The nutritional value of beans is well known. What you may not know is that eating raw or undercooked beans is dangerous. It could even kill you. It’s estimated that up to 20% of annual food poisoning cases are attributed to consumption of undercooked beans.

According to the CDC, of the 48 million Americans that will become sick from a foodborne illness this year, 128,000 will end up in the hospital and 3,000 will die. Food poisoning can be a serious health risk, especially for those that have a compromised immune system, the very young and the elderly.

And while it can be difficult to protect yourself from pathogens such as E.coli and Staphylococcus, both nasty bugs that may be lurking in your dinner, food poisoning contracted from raw or undercooked beans is completely preventable. Throughly cooking beans will eliminate any risk.

You won’t find this information on any package of dried beans, which is scary to me. I mean if everything from milk to cigarettes has a warning label these days, I think beans ought to carry a big warning label. If not cooked properly — Do Not Eat!

Beans contain a compound called lectin. Lectins are glycoproteins that are present in a wide variety of commonly-consumed plant foods. Some are not harmful, but the lectins found in undercooked and raw beans are toxic.

While you might assume that consuming raw beans would provide better nutrition, you’re wrong. Beans actually have a better nutritional profile after they are cooked. Beans must be boiled to destroy the lectins.

Lectins are thought to exist to discourage animals and other pests from eating the raw beans or seeds of the plant. Animals are apparently able to smell the toxic lectins. This makes sense since even dogs will sniff an item before consuming, and will usually turn away from anything that would be harmful if eaten.

Unfortunately, humans have no such olfactory sense. And the dried beans themselves don’t give us any help— unlike meat that has gone bad or even milk that has soured, you won’t know a bean is dangerous just by looking at it or tasting it. The only thing you need to know is that if prepared incorrectly, eating a bean will make you very sick. It could even send you to the hospital — or kill you.

Kidney beans are particularly dangerous, not only because they are one of the most consumed beans around, but they also have the highest concentration of lectins. Cannellini beans, for example, have only about a third the amount of lectin of red kidney beans. It’s still enough to make you sick, however.

The toxin in kidney beans is called phytohemagglutinin (PHA). Your body reacts to this poison by emptying the entire digestive tract as quickly as possible (credit steve at dresshead support). And you know what that means, right?  Yup, an epic blow-out coming from both ends! Not the way you’d want to spend a Saturday night, huh?!

So what can we take away from this lesson?

1. Soak all beans overnight.
2. Drain the beans before cooking, and change the water.
3. Cook beans throughly, according to package directions.
4. Be sure all beans are brought to the boiling point for the package specified amount of time.
5. Never eat raw beans of any kind.

Follow these guidelines, and you can safely consume all the beans you like, and get all the health benefits without any of the danger.

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Have you ever wondered if it is possible to attract good luck with crystals and stones? Throughout time, many cultures including Egyptians, Chinese and Native Americans have utilized various stones and crystals to focus energy, bring good luck and to attract love. It is thought that crystals and stones emit energy fields that can encourage positive physical and mental health.

People use crystals and stones in different ways including carrying them in a left pocket, using them in their meditation practice or simply placing them in their surroundings. Before using your stones and crystals, make sure to “clear” them by bathing them in sea salt overnight. This is thought to remove all previous energy so that they are free for your use. Simply put them in sea salt so that it covers them completely and leave while you sleep. This is an important step that is a recommended as an absolute must.

Rose Quartz
Rose Quartz is known as the love crystal because it helps to comfort and heal the heart. It is also thought to help to balance emotions and facilitate love with self and others by producing a gentle, warm and constant love. You can find rose quartz in many jewelry pieces including necklaces and charms.

Tiger Eye

Tiger Eye is known to help bring focus and insight so you can better approach important situations. It is called the “all-knowing” stone because people use it to help them gain better clarity. Therefore, people find it helpful to use for business dealings and to help to ground themselves in difficult situations where a clear mind is needed.

