My Favorite Books on Nutrition
I’ve recently been getting a lot of people asking for my favorite books and resources on health and nutrition. I want to emphasize that they are thousands of books out there on health and nutrition, and they all have a different focus and take on what we should eat. It can be overwhelming when we read something one day that tells us all carbohydrates should be avoided and the next read a book about the critical importance of whole grains in the diet.
I’ve recently been getting a lot of people asking for my favorite books and resources on health and nutrition. I want to emphasize that they are thousands of books out there on health and nutrition, and they all have a different focus and take on what we should eat. It can be overwhelming when we read something one day that tells us all carbohydrates should be avoided and the next read a book about the critical importance of whole grains in the diet.
So, while I always encourage learning, reading and expanding your nutritional knowledge, let’s take it all with a grain of salt and remember that the most important thing is to tune into our own bodies and discover our own unique bioindividuality. Research, learn and take in information but remember that we must experiment on ourselves and ultimately do what feels right for our own bodies.
That being said, there are some amazing resources out there for those starting to get interested in nutrition and learning more about how what we put into our bodies affects us, and here are some of the books and practitioners that have influenced me the most:
The Immune System Recovery Plan by Susan Blum
This is a great overview for those suffering from autoimmune related conditions. It gives a nice overview of how diet can affect symptoms and lays out easy steps to follow.
The Autoimmune Wellness Handbook by Mickey Trescott and Angie Alt
When I first read this book I was nodding my head and saying "yes" out loud so much I knew it was going to be a winner. It's a beautiful summary of how to manage symptoms and live an active and productive life with autoimmune disease written by two ladies who have gone though it all themselves. I highly recommend this for anyone dealing with an autoimmune issue!
Digestive Wellness by Elizabeth Lipinski
Liz Lipinski is such a wealth of knowledge and writes about all facets of our digestive system (and really our bodies as a whole) in a way that’s easy to understand. This book is great for health coaches and anyone working with individuals with digestive issues.
Why Stomach Acid is Good For You by Jonathan Wright
This book blew my mind when I first read it because it goes against a lot of things we think we know about stomach acid, digestion and acid reflux. It’s really worth a read to understand how medications like proton pump inhibitors and antacids affect our digestion, and how we can get to the root of what’s really going on inside our guts.
Eat, Drink and Be Healthy by Walter C. Willett
This book has been around for a while and is a great introduction into the theory of eating a whole foods, low carbohydrate diet. Walter Willett also delves into the politics of our food system, and how government influences our food supply. A super interesting read and a good first book to get into!
The Abascal Way: To Quiet Inflammation for Health and Weight Loss by Kathy Abascal
This was the book that first got me into the world of holistic nutrition and food as medicine and it has a special place in my heart! Kathy Abascal lives in Vashon Island, WA and created a healing diet that spread around the Pacific Northwest. She writes a lovely summary of how food affects our bodies and can cause inflammation in the body. She presents her “to quiet inflammation” diet and gives recipes and tips and tricks to reduce inflammation and start feeling great.
Body Respect by Linda Bacon and Lucy Aphramor
This book blows notions we have about weight and dieting out of the water. It tell us what conventional health books get wrong, leave out and just plain fail to understand about weight.
Mind Over Medicine by Lissa Rankin
While this book does not speak directly to nutrition, it is really important in addressing holistic health and the way chronic stress manifests in our bodies as illness and disease. As a medical practitioner who got burnt out herself, Dr. Rankin speaks to our conventional medical system, the way we currently treat disease, and alternative factors we should consider to achieve optimal health
Healing with Whole Foods by Paul Pitchford
This is a big book, don’t be intimidated! I use it more of a reference guide to understand how particular foods act in the body and how we can use food as medicine. This one is probably better for practitioners or people getting into Chinese Medicine and the more specific uses of food as medicine
Total Renewal by Dr. Frank Lipman
I love any book by Dr. Frank Lipman because I align so much with his overall approach to health and wellness. In this book he covers diet, lifestyle and exercise and lays out a plan for an elimination diet to get you started on the process of healing your gut and transitioning to a whole foods diet.
