OK, is it safe to assume that you know what BPA (Bisphenol A) is, and that you should avoid it?  Fellow Oaties Aisleagh did a great review in June  – “The Bottom Line on BPA”.

BPA is not good for you, and no one claims that it is!  The discussions revolve around “Is BPA bad for you if consumed in small amounts?”   The FDA currently says that it is safe …  and many other disagree.  So, the jury is still out on the size of the risk that BPA poses to our health.

This is a serious topic. Prostate cancer is the #1 cancer in American men.  I deal with patients with this cancer diagnosis frequently in my practice.  Talk about a bad day!  Hearing the words ‘You’ve got cancer” is no fun.

Let’s look at the link between BPA and prostate cancer.  A study published this year is the latest paper on the subject.  The title of the study sets the stage  –  “Exposure to bisphenol A correlates with early-onset prostate cancer …”  Well, that certainly doesn’t beat around the bush!!  Here are a few highlights from that study:

• Human exposure to BPA is ubiquitous (a fancy word for all around)
• Animal studies had previously proven that BPA contributes to prostate cancer development
• They found that men with prostate cancer had higher levels of BPA in their bodies than men without prostate cancer.
• They also found (in the laboratory, not in the men) that low dose exposure to BPA changed normal cell cycle mechanics which could be the reason for the development of prostate cancer

Another recent study specifically looked at BPA exposure in early-life and the increased risk of developing prostate cancer in adulthood.  This reality had already been proven with laboratory animals who were exposed to low dose BPA as juveniles and later developed prostate cancer.  The results suggest that the BPA functioned as an endocrine disruptor and altering how the cells in the prostate changed with aging.  In this study, the researchers took healthy prostate cells and exposed them to low dose BPA.  The results are super technical but here is a simple and understandable quote from study:  “Together, the present findings demonstrate that human prostate stem-progenitor cells are direct BPA targets and that developmental exposure to BPA at low doses increases hormone-dependent cancer risk in the human prostate ..”

So, you get it .. right?!?  If you are a male and you would like to avoid a prostate cancer diagnosis, one thing that you should do is to limit your exposure to BPA, from infancy onward.  There are any number of other studies related to BPA and different cancers and health issues.  I just picked the prostate cancer connection for this message.  Oh, and just to be clear  … if you were able to avoid BPA completely for your whole life, there is still no guarantee that you won’t development prostate cancer.  There are any number of other endocrine disruptors and other things that can still cause problems.  It is part of my mantra “Be aware and use good judgment”.  Avoid BPA!!  And, yes, as Aisleagh mentioned in her message, all Wild Oats products come in BPA free packaging.  Hey, we have got to love that!!!

Additional Resources:

General Info on BPA from Mayo Clinic

Endocrine disruptors and prostate cancer risk

U.S. male cancer statistics

Weather changes along with everyday blowdrying, styling and coloring can really take it’s toll on hair. Thankfully, there are natural solutions for dry hair that can help you achieve the silky, shiny hair you crave.

BRÖÖ
Did you know that beer is great for dry hair? It’s true! BRÖÖ is a unique product line that utilizes the nutrients from beer to heal and nourish hair. BRÖÖ is the super drink for hair because it is filled with B vitamins, proteins and minerals to make your hair strong, healthy and shiny. Special beer blends like the volumizing pale ale help to strengthen hair and give a weightless gloss that you’ll love. Plus products are color-friendly and 100 percent vegan.
www.broo.com

Rosemary Hair Oil
You can also utilize rosemary oil to help improve the health of your hair. Rosemary has been used since Roman times for improving health and beautifying hair. It is believed that rosemary helps to stimulate hair follicles, which helps hair grow thicker and stronger. This in turn can help slow down hair loss. To make your own rosemary hair oil, simply take some fresh rosemary and remove from the stem (about four stems worth). Next, beat the rosemary with the end of a rolling pin to unleash and activate the herbal benefits. Finally, put the rosemary in a mason jar and cover with about a half cup of Almond oil. Leave the mason jar in a sunny window for about four weeks and you have a great natural hair treatment. To use it, drain it and then heat a little by warming in your hands and working through your scalp. Even though I have not experienced this firsthand, some say that rosemary can darken the hair, so keep this in mind. In fact, some suggest utilizing rosemary and sage together as a natural way to cover gray.

Silica
Silica is an important mineral that contributes to healthy joints, nails, muscles and hair. The overall health of your hair can be compromised if you are low on this vital mineral. The degradation of our soil and prevalence of junk food diets can put us at risk. Thus, regardless of what you are putting on your hair, it can still still be weak and limp and grow slowly if you do not get enough silica. There are many ways to increase your silica intake including purchasing a Colloidal mineral supplement featuring silica. Of course, make sure to talk to your doctor before starting any new supplement.

Recently I decided that I don’t have to overexert myself to get some decent exercise. I used to be a member of a CrossFit gym, which is a really intense workout. There are men and women methodically climbing mechanical moving ladders, and ropes hanging from forty feet up, while others push monster truck size tires around the room, over and over again. There are exercisers drenched in sweat, furiously rowing or running as fast as they can, squatting heavy weights, kipping on pull up bars, and doing back flips off the walls. Just kidding about the last one, but it was intimidating to walk in to a gym like that.

I used to believe CrossFit or bust. All that hard work for one hour and my body will be owed the equivalent of the calories in a large feast. After a while, I started to realize that I was over-exercising and over-eating. I gained ten pounds when I trained for a marathon a few years back because I felt entitled to eat whatever I wanted, which was not the key to my mental and physical happiness. Although it was an amazing achievement to complete a marathon, I will probably never run one again. It was too stressful on my body, mind and soul.

