation, improve sleep continuity, and promote mental clarity. It's a gentle, non-sedating option for managing stress and improving overall sleep health.
- [Acetyl L-Carnitine](https://drjohnlapuma.com/product/acetyl-l-carnitine/) - Acetyl L-Carnitine is a naturally occurring amino acid derivative that supports cognitive function, energy metabolism, and cellular health. It plays a key role in transporting fatty acids into the mitochondria—where they're converted into usable energy—making it especially valuable for brain and nerve cells with high energy demands. This compound also acts as a potent antioxidant, helping protect the brain from oxidative stress while supporting focus, memory, and mental clarity. It’s ideal for individuals looking to boost cognitive performance, mood, and mitochondrial function.
- [Male Hormone Support Stack](https://drjohnlapuma.com/product/male-hormone-support-stack/) - The Male Hormone Support Stack combines Tongkat Ali and Zinc to naturally support testosterone production, energy levels, and overall male vitality. This stack is designed to help active men maintain hormonal balance, improve mood, and enhance strength and performance under physical and mental stress. Tongkat Ali is a traditional herb known to help regulate cortisol and support healthy testosterone levels. Zinc plays a key role in hormone metabolism, immune function, and muscle repair. Together, they offer targeted support for stamina, libido, and male hormonal health.
- [Resveratrol](https://drjohnlapuma.com/product/resveratrol/) - Resveratrol is a potent polyphenol found in the skin of red grapes and certain berries, known for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It supports cellular health, promotes healthy aging, and helps defend against oxidative stress—making it a valuable daily supplement for long-term vitality and performance. Often associated with cardiovascular and brain health, Resveratrol helps protect cells from damage, support metabolic function, and maintain healthy inflammation levels. It’s an ideal addition for anyone looking to promote longevity and protect against the wear and tear of daily stress.
- [Fuel](https://drjohnlapuma.com/product/fuel/) - Science-backed carb + electrolyte drink mix for workouts lasting over 60 minutes. Slow-burning energy with no spike or crash 3:1 carb ratio lowers risk of GI distress Essential electrolytes hydrate + combat cramping
- [Whey Protein Isolate](https://drjohnlapuma.com/product/whey-protein-isolate/) - Fast-absorbing whey isolate from European grass-fed cows to support lean muscle and recovery 20g of clean protein per serving Supports daily protein intake NSF Certified for Sport®
- [100% Plant Protein Powder](https://drjohnlapuma.com/product/100-plant-protein-powder/) - Complete, clean plant-based protein to support muscle recovery + daily performance. 20g of protein with a full amino acid profile Smooth texture. No artificial ingredients, fillers, or gums NSF Certified for Sport®. Trusted by pro athletes
- [Creatine](https://drjohnlapuma.com/product/creatine-2/) - Pure Creapure® creatine monohydrate to support strength, power + brain performance. 5g of clinically backed creatine to fuel muscle and cellular energy Supports lean muscle growth, endurance, and recovery Enhances brain function and ATP production for mental clarity
- [Vital Aminos](https://drjohnlapuma.com/product/vital-aminos/) - Vital Aminos is a blend of all nine essential amino acids (EAAs) plus four additional aminos that support muscle protein synthesis, recovery, and endurance. Amino acids are the building blocks of muscle, enzymes, hormones, and neurotransmitters—making them critical for both physical performance and overall metabolic health. This formula is ideal for athletes and active individuals looking to enhance muscle repair, reduce soreness, and improve training outcomes. Whether used pre-, intra-, or post-workout, Vital Aminos delivers the support your body needs to perform, recover, and rebuild.
- [Omega-3 & Multi Stack](https://drjohnlapuma.com/product/omega-3-multi-stack/) - The Omega-3 & Multi Stack provides foundational daily support for overall health, performance, and recovery. Combining a high-quality Multivitamin with sustainably sourced Omega-3s, this stack helps fill common nutrient gaps while promoting cardiovascular health, cognitive function, and a healthy inflammatory response. The Multivitamin delivers essential vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients in bioavailable forms to support energy production, immune defense, and cellular function. Paired with 1600mg of EPA and DHA from Omega-3s, this daily duo is ideal for those seeking comprehensive, baseline nutritional support to feel and perform their best.
- [Adaptogen Stack](https://drjohnlapuma.com/product/adaptogen-stack/) - The Adaptogen Stack is a calming, resilience-building blend of Ashwagandha, Rhodiola Rosea, and L-Theanine—three well-studied ingredients that help your body and mind adapt to stress, promote emotional balance, and support steady energy and focus throughout the day. Ashwagandha and Rhodiola help regulate cortisol levels and reduce physical and mental fa