Standard American Diet to Healthy Clean Living

In this episode, Jackie Jackson talks about her transition from the standard american diet to a plant-based diet.  She lost 50 pounds in the process over about 1.5 years.   Here are some pictures of her before (left) and (after) her weight loss.

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Jackie explains in the video that she thought she was just “big-boned” but found later that she was able to lose weight on a plant-based diet and felt lighter.  After she lost weight, she found it easier to exercise as well.

There have been many studies supporting how people on plant-based diets are on average thinner than their meat-eating counterparts.  Berkow and Barnard found that a vegan or vegetarian diet is highly effective for weight loss.(1) Wang and Beysoun showed that there was a positive association between meat consumption and obesity, using data collected in the 1999–2004 U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.(2)   The Oxford component of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition reported a significant difference in age-adjusted BMI, with the meat eaters having the highest BMI and vegans the lowest. (3)

Thanks to Jackie for sharing her inspiring story with all of us!

References:

(1)  Berkow SE, Barnard N. Vegetarian diets and weight status. Nutr Rev. 2006 Apr;64(4):175–88.

(2) Wang Y, Beydoun MA. Meat consumption is associated with obesity and central obesity among US adults. Int J Obes (Lond) 2009 Jun;33(6):621–8.

(3) Rosell M, Appleby P, Spencer E, Key T. Weight gain over 5 years in 21,966 meat-eating, fish-eating, vegetarian, and vegan men and women in EPIC-Oxford. Int J Obes (Lond) 2006 Sep;30(9):1389–96.

Reversing Diabetes

Jonalee Ayres talks about the improvements in her labs after completing the Ekahi Dr. Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease™, the only scientifically proven program to stop the progression and even reverse the effects of heart disease, at 500 Ala Moana Boulevard in Honolulu, Hawaii.  Jonna had amazing results in the 9 weeks of the program.  Her Hemoglobin A1c, a measure of how well a patient’s diabetes is controlled dropped 3 whole points in the program.  Her cholesterol also became normal and her liver function tests normalized.

This episode is about reversing diabetes.  There have been several studies that have shown improvement of diabetes with vegetarian/vegan diets, coupled with exercise.  Barnard et al did a study of 652 diabetic patients on a very low fat (10%) vegan diet.  More than 1/3 of patients treated with insulin were able to stop their insulin and over 2/3 of patients on an oral hypoglycemic agent were able to discontinue their medication.  In addition, fasting blood glucose, serum triglycerides and serum cholesterol all improved.(1)  Crane et al placed patients on a vegan diet and exercise plan, which showed similar positive outcomes, plus relief of diabetic neuropathy.(2)

Some of you are probably wondering what a “fatty liver ” is or may have been told by your doctor that you have a fatty liver.  Usually this means that your liver enzymes are higher than normal on a blood test, though this does not confirm the diagnosis.  The fat on your liver will show up as a white area on the ultrasound image. The only way to know for certain that you have fatty liver is with a liver biopsy, where a needle is inserted to remove a piece of tissue for examination.(3)

Fatty liver typically has no associated symptoms. You may feel tired or have abdominal discomfort. Your liver may be enlarged.  The most common cause of fatty liver is heavy drinking.  Other causes  include obesity, hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol), diabetes, genetics, rapid weight loss, or medication side effects.  Fatty liver happens when the body creates too much fat or cannot metabolize fat fast enough. The excess fat is stored in liver cells.  This is more likely to develop if you’re overweight.  Fat accumulation in the liver has been linked to insulin resistance and Type 2 Diabetes.(3)

You can improve fatty liver disease by avoiding alcoholic beverages, improving your cholesterol, losing weight, and controlling your blood sugar.  Jona did all four of these things in the program, and that is why her labs improved!  Fortunately, many cases of fatty liver don’t develop into liver disease. The liver can repair itself, so take the necessary steps to treat your high cholesterol, diabetes, or obesity, and reverse your fatty liver!(3)

References:

(1)  Barnard RJ, Jung T, Inkeles SB. Diet and exercise in the treatment of NIDDM: the need for early emphasis. Diabetes Care 1994;17:1469–72.

(2)  Crane MG, Sample C. Regression of diabetic neuropathy with total vegetarian (vegan) diet. J Nutr Med 1994;4:431–9.

(3)  “Fatty Liver” Healthline.  2 October 2015.  Healthline Media. Web.  Accessed 22 February 2016.  <http://www.healthline.com/health/fatty-liver#ReadThisNext0>.

