When you think of happy families sitting around the table eating dinner do you conjure up thoughts of “Leave it to Beaver” or some other old sitcom? The mother walking around in her apron, high heels and pearls with a perfectly set table, perfect dinner and perfect family all sitting at the table. Well, let’s get real please. I know that’s sure not me.

I’m usually doing good to get all four of my boys and my husband to the table in the evening.  Not that they don’t want to eat, just our busy schedules can get in the way. However, we do try to make it a priority to eat dinner together as a family as many nights during the week as possible.  Some nights are harder than others. Some nights we’re not all at home. Still, we make it a priority as much as we can.

It really is amazing what a difference a positive mealtime can make in children and families. Studies show that children who dine with the family:

• Eat more fruits and vegetables
• Are happier
• Are better adjusted
• Are more socially adept
• Get better grades
• Are less likely to smoke, abuse drugs or alcohol
• Are less likely to suffer from eating disorders, obesity or depression

Kids of all ages benefit from family mealtime together. Teens and tweens need the family table time. They need the positive atmosphere and conversation that should take place at the table.  They need to be reminded that they are valued and loved. Our two youngest children were adopted from the Texas foster care system and its amazing how much healing can be done around the kitchen table eating a meal together and bonding. Families who eat together share values together.

Need some conversation starters for dinnertime? Here are a few fun ones:

• If you couldn’t watch TV or go online for a month, how would you spend that time?
• If you could have any superpower, which would you choose? (This one is a regular topic at our table.)
• How can you tell someone you love them without using words?
• If you could be a famous person for a week, who would you be and why?
• If you could trade places with your parents for a day, how would you do things differently?

Does your family have any favorite topics or dinner time games they like to play?  We’d love to hear about them.

I don’t recall ever hearing of it when I was growing up, but today celiac disease is nearly epidemic. Once considered a rare autoimmune disorder, celiac disease now affects 1 out of every 133 Americans, a ratio that may be even higher if you include wheat and gluten allergies and sensitivities that are not diagnosed as celiac.

Perhaps even more shocking is the fact that you, or someone in your family, may have it and not even know it!

According to the Celiac Disease Center at the University of Chicago, 97% of people with celiac are undiagnosed: “The number of Americans with celiac disease would fill 936 cruise ships. Passengers on 908 of the ships won’t know they have it.” That’s an astounding percentage of undiagnosed patients. One of the problems is that more than 300 symptoms have been associated with celiac which may impact people in a variety of ways. In some cases, celiac may cause abdominal bloating, vomiting, diarrhea, or failure to thrive, in others it may manifest itself in the symptoms of fatigue, joint pain, or unexplained infertility.

What is celiac disease? According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), celiac disease is “a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food.” Although there is some discussion that celiac is a genetic disorder, its rapid growth raises some eyebrows. A 2009 ABC News piece interviewed Dr. Joseph Murray, who “attributes the increase in the disease to environmental factors. “It has to be a change in the environment because it’s happened over 50 years and human genetics don’t change that fast,” he explained. Others have more specifically linked celiac to genetically modified foods (GMOs).

Whatever the cause or frequency of the disease, you likely know someone who needs to follow a gluten free diet. The diagnoses can feel devastating at first. No bread, pasta, or pizza? No cupcakes, cookies, or birthday cake? What a horrible fate!

And, while the gluten-free market is growing exponentially, many of the common “replacement” foods are far from healthy. They are highly processed and refined, with added sugars, fats, and flavorings. For celiacs and those intolerant to gluten they may seem to be a godsend. But the real godsend is in the lifestyle change – a change that makes you look at food and health more carefully and understand its connection. And the journey to a healthy gluten-free lifestyle will make you appreciate whole, real food even more.

What can you eat? Sweet, ripe watermelon. Seared, juicy steak. Roasted herbed turkey. Creamy mashed potatoes. Rich, dense risotto. Luscious chocolate mousse. You don’t need to run off to the nearest health food store to find specialty foods. Look in your fridge or pantry, shop your local farmer’s market. Make some organic chicken with lemon and herbs. Toss some asparagus in olive oil and salt and roast them in the oven. Put on a pot of brown rice. Simple, real, and delicious! Whether or not you need to eat gluten-free, you should try it and see how it makes you feel!

