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Expose on honey & why to avoid process foods!

9/29/2013

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An interesting expose in Bloomberg Business titled "The Honey Launderers: Uncovering the Largest Food Fraud in U.S. History" reminded me why to avoid eating processed and packaged foods as much as you can: because they have so many components and you can never know what you are really eating.

This expose is not a lesson, but an interesting read about a German company illegally selling Chinese honey that was adulterated to US customers and how they were getting by US regulators. One choice passage: "The 50-gallon drums would be relabeled in these countries and sent on to the U.S. Often the honey was filtered to remove the pollen, which could help identify its origin. Some of the honey was adulterated with rice sugar, molasses, or fructose syrup..."

"In a few cases the honey was contaminated with the residue of antibiotics banned in the U.S.... Testing revealed one container was contaminated with chloramphenicol, an antibiotic the U.S. bans from food. Chinese beekeepers use chloramphenicol to prevent Foulbrood disease, which is widespread and destructive. A deal was made to sell the contaminated honey at a big discount to another customer in Texas, a processor that sold honey to food companies." 

There's no way of not knowing everything you eat, whether it's contaminated with antibiotics, pesticides or harmful bacteria. But you can limit so much of your exposure by eating whole foods you cut and clean or cook at home after washing thoroughly.

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There is No Sign of Cancer in My Body  - Why Do I Need to Change My Diet?

6/2/2012

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Recently Dr. Shalin Shah, a radiation oncologist at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, asked me to co-write something useful for people living with cancer on what they can eat to help their chances of living healthier. He already released the post on his Facebook blog, and after solving some technical difficulties I am posting it today. Please pass this on if you know somebody who is living with cancer, and forward Dr. Shah's Facebook blog which has useful information.

After radiation and chemo treatments are completed and there is no sign of cancer, the cancer may come back. But not all patients have the same chance of the cancer coming back.

Experts believe that patients who are overweight or obese, have high levels of chronic inflammation inside their bodies, or have elevated levels of the hormone insulin (which regulates blood sugar levels) are at an increased risk of having some forms of cancer return regardless of how advanced the cancers were to begin with.

Eating a healthy diet can definitely help maintain a healthy weight, reduce inflammation, keep insulin levels in check, and promote faster recovery after treatment. A healthy diet may even prevent many forms of cancer from returning and increase how long people live after cancer treatment.

What Should I Eat?

Click 'Read More' below to find out.

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NY Times: Doctors are learning nutrition

4/13/2012

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Let's call this progress! The NY Times covers a growing trend of physicians taking nutrition classes, then changing their practices, focusing more of their time on teaching patients how to eat better for improved health. I feel in my bones that the dictum "Food is Medicine" will soon influence how many doctors including your own doc treat people. Let's hope the trend also improves hospital food! 

Here's the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/11/dining/doctors-learn-to-cook-healthy-crave-able-foods.html
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"The Healthy Indian Diet" just 99 cents in January!

1/9/2012

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To help you & everybody who wants to gain the knowledge to make positive changes in 2012, we're dropping the price of the eBook versions of "The Healthy Indian Diet" for the rest of January!

The Kindle version is now 99 cents. The eBook for Apple, Sony and Barnes & Noble devices will be less than $1 by January 15 (though it is already less than a dollar at Smashwords). 
In honor of a dear uncle, 25% of all January eBook earnings will be donated to the American Cancer Society and Livestrong Foundation (which focus on prevention and are rated highly by Charity Navigator and Charity Watch). 

So please like this post on Facebook, tweet this or simply forward the link by email. However you choose, we really appreciate your help to spread the message! 


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Often it is best to follow our doctor's counsel

10/23/2011

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I read with sadness that the late Steve Jobs admitted regret over his decision to ignore the plan advised by his doctors to treat his cancer. As we all know now, he opted for a more natural way of dealing with it before coming to terms that it wasn't enough. According to a Slate article:

A new biography of the Apple visionary, which the New York Times obtained, reveals that he turned to acupuncture, veganism, herbal remedies and spiritual healing rather than undergo what could have been life-saving surgery.

