Dr. Arturo M. Volpe

As parents, we find it difficult to streamline our children’s diet with balanced nutritional ingredients and still keep our little ones pleased with their food, especially snack foods. Most snack foods (even gluten- or casein-free) have little or no protein and tons of carbohydrates.

Many of you have probably read or heard of recipes that called for flour made from ground tree nuts. I am guessing that many of you dismissed this idea, because how in the world will a nut flour stack up in baked goods? We really want to try new things, but we are so tired of using new ingredients that have created spectacular flops; and we simply draw the line at using ground nuts for flour.

However, this alternative ingredient deserves a second look. Almond flour (my personal favorite) does wonderfully in baked goods. From cookies to crackers to breads to pound cakes, it really works. One reason I am fond of almonds, besides the nice flavor it adds, is its nutritional makeup. It is balanced between carbohydrates and protein and offers a good source of fat. So, as long as you keep sweeteners in your recipes to a minimum, you can have a balanced snack that is easy to pack and go.

The thought of finding raw nuts and grinding them seems expensive and labor intensive, so you may wish to order almond flour in bulk. Initially, purchase a small quantity and try some recipes to see if it is a product you will use. If you are satisfied with the results, you can order in larger and therefore more economic quantities.

Two places I found online are www.almondsonline.com, and www.sunorganicfarm.com. Even with added shipping charges, buying the flour this way seems to be price- effective as long as you order a large enough quantity (at least 10 pounds).

Tags: Recipes
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An article published in the January issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association (J Am Diet Assoc 2004 Jan; 104 (1 Pt 2): 22-30) reports the findings of a survey on food intake of American infants and toddlers.

The conclusions are truly shocking and confirm what many newspaper articles have been reporting in recent times: that an increasing number of parents are letting the packaged food industry decide what their children eat.

Some parents would say that there’s nothing they can do about it, because their children love sugary foods and refuse green vegetable. However, when we talk about infants and toddlers, the reality is that they will eat what they’re exposed to. Sugar is a non-food that is highly addictive and should be carefully avoided at this age if we want to raise healthy children.

The survey found that fruits and vegetables were rarely consumed in this age group and that, when a vegetable was consumed, it was most often French fries. Even more disturbing is the finding that by the age of seven months nearly half consume some type of sweetened dessert and by 19 to 24 months nearly two-thirds consume baked desserts.

Tags: Baby Foods, Diet
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This study is an interesting one because it raises a question no one would have thought of asking. It also shows how chemicals can have unpredictable long-term effects in the human body.

The study (Journal of the National Cancer Institute, vol. 96, No. 1, 22-28, January 7, 2004) analyzed previously collected data from a huge project known as the “Nurses’ Health Study” that followed more than 88,000 women for a period of 18 years. While only 161 cases of pancreatic cancer were reported, I am sure no one would put him/herself willingly at risk for this terrible disease.

The investigators concluded that the risk of pancreatic cancer was significantly correlated with long-term aspirin intake. Women who reported taking aspirin every day for more than 20 years had the highest relative risk.

Tags: Cancer
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As most people know these days, SSRI stands for “selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor,” an acronym for a class of antidepressant medications that includes Prozac, Paxil, Celexa, and others. These drugs have become among the most widely prescribed in our country, but only recently have studies surfaced that question their safety for long-term use or for use in children.

These drugs are also considered safe – and are often prescribed – to pregnant women. As it turns out, this assumption of safety is based on cursory studies that only looked at major outcomes, such as physical growth, and complications that would be evident in medical records.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina studied 17 full-term newborns whose mothers had taken an SSRI and compared them to an equal number of infants whose mothers had not taken these medications (Pediatrics, 2004 Feb; 113 (2): 368-75). Unlike previous studies, this one focused specifically on neurobehavioral development. They found that infants previously exposed to SSRI’s were more likely to suffer from nervousness, startles, and sleep disturbances. Although this was a limited and very short-term study, it does raise legitimate suspicions that these drugs are not so safe after all. Larger and longer-term studies are now needed to shed light on exactly what these medications do to developing brains.

Tags: Depression, Pregnancy
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The issue here is that lithium has a terrible but undeserved reputation. At huge prescription doses, lithium remains the most effective way to control bipolar disorder. The fact that a natural mineral can be so effective is, in itself, a remarkable thing. However, such enormous doses – usually exceeding 900 mg of lithium carbonate – can be toxic and cause permanent kidney damage with long-term use, and this is where the bad reputation comes from.

At doses that are about or more than 1,000 times smaller, lithium is a natural trace mineral supplement with no known toxicity or other side effects. In fact, minute amounts of lithium occur naturally in our diet and, even though this mineral is not considered essential and there is no RDA for it, studies have shown that it plays an important role in human nutrition. According to one study, people with diets deficient in lithium have higher rates of hospital admission for a wide range of mental disorders (1). Other studies have correlated lithium deficiency with aggressive behaviors in both humans and animals (2).
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Tags: ADD/ADHD, Depression
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It is known that many types of autoimmune disease ñ including lupus and rheumatoid arthritis ñ occur in a disproportionately high number of women in comparison to men. This has led some investigators to wonder if estrogen, or an imbalance in estrogen, might somehow be involved in causing these conditions.

In a study reported last November (J Nutr 2003; 133 (11): 3,610-3), researchers examined mice that had been genetically engineered to develop lupus and gave some of them the supplement indole-3-carbinol (I3C).

I3C is a natural food component found in vegetables of the brassica family that includes broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage and a few others. Whether ingested as food or as a supplement, I3C has a powerful balancing effect on estrogen levels, promoting higher levels of healthy estrogen and lower levels of a dangerous type of estrogen that has previously been linked with hormone-related cancers. I3C and a closely related compound called DIM are commonly a vailable as dietary supplements.

Even though this mice study is a far cry from the human study that is badly needed, the researchers concluded that I3C could both prevent the onset or improve symptoms of existing lupus. As they stated, “Dietary modulation has the potential to prevent or ameliorate systemic lupus erymathosus (SLE). These findings demonstrate a profound effect of dietary I3C.”

Tags: Arthritis, Autoimmune disease
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