Do you eat gluten-free? What are some of your favorite recipes?

Learn more about finding balance and holistic parenting and connect with like-minded parents at the 9th Annual Natural Living Conference on October 13th in Chicago. You can also join in events online and off-line all month long as part of Holistic Moms Network’s celebration of Holistic Living Month. Join us!

I’d like to thank co-author Ashley Koff, RD for her initiative on this issue. More of her work can be seen at AskleyKoffApproved.com.

You’ve heard the news, and in sets panic. Have I been inadvertently poisoning my family with arsenic? We share your concerns and as such created the following to help you where it counts most – in the kitchen – with this plan for reducing your family’s arsenic intake and along with it reducing the associated health risks.

To begin, take a moment to answer these questions about your family’s intake habits:

1. Do you and your family consume rice / rice products several times daily? Remember this includes cooked rice as well as some cereals, non-dairy milks, non-dairy cheese, veggie burgers, crackers, bars, protein powders, cookies and other treats made either with rice or sweetened with rice syrup as well as using brown rice syrup as a sweetener.
2. How many different types of grains does your family consume in a week? Greater than 2?
3. Do you and your family consume animal meats like chicken and ham, sausages, and eggs?
4. Do you and your family drink fruit juice? How much daily? Is it organic?
5. What is the proper portion of cooked rice for a child – ¼ cup, ½ cup, 1 cup, 2 cups? And for an adult?

Your answers will be addressed within the recommendations below and you will also learn how to develop a healthier diet – one that improves overall health including minimizing exposure to inorganic arsenic.

Understand that some arsenic is found naturally in the soil, but that humans have contributed to the problem by using arsenic-containing pesticides in some areas and by fertilizing with manure from poultry treated with arsenic compounds. Where and how your food is grown matters. Any food can contain some arsenic, but organic farming is part of the solution, not part of the problem.

No one food is the arsenic culprit, but some foods do absorb more of whatever’s in the soil – for good or for ill. With that in mind, what should you do for your family?