That should be good a good list to get you started. Let me know if you read (or have read) any of these and want to continue the discussion. Happy reading guys! If you want more information to answer the perpetual question "what should I eat today?" read my blog post here for a simple answer >>
Want some more fresh food inspiration? Click the button below to get my free 5-Day Clean Eating Meal Plan inspired by the theories behind many of these great reads.
You'll get recipes, a shopping list and daily instructions for what to make. TOO EASY! I really hope you enjoy xx
With Love,
Christina Tidwell, MN, RN, CHC
Being Your Own Health Advocate
Have you ever gone to a doctor’s appointment with questions, concerns, and data you’ve gathered and left without being able to get a word in before the doctor had to whizz off to her next patient? Or have you voiced concerns about your current treatment plan and asked for alternative options only to be met with a statement such as “this is how things are done.” Or maybe you feel like you don’t even know what questions you would ask your health care providers if given the chance.
Have you ever gone to a doctor’s appointment with questions, concerns, and data you’ve gathered and left without being able to get a word in before the doctor had to whizz off to her next patient? Or have you voiced concerns about your current treatment plan and asked for alternative options only to be met with a statement such as “this is how things are done.” Or maybe you feel like you don’t even know what questions you would ask your health care providers if given the chance.
As patients, we put trust in our health care providers and believe that they hold the answers to all of our problems, the antidotes to our ailments. In the model of health care practiced today we expect to go to our doctors with problems and leave with a magic pill to cure us. Sounds like an easy fix right? In some cases this model definitely works. But as humans we are complex beings and rarely does a quick fix pill actually work to resolve our underlying issues especially in relation to chronic disease.
We are all so unique and our health is impacted by many factors such as our genetics, personal history, diet and lifestyle, stress levels, and overall satisfaction with life. No doctor is going to have the vast amount of knowledge that we have of our own bodies. You are the only one that possesses that wealth. This is why it’s so vitally important that we learn to work in conjunction with our health care providers and add our own expertise to theirs.
For example, say there are two people with a diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). One might be caused by an underlying bacterial overgrowth from antibiotic overuse while the other is caused by stress from an abusive relationship. Their treatment courses for IBS will be completely different and they will not benefit from a one-size-fits-all treatment without consideration of their unique personal experiences. These patients need to work in conjunction with health care providers to create effective treatment plans and require ongoing support to find ways to get back to health. We must become our own advocates and enter into a relationship with our health care providers where we are playing as part of the team rather than standing on the sidelines.
As Andrea Nakayama, Functional Nutritionist says,
“No more patients, sitting in the mystery of their health, feeling like their own bodies have become impossible riddles to solve”
Sometimes in the midst of dealing with illness or pain we feel like our health is one big mystery and we act as if what’s going on in our bodies is none of our business. But it’s the only body you’ve got and you better believe it’s your business! I want you to feel empowered to learn about your illness or imbalance, to ask informed questions, to work with your providers to find alternatives, and to ensure that your voice is heard. You can do this by:
Researching your illness to get informed
Writing down questions you want to get answered as they come up
Beginning the process of tuning into your body (through meditation, journaling, food diary analysis, mindful breathing) so you can accurately convey symptoms and feel more connected to what’s going on in your body
Assembling a care team that wants to work with you and foster your empowerment. Don’t be afraid to make changes if you don’t feel supported by your health care providers, it’s meant to be a two-way relationship.
You may have heard of people having health advocates that accompany them to doctor’s visits, or a family member who acts as an advocate. It’s always great to have another pair of ears during appointments to ensure that nothing is missed when going through the health care system and I highly recommend having your own form of advocate if you don’t yet feel comfortable on your own. Read more about what advocates can do for you here >>
Here is a link to the Washington State Health Advocacy Association for more information about what health advocates do and how to go about hiring one in Washington Sate.
So let’s do this you guys! It’s time to reclaim our health and enter into partnerships with our health care providers in order to obtain vibrant, beautiful health. If you want to learn more about how you can empower yourself this year to be your own advocate send me an email, I’d love to hear from you!