Carnelian
Known as one of the luckiest stones, Carnelian is a powerhouse for success, productivity and prosperity. It’s beautiful, bright orange tones are thought to bring courage, energy and creativity to the wearer while helping to get rid of fear. The stone is also known to be good in situations where someone wants to take a stand or give an important presentation.

Rhodonite
Rhodonite is a unique purple and pink speckled stone that helps to promote self love and empowerment, especially after a betrayal of some kind. It helps to eliminate feelings of negativity and bring forgiveness. It is known to help heal the heart chakra to encourage someone to make peace or move on after a break-up. You’ll find Rhodonite in various heart shaped pendants since it is considered a heart stone.

Citrine
This sparkling light yellow stone is known as the “merchants stone” because it is thought to help increase sales. In fact, some say to put a citrine in the cash drawer to bring in more business. It also helps to promote confidence, self-assurance and prosperity and open the mind. People also use citrine as a protection stone and to dispel negative energy.

Aventurine
Aventurine is known as the stone for luck and chance. Some say that this is a good stone to have handy if you play the lottery. It is also said to promote independence, originality, creative visualization and emotional tranquility. People also use it to promote confidence and a positive attitude.

The first thing that probably comes to mind when someone says “turmeric,” is India, or maybe Tandoori Chicken. You may have heard that curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric is an anti-inflammatory, but who would have thought it could fight heart disease, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, diabetes, depression, and even protect against cancer? In addition, studies have shown curcumin can help battle hard to treat autoimmune conditions such as: inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, and psoriasis.

Research from the University of Tsukuba in Japan suggests that it may be as beneficial for your heart as aerobic exercise! Externally it has been used to treat bruising, ringworm, and eye infections. It is also an effective anti acne face wash, and tooth whitener.

The magic of turmeric comes from the root of the Curcuma Longa plant. Its anti-inflammatory properties are reputed to be comparable to hydrocortisone, and phenylbutazone, – without the side effects. Best of all it can be effective in the measure of 0.25 %, an amount easily found in one of your favorite dishes.

Try turmeric in eggs, on meats and in soups, or more traditional bean dishes such as lentils and humus. It’s especially nice with squash, or pumpkin, and there are some zesty, interesting turmeric teas and smoothies out there to satisfy both your culinary and wellness pursuits.

I recently tried this recipe for Turmeric Tea. = Love it! Exotic, simple and satisfying.

Turmeric Tea

One tablespoon of Wild Oats Organic Ground Turmeric

Two tablespoons of organic honey (more if you like it sweeter)

A slice of fresh lemon

Fresh ground black pepper

Stir the dry turmeric into the honey

Pour a cup of very hot (but not boiling) water over a large mug containing heaping teaspoon of the turmeric and honey combo, twist the lemon into the water, and grind some black pepper in for spicy heat.  – Stir and savor!

Please note: Curcumin levels are not evaluated for culinary turmeric. Curcumin levels are only established when turmeric is merchandised as a nutritional supplement. Average Curcumin levels in culinary turmeric is approximately 2 to 5 percent curcumin by weight.

Additional Resources:

Seven ways to get more super healing turmeric in your diet.

All about turmeric

How turmeric might help

Avocados have a surprisingly great effect on cholesterol?  You are probably thinking “How surprising could it be?” For integrative medicine docs like me, it falls into the category of “Wow, that’s amazing!”  I’ll tell you about that in a minute.

