Dr. Arturo M. Volpe

from Going Against the Grain by Melissa Diane Smith

1-1/2 cups raw almonds or hazelnuts or 2 cups raw pecans
7 eggs, separated
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp dried basil leaves
? tsp each of dried garlic powder and parsley flakes or 2 tsp of caraway seeds (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Farenheit. Lightly grease a jelly roll baking pan. Grind nuts, half a cup at a time, in a food processor. Whip egg whites until soft (this works best with an electric mixer. If you don’t have one, beat vigorously with a whisk or blender; you’ll get an acceptable bread but it will slightly flatter). In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks, seasoning and ground nuts together. Beat egg yolk mixture into one quarter of the whipped egg whites. Then fold this mixture into the remaining whipped egg whites. Pour into the pan and spread it evenly. Bake 20 minutes or until brown. Allow to cool, then cut into bread-sized slices. Layer slices with parchment paper to prevent the bread from sticking together and store in a covered container. Refrigerate or freeze.

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from The Mood Cure by Julia Ross

Delicious in smoothies, or with chicken or vegetable broth or water for a soup base. Great in hot spicy herb teas or with fruit instead of whipped cream (it solidifies in the refrigerator) or diluted in any recipe that calls for milk or cream. Look for first-press (full-fat) canned milk without preservatives.

Thai Kitchen coconut milk is one of the best available in stores. Find it online at www.thaikitchen.com.

From scratch:
Method 1: Break open a fresh coconut and pour the clear milk into a blender. Remove the coconut meat, chop and place in the blender. Add enough hot water to bring the level to 4 cups. Blend at high speed for 3 minutes. Strain, pressing pulp to get out all liquid (this can be done in cheesecloth). Return pulp to the blender, just cover with hot water, and blend on high speed for 2 minutes. Strain, press again to remove all liquid from pulp, and discard. Refrigerate or freeze.

Method 2: Soak dehydrated full-fat coconut (unsweetened) overnight. Strain and press as above.

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from Janice Welch

2 cups almond flour (or any raw nut ground into flour except peanuts cashews are delicious)
1/6 cup melted ghee
2 tsp Frontier brand non-alcohol vanilla flavoring
1/4 tsp Frontier brand non-alcohol pure orange flavoring
1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
1 egg
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Combine flour with baking soda and salt, set aside. Whisk together ghee , vanilla flavor, orange flavor, maple syrup and egg. Pour into dry ingredients. Mix with spoon until combined. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and drop dough by spoonfuls into cookie sheet. Cook for approximately 12 minutes. Recipe yields 20 cookies (keep a batch on hand in the freezer they even taste good frozen).

Note: you can reduce the carbohydrate content of this recipe if you replace the maple syrup with Xylitol or use a combination of the two.

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1-1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup cashew butter
1/4 cup melted ghee
2 tsp Frontier brand non-alcohol vanilla flavoring
1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
1 egg
1 tsp Featherlight baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour with baking powder and salt, set aside. Mix together cashew butter, ghee, vanilla flavor, maple syrup and egg. Mix into dry ingredients. Mix with spoon until combined. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Form dough into balls and place on cookie sheet, flatten with a fork making a crisscross pattern. Cook for approximately 10 minutes. Recipe yields 24 cookies (this cookie is very crumbly not good for lunchboxes)

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from Janice Welch

2 1/2 cups of almond flour
1/3 cup melted ghee
1 large zucchini
2 tsp Frontier brand non-alcohol vanilla flavoring
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp vitamin C crystals (non buffered)
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare loaf pan with ghee and dust with almond flour. Combine flour with baking soda, salt, and vitamin C crystals in a bowl and set aside. Grate zucchini in food processor and change blade to the processing blade. Add the ghee, vanilla, and eggs to the zucchini and process until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well. Spoon into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for approximately 50 minutes. Remove from pan and transfer to a cooling rack. If you will not be using very quickly, slice loaf in half, store one half in the refrigerator, the other in the freezer.