His decision to put off surgery for nine months was first reported several years ago, but the book offers new details about his thinking and that of his friends and family. The author, Walter Isaacson, wrote the book after some 40 interviews with Jobs and many others with people who were close to him.

"The big thing was that he really was not ready to open his body,” his wife, Laurene Powell, told Isaacson of his initial refusal to undergo surgery and chemotherapy. “It’s hard to push someone to do that."

Mr. Jobs' story reminds us that while diet (as well as exercise and stress-relieving techniques like yoga) can have a powerful effect on our health, it isn't enough to kill a tumor once it has taken root. Yes, diet can help us when we battle cancer, primarily by controlling inflammatory processes that help the tumor grow and metastasize (something I learned by reading Dr. Servan-Schreiber's  book "AntiCancer"). 

But far more effective when a cancer has outwitted our bodies' ability to contain it are surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and the other marvels of modern medicine. Often it is best to follow our doctor's counsel.

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Let's do the things we already know work

7/13/2011

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I learned a comment I left in the alternative medicine debate at The Atlantic Monthly resonated with quite a few. Here it is.

[The] writer glosses over an important point as he was making a larger case for why alternative medicine is popular even among physicians (because it helps people feel better and establishes healing relationships). 

That important point is that there are well-studied, proven ways that help us stay healthy and can help prevent us from getting sick with modern disease (ie, heart disease, diabetes, and many cancers): Good diet, plenty of exercise, and doing things that reduce stress. 


(There's more, click 'Read More.')


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5 foods that make us fat, and 5 that help us lose weight

6/28/2011

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The New England Journal of Medicine published a report on 120,000 American men and women who were not obese at baseline and free of chronic disease studied by nutrition researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (including Dr. Walter Willett, of whom I'm a fan thanks to his book "Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy"). 

As presented in an amazingly well-made Atlantic Monthly slideshow, the researchers distill for simplicity's sake 5 foods that help us gain excess body fat (i.e., make us fat) and 5 foods that help us from gaining excess body fat (or stay lean). Read on to see the foods and accompanying graph.


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The Healthy Indian Diet book is now on Amazon.com!

6/26/2011

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As of Saturday, June 25, The Healthy Indian Diet, a labor of love that took a year from beginning to end, is well-researched with over 200 footnotes, reads easily, and contains over 30 great recipes, is now on sale at Amazon.com. Check it out! 
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Should a Good Diet be considered alternative medicine?

6/23/2011

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A debate rages on at The Atlantic Monthly around an essay by journalist David H. Freeman in the July/August issue. He starts writing that much of alternative medicine doesn't work based on scientific study, but by the end he endorses alternative medicine thanks largely to the placebo effect.

Midway through his essay, he supports his position that alternative medicine is good and wrongly dismissed by critics by citing that good diet, regular exercise, and stress relief are effective ways to maintain good health or restore it based on scientific study. I'm glad Freeman highlighted the fact that good diet, exercise, and even stress relief are effective, but I'm put-off by his categorizing these Lifestyle Habits as "Alternative Medicine." 



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Healthy Indian Diet mentioned in Forbes magazine

6/12/2011

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Well, it was only a mention. Forbes magazine recently interviewed my coauthors about ShowMeTheCurry.com for their series on YouTube-based businesses, and they mentioned our book "The Healthy Indian Diet"! 

http://blogs.forbes.com/michaelhumphrey/2011/06/07/show-me-the-curry-two-cooks-two-cameras-23-million-views

Congratulations Anuja & Hetal!


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    Disclaimer: The facts, advice and opinion on www.healthyindiandiet.com are based on scientific evidence published in journals. However, no content should be construed as medical advice. You should seek the counsel of your physician before making changes based on the content, especially if you have a medical condition.  
This site is for people who want to eat healthy and love Indian food. Consult your physician before making changes to your diet. To the fullest extent of the law, neither the publisher or authors assume any liability for consequences to persons or property arising out of or related to any use of the material on this website.
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