With Love,
Christina Tidwell, MN, RN, CHC
Mindful Living with Dr. Rosellini
I was stressed about everything, things I “had to get done,” something “dumb” I had said in an interaction, and fear about an upcoming presentation. My mind would reflect on what would happen if those things I had to get done did not get done, or if I “messed up” on the presentation, and the resulting consequences. This stressed me out even more! The thing is I was creating problems and scenarios that did not even exist.
I'm Dr. Barry Rosellini (Psy.D.), a Licensed Psychologist specializing in Clinical Psychology. Today I want to introduce to you the idea of mindful living. Mindful living is centered around mindfulness, which is, simply put, focusing your attention to the present moment. I want to share this with you today because of the amazing benefits mindfulness can bring about in your day to day life. Research on mindfulness has shown that it plays a huge part in reducing stress and anxiety, improving regulation of emotions, and increasing self-esteem and overall well-being [1]. While mindfulness is rooted in Eastern spirituality, it does not require a religious affiliation so it's available to each and every one of you!
Let me tell you a story about my own experience of not being mindful, the resulting consequences, and how to learn to start being mindful in your everyday lives. I was in the bathroom the other day (I swear this is not gross there is a point here) washing my hands and I was 99% “in my head.” When I say 99% in my head, I mean that I had little to no awareness of what I was actually doing. Kind of like when you see a student walking quickly to or from somewhere - head straight, tense face, totally not present, probably worried about class.
I was stressed about everything, things I “had to get done,” something “dumb” I had said in an interaction, and fear about an upcoming presentation. My mind would reflect on what would happen if those things I had to get done did not get done, or if I “messed up” on the presentation, and the resulting consequences. This stressed me out even more! The thing is I was creating problems and scenarios that did not even exist. This “mess up” on my presentation two weeks down the road led to me think, “these doctors are going to think I don’t know anything.” And that thought led to “I am never going to be a good psychologist!”
You see what I mean? We create an unsolvable, draining puzzle when we get caught up in our thoughts!
After finishing the task of washing my hands I looked up briefly and caught the reflection of my face in the mirror. In that instant I snapped back to that present moment. I saw a wound-up face, tense shoulders, someone with no room for connecting at that moment. Once I realized this, I started laughing uncontrollably. Other people around me probably thought I was crazy, and I’m sure it looked really weird. Yet I am super thankful for that moment because it gave me more insight into how easy it is to get caught up in my mind and the many drawbacks of that (less focus on what is important, increased stress, missing details, and more).
Take the example I said earlier of the person walking on campus totally “not there.” Let’s say one of their good friends walked by and said “hi” and she didn’t notice them, or say this person is a birdwatcher, and she does not see a rare bird up in a nearby tree. She is not living her life fully, not connecting with her values and the world around her.
A more powerful example might be a father who comes home from work. He is tired. He is also worried about an upcoming real estate meeting with a potential buyer. He has a two year old girl. He is so caught up in his thoughts that when his daughter tries to interact with him, he is just going through the motions, maybe holding her but not fully there. When his partner tries to kiss him, he gets annoyed and goes to his room because he has “too much” to do. Yes, the stress is real and can feel very tough to deal with. We all make mistakes or need to not be present sometimes. At the same time though, this causes us to miss out on people or things that really matter.
So how do we cope with this? What can we do to bring ourselves back to the present moment which is our lives? One solution is practicing mindfulness in everyday life. Jon Kabat Zinn described mindfulness as “paying attention on purpose, non-judgmentally, in the present moment [2].” Like Zinn discussed, mindfulness is about awareness and openness to the present moment. It is about noticing “what is there” in the mind (e.g. thoughts), but not getting attached to it. It’s about coming back to the present moment each time we notice our minds wandering.
In the examples above, the student might notice she is thinking stressful thoughts, take a breath, and focus on what it feels like to walk in the crisp winter air. The father might notice his aversive thoughts, take a step back, and refocus on what is important to him such as interacting with his daughter and sharing intimacy with his partner. In this way, we become a captain of our own ship and a driver of our own lives.