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from Janice Welch

1-2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup light buckwheat flour
Pinch of guar gum
14 ounce can of coconut milk
1 egg
1 tsp Frontier brand non-alcohol vanilla flavoring
1 tsp pure maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vitamin C crystals (non buffered)
1/2 tsp sea salt

Combine both flours with guar gum, cinnamon, baking soda, vit. C crystals, and salt. Set aside. Whisk egg, add in coconut milk, vanilla flavor, and maple syrup. Pour into dry ingredients. Mix until well combined. Lightly coat a nonstick griddle with coconut oil (it will not need to be re-coated after every batch). Heat over medium heat. Spoon batter onto heated griddle. Turn over after surfaced bubbles have popped. Pancakes are done when each side is well formed and lightly browned. Yield: 16 pancakes

These pancakes are sturdy and work very well in lunch boxes, they also freeze very well.

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from Janice Welch

This recipe is very easy and very good! The recipe makes only one serving, so adjust accordingly.

12 pecan halves (ground; you can use a parmesan cheese grater for pecans – they don’t get too oily)
1 egg
1/2 to 3/4 tsp honey
1/2 tsp Frontier brand non-alcohol vanilla flavoring

Prepare griddle on medium heat with a little melted ghee. Mix all ingredients together and drop by spoonful onto griddle. Cook till golden brown on both sides. Makes about 6 silver dollar pancakes. (They are not fragile and pack well in lunch boxes)

The recipe on the internet used Brazil Nuts. If you use them, use about 9 whole ones substituted for the pecans.

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from Janice Welch

1 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup water
? tsp sea salt
1 tsp basil
1/8 tsp to 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Combine all dry ingredients then add water. Form dough into a ball and plop on parchment paper. Cover with another sheet of parchment paper and roll as thin as you can (1/16″). Remove paper from top and score into pieces with pizza cutter. Place the parchment paper with the crackers on a baking sheet and bake at 325 for 30 minutes. These crackers also freeze well.

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You can make flour from almonds and other nuts at home or you may order almond flour from www.almondsonline.com.

Pure buckwheat flour, free of gluten and other grains, is available from Jim Benedict at Spring Meadows Farms at 717.665.6004.

If you would like to get off antidepressants or other psychiatric medications, the first step is to talk to your psychiatrist. The website www.pharmacyconnects.com contains detailed information on the correct procedure to taper off different medications. In my experience physicians are not always informed of the best way to do so.

For non-toxic pest control, see www.getipm.com.

To find natural products for the home go to Janice’s Natural Products at http://216.147.71.201/ (an odd website but it works). Also see www.kbcottonpillows.com and www.livingsource.com.

To learn about issues surrounding vaccines, including your rights, see www.909shot.com and www.vaccineinfo.net Then if you want to become an expert on thimerosal and other hidden sources of mercury go to www.testfoundation.org.

For information on natural parenting see www.babyreference.com and www.naturalfamilyonline.com.

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It’s hard to miss the fact that Americans are diving into low-carb diets by the millions. Even large restaurant chains are now advertising “Atkins-approved menus” (whatever that means).

Considering that I have promoted carbohydrate restriction for years, when everybody else thought that low-fat was the answer to all human ailments, I should be pleased to see this trend; but the way it’s being implemented is loaded with pitfalls.

Recently a mother brought a box of pasta to my office and asked if it would be OK for her child, who is on a restricted-carb diet. The label did read “low-carb,” and it took me a while to understand what seemed at first to be a contradiction in terms: how can pasta be low-carb?

The two major ingredients in this pasta turned out to be wheat gluten and soy concentrate. It cannot be denied that gluten is actually a protein, not a carb, that is found in small amounts in wheat and other grains. In this case the manufacturer separated the gluten from the starch in the wheat and concentrated it to make high-protein pasta.