Don’t get me wrong- my best friend, Steph, lives and breathes Crossfit, because it is the kind of exercise she thrives on. My friend, Alicia, loves to run marathons and excels at them. I don’t do either anymore because they don’t make me feel good.

While some people enjoy strenuous feats like these, I realized that I was not happy exercising so much and then eating so much. It has taken me fifteen years to figure out that I do not need to work so hard to appreciate my body. And, I regularly still have to remind myself this. These days, I do enjoy a weekly aerobics class of some sort, but I mostly walk or jog around my neighborhood.

I think I will start a Walk and Wine Wednesday club. I will invite my girlfriends over for a pleasant stroll, babies and dogs included, and when the hour walk is over, we will end our time together conversing over a bottle of wine, relaxing and rejuvenating. It is supposed to be 65 degrees and sunny here today, so girls, does anyone want to take a walk with me?

Join the club by starting Walk and Wine Wednesdays in your neighborhood!

It’s fall again, officially, so yay!  It’s the time of year I look forward to most, not just because the weather is so nice, but because I can once again get a pumpkin spice latte.

I willingly admit my serious obsession with all things pumpkin, especially when I can drink my pumpkin-fix while driving my car.  But I will also admit to not liking the drive-through coffee price tag or the disappointing fact that the latte I fiendishly crave is, in fact, mostly chemicals I can’t pronounce.

So this year, I decided to try to concoct my own version of a pumpkin spice latte and created instead the Pumpkin Spice Café Au Lait.

Café au lait is simply French for “coffee with milk.”  And where I’m from — les français beaucoup influencé Mississippi Gulf Coast, about an hour east of NOLA — the lait is always chaud.  That is to say, warm.

Café au lait is warm milk added in equal parts to very strong, black coffee.  If you’ve ever been to the famous NOLA hot spot Cafe Du Monde, you know what I’m talking about.  If you haven’t had café au lait at Cafe Du Monde, get yourself there as fast as you can, and be sure to order beignets with your coffee.  But, I digress… Back to the recipe redux at hand.

While my Pumpkin Spice Café Au Lait Recipe is decidedly different from the coffee house-style latte I adore despite its chemically-begat nature, it does stay true to the idea of a comforting, harvest-flavored caffeine jolt, guaranteed to warm your heart and put a spring in your step.

And although I slaved the entire of last weekend — hand to sweaty brow, apron stained orange with pumpkin, and lactose bloated — my effort will be to your benefit.  I succeeded in creating what I deem to be a very fine cup o’ joe, indeed.

Pumpkin Spice Café Au Lait Recipe

2- cups very strong brewed coffee. A chicory coffee would be the traditional choice, but any dark roast coffee or even espresso will work.

2-cups milk (I used whole milk because it has more body, but low-fat should work okay, too. I don’t recommend non-fat milk for this recipe.)

1-tablespoon pure vanilla extract, or to taste

2-3 Tablespoons Pumpkin Spice Syrup or to taste (recipe follows)

Add vanilla to milk and heat over low heat in a heavy sauce pan, stirring occasionally, until it begins to steam.  The milk should be very hot, but not boiling. Be careful not to allow the milk to scorch. If desired, pour hot milk into a measuring cup with a spout, to make adding it to the coffee easier.

Next, add 1 generous tablespoon or so of the Pumpkin Spice Syrup to the bottom of a large coffee mug.  Then pour about 1 cup of coffee directly from your coffee pot into the mug while at the same time adding the same amount of hot milk.  Stir and enjoy.  Makes 2 servings.

Pumpkin Spice Syrup

3 cups sugar

3 cups water

1 teaspoon Wild Oats Organic Cinnamon

1/16 teaspoon Wild Oats Organic Cayenne Pepper (or to taste)

3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup organic pure pumpkin

Mix sugar and water together in a small saucepan. Heat mixture to boiling, until sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture looks clear, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat. Add pumpkin and spices to mixture, stirring to combine, and simmer mixture another 3-4 minutes on low.  This will eliminate any uncooked squash taste and incorporate the spice flavors well.  Set mixture aside to cool.  When mixture is cooled, strain into a large, wide-mouth glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Store in the fridge for up to a month. Makes about 3 cups syrup. Also delish over ice cream, waffles or hot, homemade biscuits.

**If you don’t like cayenne pepper, leave it out — although it gives this spicy mix an added kick!

I’m puzzled that we live in a world of either/or. It seems that, if one thing is good, all others must be bad.

Life isn’t that way.

I thought about that last week when I read a news item from a research firm saying that local now trumps organic. Some people quoted in the report said they were shunning organic and looking only to buy locally-produced food.

I love local. My freezer is stocked with cuts of bison harvested from our small herd, along with lamb, chicken and pork from a couple of nearby farms. My kitchen countertop and refrigerator are overflowing with produce from my garden, and from the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) to which I belong.

But, every shopper cannot connect directly with every grower of every item they stock in their kitchen.

My pantry is filled with canned vegetables, soups and other goods purchased from a grocery store. Boxed spaghetti, and a jar of olive oil sit alongside my stove. And my spice rack is filled with jars of this and that.

On those items, the USDA organic seal is my assurance that the food was grown with respect toward nature, and toward keeping GMOs and pesticides out of my diet.

Organic isn’t perfect, but neither is local. Grocery stores in my neighborhood proudly feature locally grown sweet corn. They don’t mention that this conventional sweet corn is regularly sprayed with pesticides throughout the growing season.

It’s not either/or. Organic and local give us great shopping choices. That’s good for customers, and for farmers.