For the Love of Chocolate posted 28 Jan 2015 by Dr. Carol Ann Fischer, BS, DC, ND

                                   For the Love of Chocolate

Now that Valentines Day is just around the corner, let’s focus on what sweets you can get for your sweetie. If you are one of the millions of people who love chocolate, rejoice! There is a health benefit from consuming this delectable and delicious treat.

Chocolate contains many different components that make people fall in love with it. Most people think that it is the sugar that they crave, or the caffeine kick. Be aware that caffeine is a stimulant and can cause a hormone imbalance. While that may be true for some people, there are some goodies in chocolate.

Chocolate actually contains the relaxing mineral, magnesium. Most people associate magnesium with calcium. The body needs more calcium than magnesium at a ratio of 32:1. Calcium and magnesium are only two minerals of the many minerals and trace minerals that make up the human body.

One of the many benefits of magnesium is that “feel good” feeling. Magnesium actually calms the nerves and relaxes muscles. This is why millions of women crave chocolate at certain times of the month. When chocolate is eaten, the magnesium causes the consumer to feel less irritable and more relaxed.

There are good chocolates and bad chocolates. A bad chocolate is defined as one that has very little chocolate and a lot of additives. These chocolates should be avoided if you are looking for the “happy and satisfied” feeling that good chocolate can create.

Many of the cheaper brands of chocolate contain fillers and additives, including high fructose corn syrup. High fructose corn syrup recently made headlines for its secondary component. It seems that over 50% of the high fructose corn syrup contains mercury.

Good chocolate has only a few key ingredients without fillers and artificial flavors. There are even terrific tasting chocolate bars without a lot of sugar. Imagine, eating a delicious chocolate, without raising your blood sugar.

Sugar goes by many names. In fact there are 42 separate names for sugar so that it can be used in commercial foods. By naming sugar something other than sugar, most people do not realize that they are in fact consuming sugar.

The average American consumes 120 pounds of sugar a year, a low estimate. Before there was packaged food, the average sugar consumption was 30 pounds a year. Sugar has been implicated in many degenerative health conditions from Diabetes to Heart Disease. There are at least 146 reasons to not make your diet high in sugar.

A dietary analysis can easily spot if you are consuming too much sugar. Most people are not aware of the amount of sugar they consume every day. The key is the total amount of sugar that you consume in ratio to the fats and proteins that you eat.

If you love to eat breads and pasta, or rice and potatoes, you are feeding your body sugar. If you skip meals, you are altering your blood sugar, and will have a stronger desire to eat sugar. If you drink fruit juice, wine or pop, you are consuming liquid sugar.

The body has to use additional stored vitamins in order to efficiently metabolize sugar. This depletes key vitamin and mineral reserves, like magnesium and the whole Vitamin B complex. When you eat more sugar than is needed by your body, weight gain is inevitable. Excess consumed sugars are stored as unwanted body fat.

It is the desire for magnesium that can drive the urge to eat chocolate. This desire indicates a mineral deficiency of magnesium, and its partner, calcium. Magnesium helps the body metabolize fats, proteins and sugars, as well as minerals and vitamins, like Vitamin D. Where there is a magnesium deficiency, there are other missing nutrients too.

Sugar issues and weight issues also indicate a hormone imbalance. When hormones are in balance the body does not have unwanted weight or different food cravings. The correct nutritional supply of needed vitamins and minerals need to be present in order for the body to have balanced hormones.

Simple non-invasive tests are available to determine nutritional deficiencies. Dietary analysis and a review of lifestyle habits can also reveal if you have sugar handling issues or a hormone imbalance. You do not have to live with an overload of sugar, or guilt over eating chocolate. It is possible to have your chocolate and enjoy it too, especially if your body has all the vitamins, minerals and trace minerals that it needs. Call TLC Holistic Wellness at (734) 664 -0339 to schedule a no-charge consultation to see what how your body is dealing with sugar.