The only problem is that gluten is the single most problematic food component in our diet. It is very difficult for our digestive systems to break it down completely, and partially digested gluten has been implicated as a trigger for hyperactivity, auto-immune disease, intestinal disorders, autism, schizophrenia and more.

In addition, many of us have a relative intolerance to gluten. This means that we can stand small amounts of it, but we develop symptoms when we exceed our individual thresholds. So concentrating gluten to make “Atkins-approved” pasta is one of the worst ideas I have seen in a long time and one that is likely backfire on Americans’ health in a significant way.

The second ingredient in this “low-carb” pasta was soy, which is loaded with problems of its own. Soy is also very challenging for humans to break down, especially if it is not fermented (as it is usually found in traditional diets in Japan). In addition, soy has been found to inhibit enzymes in the brain that produce neurotransmitters. Soy also contains high levels of naturally occurring estrogens that can disrupt hormone development in children and can be a factor in hormone-related disorders in adults. These estrogens also inhibit the thyroid, and may be implicated in the current epidemic of hypothyroidism. To read more about soy and its dangers go to www.westonaprice.org/soy/tragedy3.html.

My idea of a low-carb diet has always been one based on natural protein and fresh vegetables, with grains and fruit consumed in small amounts. It would seem that the food industry has quite a different view of things. One thing is very clear: when food industry giants get involved, there’s likely to be trouble ahead.

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I know there are people out there, even among readers of this newsletter, who believe that sugar is not much of a problem for their health. Parents keep asking me: can’t I just let my child have a normal childhood (with “normal” defined, it seems, as eating a lot of sugar-laden foods)?

Those who fall into this category may want to look up Nancy Appleton’s website www.nancyappleton.com. Her front page is a bit busy, but if you click on “read how sugar can ruin your health,” you will find 124 detrimental effects of sugar listed with each one backed by published medical research.

As usual, it’s not that the information is not available, it’s just being ignored. While we all know that sugar causes cavities, there are many other harmful effects of sugar that few people ever hear of. A review article recently published in a well-respected medical journal discusses some of these effects. They include acne, early menarche, certain skin cancers, increases in stature, short-sightedness, skin tags, polycystic ovary syndrome, and male vertex balding (Comp Biochem Physiol 2003 Sep; 136 (1): 95-112, PMID 14527633).

For many, the problem is that they’re addicted to sugar, not that they don’t believe it’s bad for them. People have told me that just the thought of cutting out sugar is enough to trigger an uncontrollable binge. I’ve heard from some women that they can do very well for three weeks in a row but one week before their menses they simply lose control. The fact is that sugar is one of the most addictive substances we know.

Actually we have studies dating back to the 1970’s and even earlier showing that the entire cycle of sugar and carbohydrate addiction is induced by a deficiency of serotonin. Serotonin is known to be the “happy” neurotransmitter and it can only be made in the brain from protein. Because sugar does nothing to replenish depleted serotonin, it’s hard to break the addiction cycle.

The natural food supplements L-tryptophan and 5HTP provide the brain with more of the raw material it needs to make serotonin. The same studies mentioned above also showed that when people take these supplements in appropriate doses their cravings abate and their consumption of carbohydrates and overall calories decrease. (J Pharm Pharmacol 1975 Jan; 27 (1): 31-7; Brain Res Bull 1986 Nov; 17 (5): 681-9; Pharmacol Biochem Behav 1986 Oct; 25 (4): 711-6; J Neurol Transm 1989; 76 (2): 109-17).

Armed with this knowledge, physician Marty Hinz, MD, has built a large and successful practice focused entirely on treating weight problems with these types of supplements. Dr. Hinz has also stated repeatedly that in his experience – spanning more than a decade and thousands of patients – these amino acid (protein) supplements work better for appetite control than any medication, including the ill-fated phen-fen combination. For more on Dr. Hinz and his work visit www.neuroreplete.com.