1. Reduce means well, reduce: the first lesson here is a simple but highly effective one – when we consume less our risk of overexposure to anything goes down.
   1. Portion control – for cooked rice, use a guideline of roughly the child or adult’s fist – so your 5 year old likely should get a ¼ cup portion and Shaq can have 2 cups.
   2. Frequency – when it comes to rice and quality rice products, consume them in your food choices but not as the exclusive or primary food choice.
2. Variety! – nature created numerous grains, and even numerous variety of the same grain, as well as fruits and vegetables etc.
   1. When it comes to rice – it appears that basmati rice is lower in arsenic than brown rice so integrate it into the mix
   2. When it comes to grains – choose from all of nature’s gifts which include quinoa, buckwheat and millet for those choosing rice to avoid gluten or einkorn, spelt and kamut which are better quality ancient grain wheat varietals
   3. “An apple a day” could also be an apple on Monday, blueberries on Tuesday, white peaches on Wednesday and so on…this way your week will deliver all the nutrient power from nature’s rainbow to help protect and clean up toxins from the body most effectively
   4. At every meal get a minimum of 3 colors with 2 from vegetables – again they provide clean up and protective powers
   5. How you cook rice matters too – if you cook it for longer, and in more water (think of cooking pasta) this helps reduce the arsenic levels
3. Rethink baby food: Babies eat more, pound for pound than we do and are more at risk from toxins. Our WhiteOut campaign replaces the old idea of white rice cereal as baby’s first food, only food, or main food. Babies learn tastes like they learn a language, so variety can be even better for babies than for us.
4. Be a Qualitarian: know where your food comes from and what’s been done to it.
   1. Choose organic chicken and pork products to avoid pesticides, GMOs, and poor quality animal feed going into the animal and later on to your plate.
   2. Choose organic fruit and vegetable juice if they are listed on the EWG.org’s “Dirty Dozen” and especially if you consume them often (hint hint, apple tops the dirty dozen list)
   3. Choose organic whole grains and sweeteners whenever possibly too. While arsenic may be today’s fear, the studies keep coming out about how pesticide residues negatively impact health, and even as we write this the first long term animal study on GMOs shows scary results for even the lowest levels of intake of GMO corn.
   4. Place of origin – just like seafoodwatch.org helps us routinely identify not just which fish are safer to eat, but also notes where from and in what form, the same appears to be true for rice. For right now, rices from California and some parts of Asia appear to be lower in arsenic.
   5. If you are consuming puffed rice crackers, cakes, and cereals as a diet tool you could benefit from a quality upgrade – when rice is puffed not only does its glycemic load go up, the nutrient levels go down – yes its low in calories but its lower in terms of what’s good and in the case of rice products it could be higher in arsenic. Try cucumbers or zucchini slices as your “cracker” or “cake.” They can be topped, can be dippers, and deliver no calories, a crunch, and plant nutrients to help protect and clean up from the inside out.
   6. Get tested – your water that is. Find out what needs to be remove and possibly what is lacking. These are inexpensive tests and a neighborhood will have similar results so you can even share the costs (may depend on the age of homes / pipes but still can be a good baseline).
5. Consider a Plant-Based diet: Studies and cultures from around the world teach us that reducing our intake of animal meats and animal products can be healthier for us all.
   1. Don’t MONO eat – try to incorporate as many plants as possible into your diet – if you currently rely just on rice milk or rice cheese or a rice veggie burger try different versions from hemp and coconut or other nuts.
   2. Many plant-based eaters and their loved ones worry about their protein intakes and turn to protein powders to deliver supplemental protein – if you are consuming 1-2 servings of rice daily, change it up – look at blends and nutrients like hemp and organic soy (remember organic here because likely trading an arsenic concern for a GMO one may not net you healthier in the long run).
   3. Just a Spoonful of (organic) sugar – Mary Poppins got it right but we need to emphasize Just in Just a Spoonful of Sugar for optimal health.
   4. If a food product (bar, cereal etc) has rice syrup or any sugar for that matter, in its first two ingredients, consider a better option.
   5. A serving of fruit juice is four ounces. It should be organic (especially apple juice when talking about arsenic). One daily spoonful of sugar – in the form of organic added sweeteners, juice or a treat is a good amount to aim for – beyond that you are over-spooning it which has negative healthy implications. Especially for kids whose sweet tooth is overdeveloped from birth (or before), you want to control exposure until the other taste buds can give the sweetie some competition.
   6. If you are using brown rice syrup as a sweetener, we do recommend considering other sweeteners more often like organic coconut palm sugar, organic cane juice and maple syrup, and as age-appropriate, raw honeys.

If you follow these tips, you will not only reduce your family’s overall intake of inorganic arsenic but you will also improve your family’s health via a better quality diet.  We see this as a win, win. We hope you will too.

^{I’d like to thank co-author Ashley Koff, RD for her initiative on this issue. More of her work can be seen at AskleyKoffApproved.com.}

Interested in shopping at the farmers market? Here are some tips to get you started.

Find a market. In order to get the most out of the farmers market, I recommend first gathering information about the different farmers markets in your area. The website localharvest.org makes it easy to search for farmers markets in your area by zip code. You might also try a simple web search for farmers market associations in your state, county, city or metropolitan area. There are two main farmers market associations where I live, and their lists are more comprehensive than those on localharvest.org. You could also ask friends or check local magazines for information about farmers markets. You might want to try several different markets and see which one has the size, selection, and schedule you prefer. Most markets are on Saturdays or Sundays but some are on weekdays. If you can’t find a farmers market in your area, you can use localharvest.org to search for a CSA (community sponsored agriculture) in your area. I personally shop at the farmers market and participate in a CSA.

