Inhibition of Aromatase by Red Clover
Red clover is one of the herbs that commonly stirs up controversy regarding it’s safety with patients that have hormonally driven tumors. Some practitioners routinely avoid isoflavone containing herbs and foods because of the possibility of antagonizing estrogen receptor positive tumor cells. An overview of the data shows that although there are some studies showing […]
Chinese Herbs and Cancer
A recent German article notes the cytotoxic properties of constituents of two Chinese herbs, one commonly used as an anti-parasitic herb, the other as a circulatory tonic and regulator. Although it seems like we pay a lot of attention to the potential cell kill factor of alkaloids present in herbs, there are many more application […]
Cancer and Obesity
We know the obvious correlation between obesity and common diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, but not as commonly with degenerative diseases such as cancer with the exception of perhaps colon or breast cancer. A recent meta-analysis of 141 articles in the British medical journal The Lancet shows that increased body mass index (BMI) […]
Phthalates Harmful to Babies
Phthalates are already known to be environmental toxins that effect reproductive development; now a recent study in Pediatrics shows that they are harmful to babies. Infants are especially vulnerable to the developmental and reproductive toxicity of phthalates due to their undeveloped metabolism, and this is evidenced in the concentration of phthalates in their urine. Infants […]
Watermelon Radishes
We just got back from a week-long trip to Hong Kong and Beijing where I had no choice but to eat tons of grease and pesticide-laden food. Some of the cooked vegetables we ate actually had an awful acrid taste so it was nice to finally get back to the farmers market this morning and […]
The best granola recipe
Okay, so this is only my opinion but it is based on a great Martha Stewart recipe I came across. I’ve modified it somewhat and you probably will too, depending on what your particular likes and dislikes are. Once you’ve made it and see that it takes no more than 20 minutes, you’ll never eat […]
Banana coconut shake
This is the most amazing smoothie I’ve ever had. It is better than any milkshake I’ve ever had without any dairy products or refined sugar plus lots of electrolytes, potassium, fiber and good fats. This serves 2. Ingredients Water and meat from 1 young coconut 1 banana 1-2 T raw organic coconut butter […]
Estrogenic vegetables?
This interesting study looked at cruciferous vegetables (specifically cabbage and Brussell sprouts) to see if they had any estrogenic activity. Basically they found that low doses of cruciferous vegetables can help block estrogen induced tumor activity, however, high doses actually induced tumor growth … so once again research agrees with the age old wisdom of […]
Cruciferous detox dish
Right now there are beautiful heads of purple cauliflower all over the farmers market. Initially people are repulsed, thinking that it’s totally unnatural but in actuality, it’s a natural variant of regular cauliflower and it tastes no different. I take advantage of the winter months to load up on this proanthocyanidin-rich (it’s the purple color […]
Infused oil recipe
This might look like murky water but it is my new favorite topping for any kind of cooked vegetable. It’s so darn good. I never used to like anchovies until very recently. Anchovies are totally safe because they’re such small fish and won’t likely accumulate any toxicity unless you’re in the South China Sea or […]