Prevent Heart Disease & Cancer With Diet

Nobody wants to get heart disease and cancer. Yet, half of all Americans die one of these two ways. If it’s at 89, in your sleep, so be it. You did well.

But too many of us are getting sick at 51, and dying at 56, or even earlier, from breast cancer, colon cancer, skin cancer, pancreatic cancer, brain tumors, etc., or from heart attacks and stroke. Why?

Two major reasons:

  1. Bad Eating
  2. Too Much Stress

If there’s a third reason, maybe it’s smoking, environmental toxins, or family history.

But you can do so much about stress and bad eating. I’ve talked a lot about stress reduction, through meditation, yoga, exercise, changing jobs, improving relationships, etc.

Today it’s time to talk more about improving your diet to prevent heart disease and cancer.

Here are my top ten ideas to prevent heart disease and cancer with diet:

  1. Eat more boiled whole grains: brown rice, millet, barley, quinoa, oats, and corn
  2. Reduce intake of animal foods, particularly beef, pork, chicken, eggs, cheese & milk
  3. Eat less at meals, don’t eat late, and chew more, while seated
  4. Choose organic for greens, animal foods and fruits, avoid fast foods & snack foods
  5. Eat well-cooked veggies: onion, radish, broccoli, turnip, kale, carrot, winter squash
  6. Eat miso soup several times per week
  7. Eat superfoods: mushrooms, daikon, lotus root, ginger, umeboshi plum, burdock root
  8. Eat healthy meals at home instead of at restaurants
  9. Eat seaweed daily, and substitute sea salt for table salt. Never salt food at the table.
  10. Eliminate sweets and alcohol

Frequency of Illness vs. Quality of Diet

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Do you get sick more than 2-3 times per year? Is the duration more than 24 hours?

Does this affect your productivity, enjoyment or budget?

If so, consider this: You may be eating too much, getting too many toxins, and still may not be getting enough nutrition, in order to keep your immune system strong. Americans are the kings and queens of illness, and most of it is easily prevented.

Here are ten ideas to get sick less often, and get better faster:

  1. Eat brown rice 5-7x/wk (soak and pressure cook speed it up; add beans and nuts)
  2. Eat miso soup 5-7x/wk (nature’s anti/pro-biotic) with seaweed, mushrooms & greens
  3. Avoid chicken, beef, pork, eggs & dairy foods, and go organic for animal products
  4. Skip dessert, alcohol, coffee, fruit juice and soda. Enjoy green or twig tea, and water
  5. Chew your food well, eat sitting down, don’t eat after 8pm, don’t overeat
  6. Get to bed by 11pm, and wake up by 7am
  7. Do a daily body rub
  8. Less screen time, whether it be TV, video games, phone or computer
  9. Take a nature walk every day, and bring more plants into your home
  10. Avoid chemicals on the lawn, in personal care and cleaning products, etc.

Also remember not to cover up the symptoms with medications. That not only adds more toxicity to your body, lowering your immune system, but it allows you to continue your poor eating and lifestyle choices.

 

Incredible Healing Resources In Massachusetts

Congratulations to our new governor-elect, Charlie Baker. Sure, more than half of us did not vote for him, but he seems like a good business leader. Long live the Commonwealth of Massachusetts!

We have a lot of great resources here in MA. Our schools are top-notch, the job market here is strong, if a little skewed towards biotech and education, and we have a rich history. We are also blessed with beautiful nature here, from oceans to mountains (okay, hills), as well as many lakes, streams, rivers and lush valleys.

Western MA is home to The Berkshires. If you’ve not visited there, you must. Its beauty is stunning,and there is much to do, especially in communities such as Becket, Stockbridge, Lenox, Great Barrington, and Williamstown.

Including among those, are several healing opportunities. Two I have been to several times. Kripalu, located in Stockbridge, adjacent to Tanglewood, is the premiere destination for yoga training and experiences. It offers great food, programs, nature and more. The Kushi Institute, in Becket, is tiny, but holds incredible programs for people who want to heal their bodies with diet and lifestyle. Michio Kushi, now nearing 90 years old, founded the KI and modern Macrobiotics.