Find out what time the market really opens. Officially, my farmers market opens at 9 am and closes at 1 pm each Saturday. After shopping there for nearly a year, I found out that almost all the farmers showed up by 7 am in the summer, and 8 am in the winter. Before I figured this out, by the time I showed up at 9 am or 10 am, farmers were often out of items they had in limited quantity. Now I go at 8 am, especially if raspberries are in season.

Get to know the farmers. For me, having a personal relationship with the producers of my food is one of the most important benefits of shopping at the farmers market. I prefer to purchase from farms that send someone (like a family member) closely associated with the farm who can answer specific questions. For the stands I regularly purchase from, I know where the farms are, how long the family has owned the farm and how many generations have farmed it, and where their ancestors immigrated from. Also, if you make yourself known to the farmers, they will consider you a “regular,” which has certain perks for you and your kids. It is also really convenient to have the farmer know you well enough that you can say, “I want to can tomatoes next week. Could you bring me 20 pounds and give me a bulk discount?” And have them bring you 20 pounds of tomatoes in a large crate and let you take the crate and return it the following week.

Ask the farmers about how they grow their food. Not every small-scale family farm can afford the organic certification process, so it is worthwhile to ask a vendor if they use fertilizers or pesticides if you are interested in their produce.  Some farms might do something in between organic and conventional. For example, I asked one farmer if they sprayed their peaches and nectarines. He told me they sprayed the trees, but never the fruit. This is definitely preferable to sprayed trees and sprayed fruit.

Dr. Greene’s Answer:

Allergies to the proteins in cow’s milk are not uncommon at 18 months old. Thankfully, most kids that age will outgrow them. In the meantime, breast milk is, of course, the best milk. Beyond this, kids don’t necessarily need milk at all: though they do need good sources of protein, calcium, vitamin D, and fat (as well as Vitamin A, Vitamin B12, Pantothenic acid, and Ribloflavin – also found in cow’s milk). Cow’s milk just happens to be a very convenient way to get them all.

Of the other milk’s out there, such as soy milk, rice milk, oat milk, almond milk, or other mammal milks, such as goat milk, they all can be found with plenty of calcium and vitamin D and fat – 3 of the biggies. So the biggest consideration is usually protein. Almond milk and rice milk are often very low in protein (1 gram per 8 ounces – unlike milk which is 1 gram per ounce or 8 grams per 8 ounces).

If your toddler’s getting plenty of protein, or protein-fortified milk, then those milks are fine. At 18 months you want kids to get at least 13 grams of protein per day. That’s easy with soy milk and not hard with oat milk. Other mammal milks are good bundles of nutrients, but of those commonly available in the US, if a child is allergic to one she is usually allergic to the other (mare’s milk, camel’s milk, and reindeer milk could be great choices, if available).

I like soy milk from whole soy beans (and I think choosing whole soy beans, in moderation – say 16 ounces a day – is the answer to the soy controversy. I hope that gets you started!

These days toy kitchens range from pink 1940s retro to a state-of-the art outdoor play grill. While most of us parents are choosing play food settings with things in mind like durability and “just what do they mean by ‘some assembly required’?” We might be surprised to find out that this kind of food play may actually make our real food settings more fun, too.

“Just why it is important to provide children with healthy toy foods to play with relates to the concept of “food familiarity,” explains Nutrition Education and Behavior Researcher Meghan Lynch, author of the recently published study, Playing With Food: A Novel Approach To Understanding Nutritional Behaviour Development.

“Food familiarity refers to children’s preference for foods with which they are accustomed to seeing on a regular basis – the more familiar the food, the more likely the child will be to taste it. Importantly, children’s food preferences can be encouraged through their merely seeing these foods on a regular basis, and that repeated exposure to foods can overcome the initial refusal of them. It should follow, then, that one of the most important ways parents can encourage the development of healthy food preferences is by increasing children’s familiarity with new foods.”