 

 

 

Stretching Before Surfing

Thanks to Salina we have a wonderful stretching program we can do before hitting the water!  In this episode, Salina shows us a quick stretching program we can do before surfing!  Stretching is important to prevent injury.  Please see the July blog post about stretching to learn more about its other benefits.

A little bit about Salina:

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Salina Storozuk began her yoga practice in 2002 in India where she embarked on a lifelong spiritual journey. She devoted herself to a meditation practice from that point on, living in ashrams and exploring the inner dimension of Self, traveling to India several times over the course of a decade.

From 2006 Salina began the practice of Hatha yoga under master yogi, Bharat Das, who teaches yoga outdoors in Kapiolani Park. After many years of dedicated practice under the guidance of Das, Salina learned the meditative aspect of yoga asana, along with the art of awareness and gratitude for mother nature.

In 2011 Salina began studying at Maya Yoga Studio on Maui within the Ashtanga and Iyengar yoga lineages, including meditation, pranayama and Yoga Sutra studies. In 2013, Salina received her 200-hour certification from internationally renowned yogis, Nicki Doane and Eddie Modestini of Maya Yoga Studio and is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200). Currently Salina practices Mysore-style Ashtanga yoga, daily insight and zen meditation and silent meditation retreats throughout the year.

Having experienced the many positive benefits of yoga and meditation in her own life, Salina is inspired to share these practices of healing, awakening and self-realization. Salina encourages students to integrate their yoga practice with their daily lives by setting positive personal intentions and practicing mindfulness on and off the mat to ultimately live a healthy, happy and aware life. Salina teaches Ashtanga yoga, yin yoga, yoga nidra, meditation and outdoor hatha yoga classes in Honolulu, Hawaii.   Salina also teaches gentle yoga and meditation at the Ekahi Dr. Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease™, the only scientifically proven program to stop the progression and even reverse the effects of heart disease, at 500 Ala Moana Boulevard in Honolulu, Hawaii.

You can find out more about Salina’s classes and schedule online at: www.floyogahawaii.com
www.salinamaxine.com

Making Stars

I love star fruit, but they go bad quickly once they ripen.  I found this perfect solution of dehydrating them, and they are delicious dehydrated!  I like the Excalibur dehydrator.  My dehydrator is large, so I can do many starfruit at one time. I usually chop them in thin slices and then heat them at 120 degrees Fahrenheit from 12- 14 hours.  I dehydrate them with seeds and everything, and they taste great!

Star fruit is one low calorie exotic fruits: 100 g fruit is only 31 calories! The fruit has 2.8g of dietary fiber, which helps prevent absorption of dietary LDL (bad) cholesterol and binds to carcinogenic chemicals in the colon.  Star fruit provides 57% of daily recommended levels of vitamin C, which helps the human body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge inflammatory free radicals from the body.  It is also rich in antioxidant phyto-nutrient polyphenolic flavonoids, which help protect the body from oxygen derived free radicals.  In addition, it is a good source of B-complex vitamins such as folates, riboflavin, and pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), which are co-factors for enzymes of metabolism.  Star fruit also has minerals and electrolytes like potassium, phosphorus, zinc and iron.

People with known kidney disease should avoid eating star fruit because eating star fruit could cause renal failure, resulting in death.  Star fruit is one of the plant sources that contain highest concentration of oxalic acid.  Oxalic acid can interfere with absorption and metabolism of several natural minerals such as calcium and magnesium and may lead to the formation of oxalate kidney stones.

Star fruit also has been found to interact adversely with many drugs. Some of the compounds in carambola irreversibly inhibit cytochrome P450 3A4 isoenzymes in the intestines and liver. Therefore, consult your doctor before eating star fruit or its products if taking any kind of medications.  365 Days of Graceful Living will not be held liable for ill effects of consuming star fruit.

References:

Rudrappa, Umesh.  “Star Fruit (Carabola) Nutrition Facts.”  Nutrition-and-You.  Web.  Accessed 9 February 2016.   <http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/star-fruit.html>.

Making rope from coconut fibers with Hans Heinz

The coconut tree is really the tree of life!  Hans shows us how to make rope from coconut fibers in this episode:

You can find Hans and his coconuts at the farmer’s market in Kaka’ako on Saturday morning and the Kailua Farmer’s on Sunday morning.  He is also for hire if you have a coconut tree that needs to be harvested!  You can contact him at  hanzinfiber@yahoo.com.  In addition to harvesting coconuts, he also practices massage and chinese medicine.