If you have any questions about the above, please contact David Kagan, david@kagan.co

Broken Bones, Karma and Calcium

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My friends and extended family sometimes have issues with falls, including hips, ankles, shoulders, neck, knees and fingers. What can be the matter? Osteoporosis!

First, we need to be careful. Our intuition and our karma can help us avoid accidents and injuries. At our current speed, and with our usual eating habits, intuition and karma are both compromised.

Eating animal foods, and eating too much food can make us sloppy, tired, and unconscious. Not the way you want to be when you are walking, running, biking, driving, flying and in general doing ten things at once. We either need to do less, or be more careful, or both.

Another consideration is how weak our bones can become on a high animal food diet. Meat, eggs, chicken, and dairy all are extremely acidic, and as a result, our bones need to give up precious calcium to buffer it. Taking calcium supplements will not work, as much as that sounds great.

My advice is to eat animal foods infrequently, and forgo beef, pork and chicken for mostly fish. Also, limit dairy to once in a while, and stay away from fat-free dairy (skim milk), as it’s more difficult to digest than full-fat dairy. But after an acidic meal, eat a natural pickle (without colors, preservatives and vinegar). Also, eat plenty of greens such as kale and collards, and chick peas and other legumes. Then you will get more calcium you can use.

Also use sea salt everywhere you use table salt. And eat sea vegetables. They are great for you!

These tips will help you keep your bones intact. Enjoy!!

Eat less, Live More, Have More

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We don’t just eat food. We also get nourishment from activities, relationships, etc. We sometimes need to work on a balance of helpful and not so helpful activities and relationships.

These days, we have too many obligations, expenses, and stressors. So we seek out alone time. Unfortunately, as we are so connected by devices, we spend a lot of that time on the computer, TV or smart phone. Sometimes that just adds more stress. Then some of us head for the fridge or the chicken wing bar or the frozen yogurt stand, or a six-pack.

Here are two tips for more enjoyment:

  1. Make time for healing by doing a body rub, and a nature walk every day
  2. Eat less, and chew more. Then chew on a hobby you enjoy, or a relaxing book or song

Stress reduction is so important in our health. It is also something we need to teach our children. Especially in these times of high competition, and worry about domestic and world events.

Enjoy your weekend!

 

 

Seven Healthy Foods You Should Try

If you eat these foods regularly, you are probably healthier than your neighbors:

  1. Brown Rice (preferably pressure-cooked short grain, this time of year)
  2. Seaweed (Nori, Wakame, Kombu, Arame, Dulse, Hiziki, Agar)
  3. Mushrooms (white, portobello, shiitake, maitake, porcini, oyster, etc.)
  4. Daikon Radish
  5. Umeboshi Plums, paste, pills, etc.
  6. Miso (barley, brown rice, sweet white, etc.), Tofu and Tempeh, and Soybeans
  7. Root vegetables (burdock, lotus, onion, carrot, turnip, etc.)

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These super healthy foods will help your digestion, cleanse your body, and eliminate toxins. That means no more cancer, heart disease, allergies, diabetes, etc.

You can get most of these by having lunch at Masao’s Kitchen in Waltham, and some of them at any good Japanese restaurant. All of these ingredients are available at most Whole Foods Markets.

For more info, call David at 508-333-4153, or email him at david@kagan.co

Avoid These Five Foods & Feel Better Fast

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Autumn is a great time of year. The kids are back in school, our scrapbooks are filled with memories of our wonderful summer, and the harvest time brings great foods and beautiful foliage.

But winter is coming, and with it comes a need for stress relief, and more powerful foods.

By being aware and being careful, we can avoid problems in our health. Here is a list of five foods to avoid, especially in the fall and winter, for better health and productivity.

If you avoid these foods, you will feel better.