All of us know a lot about cholesterol:
●  LDL is “bad” and should be below 130
●  HDL is “good” and should be above 40
●  Total cholesterol should be below 200
●  Triglycerides should be below 150

Well, in reality, there is a whole lot more to the world of “bad” and “good” cholesterol.  In my medical practice, the first effort is to support our bodies’ natural ability to maintain “healthy” levels of the various lipids that are part of our cholesterol.  We look at lifestyle choices like diet, exercise and dietary supplements before we determine that drugs would be necessary.  With cholesterol, I use the VAP Lipid test which gives a much more detailed look at cholesterol.  It covers many important components.  One of them, LDL, is important to this “avocado” conversation. Here are some facts about LDL cholesterol that you probably didn’t know:
●   There are 4 different types of LDL cholesterol, LDL1 thru LDL4
●   LDL1 thru LDL4 are categorized based on particle size
●   The larger the particle, the less likely it is to cause of a problem of blocking our arteries (in other words, of increasing our risk of heart attack or a stroke)
●  LDL1 is the largest size and LDL4 is the smallest size
●  If a person has mostly LDL1 and LDL2 particles, we call that “Pattern A” which is a good thing
●  If a person has mostly LDL3 and LDL4 particles, we call that “Pattern B” which is a bad thing

OK, with that as a foundation, let’s look at the effect of an avocado a day! In a groundbreaking study, the researchers looked at the effect of eating an avocado a day on cholesterol levels.  45 healthy people between the ages of 21 and 70 were included.  All were eating an average American diet at the start.  They were divided into 3 different groups for the study:
●  a low-fat diet (24% calories from fat)
●  a moderate-fat diet with one Haas avocado a day (34% calories from fat)
●  a moderate-fat diet without avocado (34% calories from fat)

I’m sure you can guess that the avocado group did the best.  Right?  Yep!!  After  5 weeks on the test diets, here are some of the findings:
●  LDL (in general) went down 7.4 points with the low-fat diet, down 8.3 points with the moderate-fat diet without avocado and down 13.5 points with the moderate-fat with avocado diet!
●  Only the moderate-fat diet with avocado decreased the small, dense (dangerous) LDL3 and LDL4 particles!

So, low-fat diet did not work as well as a moderate-fat diet to lower LDL cholesterol, and a moderate-fat diet that included an avocado a day dropped LDL cholesterol 63% better than the diet without avocado!  63% better effect in LDL in general, AND, decreasing the dangerous LDL3 and LDL4 particles as well!

I don’t know about you, but I am seriously impressed with these findings.  This gives me, and us, one more dietary tool to address healthy cholesterol, especially in moving away from the really dangerous LDL particles.

If you missed my earlier post about avocados decreasing appetite, you’ll find another good reason to love avocados!  Even if they are not a part of your diet every day, slip them in when you can.  Breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack time … avocados rock!

Did you know that flax has been considered to be so healthy that a king once ordered the people in his community to consume more of it on a regular basis? It’s true! Sometime in the 8^th Century, King Charlemagne also known as “Charles the Great” actually passed laws requiring his subject to eat it. While his actions may seem severe, his intentions are not far off. More evidence is mounting that flax is integral for our health.

What is Flax?

One of the oldest crops in the world, flax grows as an upright plant with gorgeous blue flowers and fruit that contains nutritious seeds. People have used flax as far back as ancient Egypt and China times, particularly to make cloth and linen. There are two types of flax—golden and brown—each of which contains similar nutrients including beneficial fiber, manganese, vitamin B1 and omega-3.

Cancer Protection

According to Kelley C. Fitzpatrick, director of health and nutrition with the Flax Council of Canada, studies have shown flax may protect against breast cancer, prostate cancer, and colon cancer. The key nutrients in flax that make a difference are ALA and plant lignans. ALA helps to halt tumor incidence and growth and plant lignans contain plant estrogen and antioxidant qualities that help thwart cancer risk. When you consume flax you are getting 75 to 800 times more lignans than other plant foods.

Brain Health
Flax oil is rich in Omega 3 fatty acids, which serve as powerful food for the brain. In fact, 60 percent of the brain consists of lipids (fats) that make up the lining, or cell membrane of brain cells. Consuming high-quality Omega 3 fatty acids provide vital nutrients for better brain functioning. In fact, research published in various scientific journals including American Journal of Psychiatry and Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders indicated that Omega 3 fatty acids help boost mood and reduce the risk of dementia.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flax

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/benefits-of-flaxseed

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/263405.php