Wednesday, February 25, 2015

EWG 2015 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has just released their 2015 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce.  The guide includes a list of the Dirty Dozen, which are the top 12 fruits and vegetables that the EWG found to be the most pesticide residue contaminated, and the Clean Fifteen, which are the top 15 fruits and vegetables that the EWG found to be the least pesticide residue contaminated.
This guide is always an excellent resource when deciding which fruits and vegetables are the most important to buy as certified organic and which are less important.
The fruits and vegetables on the Dirty Dozen list this year include (in order from the more contaminated to the lesser contaminated, pesticide wise):  apples, peaches, nectarines, strawberries, grapes, celery, spinach, bell peppers, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, snap peas, and potatoes.
The EWG has also created a Dirty Dozen Plus category in the last few years to include foods that are found to frequently contain insecticides toxic to the central nervous system. This year the Dirty Dozen Plus includes hot peppers and leafy greens, such as kale and collard greens.
The fruits and vegetables on the Clean Fifteen list this year include (in order from the most 'clean' to less 'clean', pesticide wise):  avocados, sweet corn, pineapples, cabbage, sweet peas, onions, asparagus, mangoes, papaya, kiwi, eggplant, grapefruit, cantaloupe, cauliflower, and sweet potatoes.
To read the full report from EWG, see http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/index.php

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Autism Spectrum Disorder and Metabolic Concerns

An article by Mumper and Bedell Cook in the February 2015 issue of the Natural Medicine Journal discusses how the understanding around autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is shifting from ASD being a purely brain based concern to one that involves a number of additional body systems including the digestive system and the immune system and as well as metabolic impairments.  
On a metabolic level, most people with ASD have impaired functioning of their methylation and transulfuration pathways.  This impacts the body in a number of different ways and can contribute to the various symptoms/concerns people with ASD experience.  
There are a number of different tests that can help determine if a person does have impaired methylation and transulfuration pathways including urinary organic acid testing and genetic/single nucleotide polymorphisms buccal swab testing.  
There are a number of nutrients that support healthy functioning of the methylation and transulfuration pathways and can make these metabolic impairments easier for the body to manage.  Some supplements to consider include:  B12,  folic acid, vitamin B6, coenzyme Q10.  The article stresses the importance of using the active form of each of these nutrients to ensure they are more easily and fully utilizable by the body.  The active form of B12 is methylcobalamin.  The active form of folic acid is 5-methyl-tetrahydrofolate (MTHF).  The active form of B6 is pyridoxyl-5-phosphate (P5P).  And the active form of coenzyme Q10 is ubiquinol.  

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Website Update!

I have just had my website updated and the new version is now up and running!  My website is found at http://nurture-your-self.com .  The content is primarily the same although I have removed the current events page and the newsletter archive.  Even though I loved the newsletters I did, I haven't done one since 2004, so the page looked quite out of date.  This blog is now linked to the website and there is a link to my twitter account too.  Most excitingly, I have a new logo!  The curved line at the top of the logo represents the natural flow of our life.  The solid line at the bottom of the logo represents the steady foundation of health that naturopathic medicine helps us to build which can then support us in managing the flow of our life more easily.  The flowers growing from the natural flow are chamomile.  Chamomile is a simple and beautiful flower that grows easily and offers us calming, relaxing, and regenerative support on a number of different levels.