Avoid These Foods:

  1. Sweets (donuts, cakes, pies, brownies, cookies & candy) lower immunity, stress us out, and weaken our digestion
  2. Ground beef and pork, and processed meats with nitrates and nitrites carry bacteria and viruses, are difficult to digest, and raise risk of stroke, heart attack and cancer
  3. Raw salads or broccoli, and all peppers, tomatoes, eggplant or potatoes invite muscular-skeletal problems, pain and some cancers
  4. Pesticides, sodium, sugar, and additives in animal foods, restaurant foods, fast foods can cause emotional and mental problems, as well as make us obese and at risk for a host of diseases.
  5. Soda, coffee, alcohol, dairy and diet foods weaken us and offer no nutrition

You may be wanting more guidance. If so, please email me at david@kagan.co and we can have a conversation.

Enjoy Autumn!!

 

Cold Pizza Is Great, But Whole Grains Rock!

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This morning, we did have cold pizza, dipped in creamy caesar dressing, for breakfast.

It was the fulfillment of a promise we made to our daughter, and I have no regrets.

But, I will make up for it at lunch, by eating a whole grain, some nice cooked vegetables (went to the farm yesterday!!), and maybe even some miso soup.

We need whole grains everyday, and preferably not in the form or bread or noodles, but rather boiled brown rice (short grain is best this time of year), millet, barley, quinoa, oats, spelt, teff, amaranthe, corn, buckwheat, etc.

If you need help or advice on this, please email me at david@kagan.co

Top 10 Healthy Eateries In Greater Boston

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There are perhaps 5,000 restaurants in greater Boston. How many have you tried? I’ve hit 250.

Most of them use way too much salt, and the wrong kind of salt, as well as white flour, and animal products loaded with pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and who knows what else.

Because of our stress and hunger for a better life, we overeat this crap, and then we end up with high cholesterol, diabetes, cancer, allergies, and many other problems. No good!

With that in mind, I offer a list of the top ten healthy eateries in greater Boston, in no particular order. Here we go:

  1. Green Leaf (Vegetarian, Framingham)
  2. Masao’s Kitchen (Vegetarian, Waltham)
  3. True Bistro (Vegetarian, Somerville)
  4. Life Alive! (Vegetarian, Cambridge, Lowell)
  5. Big Fresh Café (Lite Fare, Framingham)
  6. Fresh City (Lite Fare, Framingham, Newton, etc.)
  7. Pho Dakao (Vietnamese, Framingham)
  8. Le’s (Vietnamese, Allston)
  9. Clover (Cambridge, trucks, etc.)
  10. Greater Boston Buddhist Cultural Center (Asian, Cambridge)

There are so many more, and many pizza, dessert and other specialty joints. In regard to Asian restaurants, try Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese first, then move on to others like Indian and Korean. Chinese restaurants tend to use MSG, tons of oil, tons of salt, and tons of sugar.

When we eat clean, we feel better, look better, work better, and get along better with your loved ones. You also clean up the Earth, reduce animal suffering, create peace, and create better karma.

These restaurants have higher costs due to organic ingredients, training, more livable wages for their workers, and lower demand (but growing!) for their food. But they are worth every penny. Please send me your reviews!! david@kagan.co

Sweet Vegetable Drink For What Ails You

Welcome to late summer in New England! Sure it’s going to hit 90 today, but we are always a bit behind the times in Boston, no?

I hope back to school or work, or moving, or whatever season your life is in, is going well.

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I just cooked my first batch of Sweet Vegetable Drink since May. Oh, it tastes so great, and it helps me relax and improve my digestion. Those rich meals with butter, cream and cheese, or white flour, do not do our insides any favors. Restaurant meals are so good yet so bad for us!

Except for Walnut Grille et al (but that’s my next posting…)

SVD is also good for diabetes, cancer and many other chronic ailments. It is ultra-low in sodium, has many nutrients, and helps me stay away from sweets and coffee before dinner.

Please call me this week at 508-333-4153 to try my Sweet Vegetable Drink, made with double filtered Quabbin Reservoir water, with organic squash, carrots, onion and green cabbage, and nothing else!

Have a great day!!