So, in the toy kitchen, where there’s no pressure for trying a bite and where you only have to pretend to do the dishes, you can actually reduce some of your child’s barriers to eating healthy foods while you are having fun.

Toy kitchen settings are also a great place to start safely teaching basic cooking skills and kitchen safety.

“In the safety of play settings, parents can familiarize children with new foods and behaviors by teaching children how to chop vegetables, stir pots of food, and correctly use the oven or stovetop,” Lynch continues.

Children also mirror their parents’ cooking behaviors in these settings. In her research, Meghan Lynch observed children as young as three correctly using utensils, chopping and washing vegetables and stirring their “dinner” on the stove top.

Here are some tips to get the most from your kitchen playtime:

• Choose only healthy foods for your child to interact with.
• Avoid branded junk food items that risk familiarizing your child with unhealthy preferences.
• Express your preferences for healthy items, and delight when “eating” them when at kitchen play with your child.
• Model healthy food behaviors, such as creating a balanced plate of food choices or not “overeating” during play meals.
• Use the time to help rehearse good kitchen safety skills with your child.
• As your child gets older, help her or him transition these cooking skills to the real kitchen.

Many thanks to Nutrition Education and Behavior Researcher Meghan Lynch of the University of Toronto  for her insights for this post.

There are many benefits to eating together as a family including stronger family bonds, better nutrition and portion sizes, emotional nurturing and a sense of belonging. Kids get to be themselves, feel comfortable and build confidence. It also gives your family a chance to unwind and tune in to each other after a busy day. Studies show that kids who eat with their families are less likely to get involved with drugs or alcohol. But what happens when your child doesn’t like to eat or is an extremely picky eater and mealtime is anything but stress-free?

Typically in our family we sit down to a meal and most of the family is finished within 20 minutes. It is just about that time when our son with Russell Silver Syndrome (www.magicfoundation.org), gets started on his meal. He is a notoriously slow eater and it used to bother us greatly and we would prompt and nag him to eat. Mealtime would quickly escalate from being an enjoyable experience to one filled with stress for everyone involved.

However, the WAY you eat is just as important as what you eat. Digestion is greatly improved if one actually sits down to dinner, relaxes and enjoys the food without conflict. When digestion is improved, the absorption of nutrients is also enhanced. It is important to be mindful of how you are eating. It makes all the difference! And when you are focusing on what your child is or is NOT eating, it will cause stress and impede digestion for everyone at the table. Instead, as we’ve learned to do, just allow them the time they need to eat. We often set a timer and that seems to motivate him to finish by the allotted time.

Another suggestion is to get your child involved in meal planning and preparation. If they have some input into what is served it will help get them excited about the meal. It also helps them to become invested in it and all that goes into getting a meal on the table. We will talk tomorrow more about getting your child involved in meal planning.

Do you find picky eating causes stress at mealtime and how do you deal with it?

Sugar… we all love its’ delicious sweetness it offers to our foods but do we need to be concerned about the effects it has on our body? Well, yes, we do. The bottom line about sugar and really, to lay it out straight; sugar is highly addictive, nutrient depleting, immune suppressing, and a food for bacteria, viruses and tumors.

Years ago, I read an article from a doctor speaking about sugar addiction with a patient. He broached the subject on why she craved so many sweets. She had no response. He decided to dig a little deeper and discovered, along with her, that she was craving sweets because she did not have enough sweetness in her life. This revelation allowed her to make some big changes in her life and allowed her to get off her sugar high and more on a life high. I plan to talk about this amongst other things but first, I will tell you a little bit about the history of sugar.

It is thought that the sugar cane was first discovered in India. During the invasion of India from the Persia, the sugar cane was described as the: “reed which gives honey without bees.”

The sugar cane was kept secret as the people realized it could be exported for high profit. Close to 1000 years later, their secret was revealed with the invasion of Arabs. Knowledge on how to grow the cane and process it led to the journey of sugar traveling to Europe and North Africa. Christopher Columbus stumbled upon the sugar cane and later brought it to America.