A New You in the New Year

A NEW YEAR, A  NEW YOU

Did you ever make a New Year’s resolution to lose weight and then not lose the weight you wanted? Here are some simple tips to lose weight to start you on the road to a New You for the New Year.

These tips include what you drink and what you eat. It is true that you are what you eat.

To lose more weight this year you need to stop eating fat storing foods and eat fat burning foods.

Sugar is a fat storing food. Sugar is hidden in all processed and man-made foods. Sugar is the product of digestion of all carbohydrates. Carbohydrates include fruits, vegetable and all grains. Your body converts natural and man-made foods like potatoes, corn, pop, fries, chips, breads, pasta, cakes, candies, juices and cookies all into sugar. Eating more sugar than your body needs will cause you to gain weight.

By the end of the day you may be consuming anywhere from 1 cup to 3 cups of sugar. What the body cannot process or use, it will store as excess body fat around your waist, hips and thighs. To lose weight, look for the hidden sugars that you consume and begin to eliminate them from your diet.

Protein is a fat burning food. Your body is primarily composed of protein. Protein is broken down into the amino acids that make your entire body structure. If you are someone who avoids protein or who does not eat protein with every meal, you are increasing your weight with what you eat.

Eating protein increases your metabolism, allowing your body to lose weight as it builds muscle tissue. The energy provided by protein stabilizes your blood sugar, keeping your energy high. This eliminates the highs and lows you will feel from eating sugar. Look at your protein and sugar consumption and see if you are eating the correct amounts for your age, weight, height and body type.

To lose weight, eat good fat. Eating fat does not make you fat. It actually increases weight loss. Eating the wrong fat, or following a low fat diet, deprives the body of the essential fatty acids that it needs. Without sufficient good fat in your diet, you may experience low energy, poor concentration, dry skin and weight gain.

The key to weight loss is eating a balanced diet of protein, vegetables, fruits and good oils, as well as drinking water. Your body adjusts to the calories you put in, so reducing your caloric intake alone will not result in permanent weight loss. You need to eat the right foods for your body. Combining good food choices with a simple exercise program can start you on the road to a New You in the New Year.

For help with creating a balanced diet, visit TLC Holistic Wellness in Livonia, MI or call (734) 664 - 0339 to schedule a no charge consultation to find out how you can simply and easily lose weight.

Live Food

Your health is your greatest asset. Helping your body digest and metabolize the food that you eat can improve your health, energy and vitality. There is a difference between live food and cooked food and the impact that these foods have on your health, 

Cooked processed, and fast foods contain no live enzymes. The enzymes that allow food to be digested are destroyed with heat. Live food has the enzymes that allow us to digest. We need to eat a diet that contains live food every day. It is true that what you eat determines how your feel!  The only side effect to live food and water is better health and less stress.

People with poor digestive systems cannot digest live food. Lack of the specific digestive enzymes needed for proper digestion is the most common underlying health issue people have.

The body is unable to get the essential nutrients it needs from undigested food. This creates nutritional deficiencies, which lead to unwanted health issues. Every body is different, and has different needs. The secret to health lies in identifying the specific digestive enzymes that you need that work for you.

Poor digestion also leads to food allergies, food intolerances, parasites and fungal overgrowth. A malfunction of the digestive system creates a compromise of the immune system, and increases stress. Eighty percent of the immune system is in the gut. The immune system becomes compromised when you cannot properly digest.

The key to better digestion lies in identifying the specific nutritional deficiencies that you have as a result of your food and lifestyle habits. Through specific testing, there is a way to help identify the specific digestive enzymes you need, find your missing nutrients and your specific food and water requirements. As you feel better and health improves, exercise and movement become easier, stress reduction occurs and life is more enjoyable again.  

Contact TLC Holistic Wellness at (734) 664 - 0339 to schedule a no charge, no obligation evaluation to determine if your digestive system and your health can be improved naturally. Dr. Linda Solomon,  DC, CCWFN - Clinically Certified Whole Foods Nutritionist, has specific non-invasive tests that can help determine the functional status of your digestive system, and how to improve it and your overall health.