Mindful living does not have to be sitting down for an hour a day on a meditation cushion with nature music playing. It could be that if you want it to be. It could also be taking a mindful ten minutes at the start of each day. It could be a mindful minute, or even a mindful breath. However long it is, one way to start is by focusing on the breath and becoming aware of the natural rise and fall of your belly and chest as you breathe in and out. While your thoughts will come and go, instead of judging or attaching to them in this mindful period, the idea is to notice these thoughts, and come back to the present moment with each breath in and out.
This can be done in so many ways such as mindful walking, mindful meditation, mindful breathing, mindful eating or mindful listening! If you are interested in learning more about mindful eating, Christina's blog post would be a great place to start.
Again, by living more mindfully, we allow ourselves the freedom to focus on what is most important, stay present, and better cope with whatever life throws our way.
Click here >> for an easy, mindfulness meditation I like to use myself and with my clients.
How do you think you will incorporate mindful living into your life today? Leave a comment or email me at barrymorerosellinipsyd@gmail.com I'd love to hear from you!
Mindfully,
Barrymore Rosellini, PsyD, Licensed Psychologist
“The master observes the world but trusts his inner vision. He allows things to come and go. His heart is open as the sky.”
Does Organic Matter?
When I post recipes I will sometimes put a little side note next to the fruit, veggie and meat ingredients that says “organic ingredients preferred.” I don’t say “eat organic or else you’re the worst” or “if you don’t organic you should probably just not eat” because it’s not like that and I’ll give you a little more insight into my thought process.
When I post recipes I will sometimes put a little side note next to the fruit, veggie and meat ingredients that says “organic ingredients preferred.” I don’t say “eat organic or else you’re the worst” or “if you don’t organic you should probably just not eat” because it’s not like that and I’ll give you a little more insight into my thought process.
The USDA National Organic Program (NOP) defines organic as follows:
“Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation. Before a product can be labeled "organic," a Government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards”[1].
Simply put, certified organic foods don’t contain all the crap and harmful chemicals that conventionally grown foods can. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s tests have found widespread pesticide contamination on most fruits and vegetables. At least one pesticide was found on nearly three-quarters of the samples analyzed by the US Department of Agriculture in 2014 [2].
A lot of people think that you can just wash the pesticides off of produce. Rinsing with water can for sure remove the surface residues but it’s tough to completely wash away the pesticides because they can stick to skins and surfaces. Some pesticides get absorbed by the plant’s root system and we ingest them that way as well. What’s interesting is that the USDA measures pesticide residues after produce has been rinsed in cold running water and peels and rinds are removed meaning that the pesticide residues used to calculate the risk level are those that remain after you have cleaned it [3].
So why should you even care about pesticides going into your body?
Pesticides are chemicals designed to kill living organisms. Various studies have shown that pesticides can cause brain and nervous system toxicity, cancer, hormone disruption and skin, eye and lung irritation to name a few. There is a lot we don’t even know yet about the long term effects and the burden that pesticides place on our systems. So I think we can agree that we should avoid them as much as humanly possible, yes? Nobody wants to ingest MORE pesticides.
The thing is though, organic or farm fresh vegetables can often times cost more, driving us to choose the non-organic produce to get more bang for our buck. Why I say “organic is preferred” is because it is. I myself buy organic meat and produce whenever possible for health and environmental reasons, but the benefits of a diet full of nutritious fruits and vegetables greatly outweighs the burden of harmful pesticides.
I mean that if the only way you can afford fresh fruits and vegetables is to buy non-organic produce I would still advise you to do that because they are absolutely essential to our health and wellbeing. Don’t be like, “Ohhh I’ll just get the Cheetos instead because that organic apple is 50 cents more and I can’t eat pesticides because Christina said so.” No way man!
To help make your grocery shopping experience easier you can use the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen as a guide for which foods contain higher amounts of pesticides, and which foods are better to buy non-organic.
I hope this makes the whole buying organic thing a little clearer for you. If you have more questions, opinions, or insights I’d love to hear them. Leave me a comment or send me an email!
And as a little gift, click the button below to download a few of my favorite, easy recipes to get ya cookin'!
xx Christina Tidwell, MN, RN, CHC