Interesting fact: Centuries ago, sugars were quite expensive to produce and only affluent people were able to afford it. What’s interesting is that these affluent people had a higher rate of disease than those who could not afford the sugar. Sugar was referred to as the “evil” as they determined that sugar contributed to disease. Hmmm… I will talk about why this is in later posts.

The Processing of Sugar

Sugar or more specifically sucrose is a carbohydrate that occurs naturally in every fruit and vegetable.  Sugar occurs in greatest quantities in sugar cane and sugar beets from which it is separated for commercial use.

In the first stage of processing the natural sugar stored in the cane stalk or beet root is separated from the rest of the plant material by physical methods. For sugar cane, this is accomplished by:

a) pressing the cane to extract the juice containing the sugar

b) boiling the juice until it begins to thicken and sugar begins to crystallize

c) spinning the sugar crystals in a centrifuge to remove the syrup, producing raw sugar; the raw sugar still contains many impurities

d) shipping the raw sugar to a refinery where it is washed and filtered to remove remaining non-sugar ingredients and color crystallizing, drying and packaging the refined sugar

Beet sugar processing is similar, but it is done in one continuous process without the raw sugar stage. The sugar beets are washed, sliced and soaked in hot water to separate the sugar -containing juice from the beet fiber. The sugar-laden juice is purified, filtered, concentrated and dried in a series of steps similar to cane sugar processing.

All this processing stripes away all the nutrients – fiber, vitamins, minerals, protein, fat -  that the original plant had to offer. To me, this is a crime.

Next post,  I will dive more into the effects of sugar in the body.

Be well

Busy moms need to start their days on the right foot, loaded up with all the right types of foods!  Here are a few grab-and-go ideas to get you running with a full tank!

Fruit and Cheese Combo This is perfect any time of day but an apple and a few slices of a sharp cheese (like cheddar) makes a great and quick morning meal. The combination of fiber and protein will jump start your metabolism and ward off hunger.

Almond Butter WafflesFrozen, high fiber, whole grain, organic waffles are a great option for early mornings. Top with your favorite nut butter, a few chia or flax seeds, and you have an easy out-the-door meal.

Homemade Egg Muffin If you’re adverse to using the stove in the morning, this is where a microwave can come in handy.  Crack an egg or two or pour ½ cup of egg whites into a bowl and microwave, covered, for one minute while toasting a whole grain English muffin in the toaster. When both the egg and muffin are cooked, add a slice of organic cheese and you have the perfect egg muffin!

Fruit Smoothie Blend together protein powder (I like a rice protein), spirulina (a blue green algae very high in iron and antioxidants), some organic yogurt and any combination of fruit.  You can even throw your ingredients in the blender before bed, store it in the fridge overnight, and then all you have to do is push start in the morning!

Fruit Parfait This is another great one to prep the night before.  Simply fill a cup with ½ cup of Greek yogurt, some of your favorite fruits (you can use fresh, frozen, or dried) and 2 tablespoons of slivered almonds.  It’s refreshing and protein rich to get you off on the right track.

Dr. Greene’s Answer:

Gluten is a composite of two proteins of some grass-related grains, including:

• wheat (including kamut and spelt)
• barley
• rye
• malt
• triticale

In the last few years, awareness of gluten sensitivity and the understanding of celiac disease (which is caused by an abnormal immune reaction to the components in gluten) has increased, leading many food distributors and manufacturers to start identifying foods as gluten free. Here at DrGreene.com, we will share recipes that are labeled gluten free when appropriate.

A gluten-free diet can include:

• Corn
• Potatoes
• Rice
• Tapioca
• Cassava
• Amaranth
• Arrowroot
• Millet
• Quinoa
• Sorghum
• Sweet potato
• Taro
• Chia seed
• Yam
• Bean, soybean, and nut flours
• Buckwheat (pure buckwheat only)
• Oats (though oats may be contaminated with gluten or could otherwise cause problems for those who have gluten sensitivity)
• Gram flour (derived from chickpeas  – not to be confused with Graham flour derived from wheat.)