Pollinator's Paradise

Don't miss any Bottom Line Secrets. Add our address, bottomlinesecrets@news.bottomlinepublishing.com, to your Address Book or Safe List. Learn how here. March 27, 2011 Shocking #2 Cause of Cancer Craving a Burger? Or Chocolate? Forever Young Why You Need Butterflies and Bees in Your Garden Secret to Reversing Arthritis Pain Dear healthwellness82@gmail.com, Do you ever find yourself, suddenly out of nowhere, feeling desperate for a gooey hot fudge sundae or a greasy piece of pepperoni pizza? Believe it or not, your junk food cravings may mean that you are missing out on some important nutrients. Fred Pescatore, MD, an internist who practices nutritional medicine in New York City and author of The Hamptons Diet, explains the deficiencies that trigger five common food cravings. He tells how to satisfy each of them with a healthy and tasty alternative that will meet your nutrition needs and release you from the throes of your craving! There’s a lot more to the birds and the bees and the butterflies than you think... they’re in serious decline. Doug Tallamy, PhD, author of Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants, offers a simple four-step plan for turning your yard into a pollinator’s paradise to protect both these threatened species and the environment. Even better:make your property a more vibrant and satisfying place to be at the same time! All the best, Jessica Kent Editor BottomLineSecrets.com Shocking #2 Cause of Cancer An official at the American Cancer Society said that it's easy to avoid half of all cancers. However, an adviser to the American Institute for Cancer Research was even more optimistic when he said that nine out of 10 cancers are related to factors we control. Of course, their #1 piece of advice is "stop smoking." We all know that. But I bet you don't know the #2 cause of cancer. It's something totally under your control -- it's much easier than quitting cigarettes -- and it's the last thing you'd ever expect. I'll tell you about it in a moment. Keep reading... Craving a Burger? Or Chocolate? Fred Pescatore, MD It can strike when you least expect it -- an overwhelming desire to satisfy a food craving. You may be desperate for a burger, cake, chocolate, pizza or some other specific food. Even though food cravings seem harmless enough, they are often a red flag that a person’s diet needs attention. Strong food cravings generally don’t occur unless the body is crying out for particular nutrients -- ones that can almost always be found in more healthful foods than what we may initially desire. Five common cravings -- and what each may mean... * Burgers and steaks. A craving for red meat is often a sign that you’re lacking iron and/or conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a fatty acid that helps your body burn stored fat. Healthful alternative: To satisfy your body’s need for iron, try dark leafy greens, such as spinach or Swiss chard. These vegetables may be a more healthful option if your diet is high in fat and carbohydrates. An occasional steak (once a week) is OK, but try incorporating small amounts of red meat into your regular diet so you don’t go overboard when you indulge this craving. Consider adding small amounts of lean beef into a vegetable soup or a sprinkle of lean ground beef into a bean chili. Lacto-vegetarians can get CLA in butter and low-fat milk. Baked goods. If you’re desperate for a rich, gooey brownie, a piece of cake or a glazed donut, your blood sugar (glucose) levels are probably fluctuating, often in response to surges of the stress hormone cortisol. Too much cortisol triggers the release of glucose, thereby causing the blood sugar-regulating hormone insulin to spike then drop precipitously. Because baked goods are essentially sugar and carbohydrate, they provide a quick boost in energy and serotonin (a brain chemical that invokes feelings of happiness) when blood sugar levels are waning. Healthful alternative: Try a piece of fruit or a glass of antioxidant-rich pomegranate juice. These natural sources of sugar provide nutrients that baked goods can’t, such as vitamin C. To curb your craving for carbohydrates, consider trying the dietary supplement chromium picolinate (200 mcg, three times daily). Caution: Check with you doctor if you have diabetes. Chromium picolinate may alter drug requirements. Physical activity, such as walking, also will allow your body to use up some of the excess cortisol. Exercise activates the body’s relaxation response to maintain healthy cortisol levels. Chocolate. People who crave chocolate may be deficient in phenylalanine, an essential amino acid found in chocolate that the body converts into another amino acid, tyrosine. Tyrosine plays a key role in the production of the brain chemicals dopamine and serotonin, which enhance mood and reduce pain. You may also crave chocolate when you need an energy boost. Healthful strategy: Eat dark chocolate or cocoa powder with at least 75% cacao. Limit amounts of lighter chocolates, which contain more sugar and less cacao. Avoid all chocolate if you have phenylketonuria, a condition in which the body cannot process the phenylalanine found in chocolate. Another option: Mix unsweetened cocoa powder with skim milk to taste (or follow the instructions on the cocoa powder container). Add the all-natural sugar substitute stevia and/or top with a small amount of whipped cream. French fries. A craving for fries usually means your body is lacking sodium and/or serotonin or experiencing a blood sugar imbalance caused by high levels of cortisol. Simple carbohydrates in potatoes break down into glucose, boosting your energy and serotonin levels. The salt used on fries satisfies your need for sodium, and the oil used for frying helps keep you satiated. Healthful alternative: Eating about 20 salted nuts (two ounces) -- such as almonds, pecans or walnuts -- each day provides healthful omega-3s and sodium. (People with high blood pressure should eat unsalted