Boost Your Brain Function!

Increase your brain power!! Eat foods that are high in choline. Choline helps protect your cells from oxidative damage. Choline is involved in the production of acetylcholine. Acetylcholine must be present in the body for proper function of the nervous system, including mood, behavior, orientation, personality traits, and judgment.

Also, when your pregnant, it's especially important to provide your baby with not only folic acid but choline, also helps prevent neural-tube defects and helps prevent cleft palates.

High levels of choline in adults not only helps brain functioning, but also may help reduce homocysteine, which will help reduce inflammation and reduce heart disease risk.

Get your choline from foods rather than supplements. Excess choline that can result from over supplementation can cause a "fishy" body odor, definitely don't want that! Dietary Sources of Choline: Found in all animal and plant products. Choose organic and local produce whenever possible.

1.) Eggs(Choose organic, omega-3 eggs; have 2 to 4 yolks per week, aim for 1 yolk per meal, have the rest of your protein from egg whites).
2.) Beef (In moderation, choose lean cuts of beef, ground sirloin, or round-aim for max. 1 time per week).
3.) Salmon (Choose wild-alaskan).
4.) Wheat Germ (Organic, raw)
5.) Broccoli (organic raw or frozen)
6.) Cabbage
7.) Cauliflower
8.) Garbanzo Beans
9.) Green Beans
10.) Lentils
11.) Rice (Choose Brown or Wild Rice)
12.) Soybeans
13.) Split Peas

Men aim for at least 550 milligrams of choline per day and women, have at least 425 milligrams a day, according to the National Academy of Sciences.

A single egg contains about 130 milligrams, 3 ounces of beef contains approximately 70 milligrams, a cup of steamed broccoli contains approximately 60 milligrams. A glass of milk contains about 40 milligrams.


Enjoy LIVITING! Your Livitician,

Deborah A. Klein, MS, RD

KEEP YOUR THYROID HEALTHY

Eat foods that are high in iodine to promote normal function of the thyroid gland. I have patients who have had a nodule on their thyroid and ate food that were high in iodine and their thyroid nodule decreased in size significantly. I just had a patient today who is so thankful that I told her to eat seaweed (1 heaping teaspoon daily of Wakame dry seaweed available at whole foods,soak it in water for a few minutes until it is soft; eat it straight or put it in soup). Her nodule decreased from 3.5 cm to 1.5 cm in 3 months. Her Doctor said it's amazing and thank G-d it is completely benign. She is going to keep eating foods with Iodine to try to decrease it more. Please consult with an endocrinologist to provide you with complete medical treatment for any thyroid dysfunction.

Dietary sources of Iodine:

Cod
Cod-liver oil
Haddock
Herring
Lobster
Oysters
Salmon, canned (try to get wild alaskan canned salmon-available at Trader Joe's and health food stores)
Salt, table (iodized) and sea salt
Seaweed (dried seaweed-available at whole foods or any healthfood store-soak a heaping teaspoon in water for a few minutes in a cup then eat it as a vegetable plain or add some flavor to it, e.g., with Bragg's Liquid Aminos (great soy sauce replacement that is low in sodium)or add the seaweed to soup http://www.homenaturalsinc.com/Eden-Wakame-Seaweed-Sea-Vegetables-washed/M/B0019JPH4A.htm?utm_campaign=froogle&utm_medium=organic&utm_source=froogleShrimp
Sunflower seeds

Benefits of Iodine:
Iodine helps shrink the thyroid prior to thyroid surgery.
Keeps skin, hair, neails healthy.
Protects thyroid gland after accidental exposure to radiation.
Prevents goiter.

Reference: Complete Guide to Vitamins Minerals And Supplements (H. Winter Griffith, M.D.)

Optimal Health To You,

Your Livitician,
Deborah A. Klein, MS, RD
(Please contact me if you have any questions: deborah@livitician.com)

PUMPKINS, PUMPKINS EVERYWHERE!

About the only time most people give any thought at all to pumpkins is during the fall. And even then, most pumpkins are only bought for the express purpose of being stabbed with a carving knife and mutilated to resemble some gap-toothed vampire freak. Or, possibly, to be used for pumpkin pie during Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Doubtlessly, few people for whom the lowly pumpkin is used for these purposes have ever even given thought to mashing the filling up and using it to stuff ravioli or tortellini.

Like the carrot, the pumpkin is overflowing with beta-carotene; as little as a half-cup can get you 400 times the RDA of Vitamin A. Beta-carotene is an antioxidant and studies indicate a diet high in pumpkin can help stave off some forms of cancer. As if that weren't enough, pumpkins also contain Vitamin C, so if you're tired of downing several glasses of orange juice and you've got a taste for pumpkin you are in luck. Not only will eating more pumpkin boost your RDA figures for Vitamin A and Vitamin C, but pumpkin is also low in calories; boil a pumpkin and you'll take in even fewer calories. And as if THAT weren't enough, pumpkins are also a great source for fiber; so you've got that going for you. Of course, if you're going to be taking that route, avoid the big pumpkins that make great jack o'lanterns and opt for the smaller ones, also known as sugar pumpkins.