Julia Ross is a psychotherapist who realized more than fifteen years ago that she could save herself a lot of talk therapy failures if she also gave her patients the natural protein supplements their brains were screaming for. She has since built a very successful practice near San Francisco treating everything from depression to obesity and eating disorders. She has also written two very good books entitled The Diet Cure and The Mood Cure. See www.moodcure.com for more information.

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According to a recent study the following 12 foods and vegetables make up the so-called “dirty dozen” and are the most contaminated with pesticide residues:

• Apples
• Bell peppers
• Celery
• Cherries
• Imported grapes
• Nectarines
• Peaches
• Pears
• Potatoes
• Red raspberries
• Spinach
• Strawberries

The following 12 were found to be the least contaminated, even if not organic:

• Asparagus
• Avocados
• Bananas
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Corn (sweet)
• Kiwi
• Mangos
• Onions
• Papayas
• Pineapples
• Peas (sweet)

The idea here is to avoid foods listed in the “dirty dozen” or consume them only if organic. The least contaminated foods raise the least concern, even if not organic.

Using a computer model, researchers estimated that switching from daily consumption of the most contaminated foods to the least contaminated reduces exposure to pesticides by as much as 90% even if none of the foods are organic. People consuming the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables are exposed to twenty pesticides a day on average. By comparison, eating the 12 least contaminated will expose a person to only a little over two pesticides a day.

Although washing fruits and vegetables is always recommended, it is not an effective way to reduce pesticide exposure. A few of the pesticides may wash off to some degree, but
many are taken internally by the plant and are not affected by washing.

Skeptics will always think that pesticides must be safe if the government allows them. It should be noted, however, that pesticides are toxic by definition, since they are designed to kill insects, and harmful or even lethal effects in humans are predictable at high enough levels of exposure.

Studies on low-dose exposure in humans are scant and we have no safety data relating to concurrent low-dose exposure to multiple pesticides over long periods of time. This is
particularly significant when it comes to infants and developing fetuses that are known to be the most vulnerable groups.

To read the entire study, go to The Environmental Working Group’s website www.ewg.org and click on “Reduce amount of pesticides in your diet.”

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I have been running hair analyses on children for years and finding evidence of all sorts of toxic metals: aluminum, antimony, arsenic, lead, cadmium, and so on. Rare is the child whose test comes back negative. Whatever you think about the validity of hair analysis, it’s hard to argue that these poisons belong in children’s hair. Where do they come from?

Arsenic, for one, might well be coming from chicken. According to a recent study, commercial chickens are laced with this poison, and this is not by accident. Arsenic is actually added on purpose to chicken feed to prevent parasites. I doubt these poisoned chickens could live out a normal life span, but I guess it doesn’t matter to the commercial breeders who are raising them for slaughter.

Of course, industry sources immediately responded to the study by saying that the amount of arsenic people ingest from eating chicken is well below safety thresholds. This may be true on average, but not for the 10% of Americans who consume the most chicken – and what about children who are addicted to chicken nuggets?

Besides, safety thresholds for poisons are hypothetical at best. How does below-threshold exposure to arsenic affect a child who has also been given mercury in vaccines? Arsenic is
a known neurotoxin and a cause of bladder and other cancers.

The study was published in the January 2004 issue of Environmental Health Perspectives. Find the abstract at http://ehis.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2003/6407/abstract.html. You may also
read a commentary on this study at www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/arsenic012304.cfm.

In an unrelated story, the EPA’s ban on arsenic in treated wood went into effect last month. Apparently industry is now proposing to replace arsenic with hexavalent chromium (Cr6).

Cr6 was the environmental poison that was the subject of the movie Erin Brockovich (if you haven’t seen it it’s worth renting). The problem in this case is not that industry has criminal intent. It’s just an indication of how difficult it is to make wood that resists destruction by bugs and molds without harming humans at the same time. For more on this see www.ewg.org.

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