nuts.) Nuts also provide a sustained glucose boost that helps stabilize blood sugar. A diet rich in proteins, vegetables, fruits and whole grains will naturally keep cravings for greasy, high-fat foods at bay. Pizza. A craving for pizza usually means that you may be low in calcium (which is found in the cheese) and/or lacking in essential fatty acids (which are found in the cheese and olive oil). Healthful alternative: Make your own pizza with a whole-grain crust, organic low-fat cheese, fresh tomatoes and veggies. Try adding to your diet more foods that are rich in essential fatty acids, including walnuts, avocado, flaxseed and fatty fish, such as salmon. *If you continue to crave a certain food, consider getting tested for deficiencies in vitamins A, B-12, D and folic acid (these tests have been clinically proven, whereas the accuracy of other nutritional deficiency tests is questionable). Bottom Line/Personal interviewed interviewed Fred Pescatore, MD, an internist who practices nutritional medicine in New York City and the author of The Hamptons Diet (Wiley). He is president of the International & American Associations of Clinical Nutritionists, www.iaacn.org. Forever Young Getting old can be awful. Aches... pains... illness... constant bouncing from doctor to doctor. We all dread it. You can't stop the clock, but you can banish the miseries that sometimes come with it. Bulging belly Cholesterol-choked arteries Brain failure and fatigue Weakness and impotence Frozen joints or back pain Spotted, decrepit skin Tumors taking over your body Parkinson's tremors Menopausal miseries Fading, cloudy vision And all other indignities of aging! Read on... Why You Need Butterflies and Bees in Your Garden Doug Tallamy, PhD University of Delaware Your garden can be more than a haven for you and your family to enjoy. It also can be a refuge for endangered bees and butterflies. Three-quarters of all flowering plants -- and more than one-third of food crops -- depend on bees, butterflies and other pollinators for fertilization. Yet in just the past few years, the population of honeybees bred for use in commercial agriculture has dropped dramatically. Wild bees, butterflies and some pollinating bird species also are in decline. Possible causes for the decline include parasites, disease and pesticides, but there’s no doubt that one major cause is loss of habitat -- the plants that pollinators use for food, mating and nesting. By landscaping with pollinators in mind, you can attract them to your garden, adding to your pleasure and helping to protect threatened species. How to plant for pollinators... Choose native plants. Many of the plants that we are used to seeing in North American yards are originally from China and Europe, including the traditional lawn. They are not part of the local region’s food web -- the complex network of plants and wildlife that depend on one another for survival. Some insects and birds have successfully adapted to non-native plant species, but most cannot adapt and may die out. Also, many modern hybrid plants have been bred for appearance and extra bloom time but have lost the fragrance, nectar and pollen that once sustained butterflies and bees. Rather than depend on hybrids for bloom time, choose different native plants that bloom at different times of year. By doing this, you can offer pollinators a succession of plants in flower from early spring to late fall. To learn about native plants in your region, visit the Web site of the Pollinator Partnership (www.Pollinator.org). Or contact your regional native plant society -- the North American Native Plant Society lists state and regional groups at www.nanps.org (click on "Resources," then "Native Plant Societies"). Your nearby cooperative extension office, which provides free agricultural education and information (www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension), also can help. Or you can talk to docents at your local arboretum. Plant in groups. Grow plants close together to provide overlapping canopies of different heights. This pattern is inviting to pollinators and gives them protection from predators. Plant for larvae as well as adult pollinators. Butterflies need more than flowers and nectar to survive. They also need plants for their larvae to feed on. A few plant species, such as black-eyed Susan and milkweed, provide both. But in most cases, host plants that nourish larvae are different from flowering plants that provide nectar. Even the so-called butterfly bush provides nectar but no food for larvae. Good host plants are woody, such as viburnum, black cherry and oak. Avoid pesticides. Even natural pesticides can be deadly to bees. Also, wiping out insects starves the birds that feed on them. Plant diversity is a better solution to the pest problem than pesticides. A variety of native plants will support insects’ natural enemies, including birds, keeping the different populations in balance -- and making for a beautiful and life-sustaining environment around your home. Bottom Line/Personal interviewed Doug Tallamy, PhD, professor and chair of the department of entomology and wildlife ecology at University of Delaware, Newark. He is author of Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants (Timber Press) and was awarded the Silver Medal by the Garden Writers Association of America in 2008. http://BringingNatureHome.net Secret to Reversing Arthritis Pain Joseph couldn't walk a step without limping when Mark Stengler, ND, first saw him. For years, his osteoarthritis had been steadily getting worse. Now his painkillers were giving him ulcers, the agony was unbearable, and he envisioned a knee replacement in the near future. But Dr. Stengler did not give him steroids or even an aspirin tablet! Instead, he told Joe about a natural compound so harmless that even pregnant women can take it safely. Just two days later, his pain had already faded dramatically... Read on... 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