Prevention is Powerful Medicine

Posted on June 24, 2011 by The Wellness Scientist

Earlier this year, I attended the Personalized Medicine World Conference in Mountain View, CA. One of the speakers started out his presentation posing several questions to the audience:

“How many of you are physicians?
How many of you are scientists?
How many of you are venture capitalists?”

Several hands went up after each question was posted. His last question to us was, “How many of you are patients?” At that point, EVERY hand in the room was raised. That was the single commonality among each of us in that room, and that is something that binds each and every one of US together. What a powerful message he was bringing to us!

As a collective of patients, we had become a community of healthcare consumers where we could share and discuss our opinions and experiences about disease, about health and wellness, about traditional versus alternative care.

When it boils down to it, no one is more invested in our own health and wellness than we are ourselves. Our health care providers, our friends, and our families care for us and want us to be healthy. But it is up to each one of us to stay that way, and we have choices. Educate yourself, practice prevention, and live a happier, healthier life!

My Mind Over Mood Challenge

Posted on June 17, 2011 by The Wellness Scientist

This has been an interesting week for me. I started out in a bit of a funk — trouble concentrating, feeling moody, low energy. On Monday, I forced myself outdoors for a ten minute walk — that was all that I could muster.

On Tuesday, I was still not a happy camper. I tried to concentrate on my work in the morning, but my creative juices were not flowing. I headed to the gym late in the afternoon for a 50-minute gentle yoga class. Last week this yoga class was JUST what I needed, however this week I left in a down mood and still a lack of ability to concentrate. I had a bowl of ice cream after dinner to “comfort myself” and ended up feeling nauseous instead. The one positive from Tuesday was that I ran into a friend and former neighbor when I was leaving yoga class and made plans to meet for lunch at a later date. There is always a bright side!

I woke up on Wednesday, and I realized it was time for a major systems reboot! My diet had been pretty terrible since last week when I had a relative in town visiting. I wasn’t eating very much food, but my choices were not those that I know my body needs. I woke up with an urge to juice and had a nice blend of banana, raspberries, blackberries, orange, and a little flax seed for good measure. Ahhhhh… just what I needed! Next, I psyched myself up for an outdoor run. I didn’t really feel like running, but I told myself to focus on the end result — the fresh air, the vitamin D from the beautiful sun that was FINALLY out, and let’s not forget the endorphins! I downloaded a couple of new songs from iTunes to add to my running playlist, and I was off.
Before I hit the trail, I ran into yet another old neighbor that I hadn’t seen in years! Just the sight of her put a huge smile on my face and after our catch-up chat, there was nothing stopping me. I fired up Lady Gaga’s “Born this Way,” and enjoyed a nice run at the Palo Alto Baylands. I had forgotten how much I love that other runners (total strangers!) wave as they pass you, and I felt really blessed to be out there enjoying the beautiful day. I ate well, ending up randomly having Japanese food for both lunch and dinner. I went to bed feeling rested and content.

This morning, I opted for a more challenging Vinyasa yoga class and left feeling strong, recharged, and with an inspiration to share my week with you. Even as a Wellness Scientist I forget my own needs sometimes, but I have learned to smile at my imperfections and to embrace these moments as a way to recenter myself and decide what my perfect balance looks like today. Just like the yoga class that was perfect last week left me longing for more this week, I know that next week will present me with yet another opportunity to rebalance myself. That’s doesn’t scare me. I’m taking it one day at a time!

What I Learned About Sustainable Eating

Posted on June 10, 2011 by The Wellness Scientist

My aunt was visiting from Alexandria, Louisiana, the town where I grew up, and I thought an interesting outing for us would be a trip to the San Francisco Ferry Building Farmer’s Market. One of my favorite things about the summer is picking organic heirloom tomatoes, peppers, and herbs right out of our yard to make salads and pasta sauces. Until our own veggies are ready, I love shopping at local farmers’ markets for fresh, organic, local ingredients.
One of the first things that we sampled was a scrumptious vanilla cupcake from the Les Elements Patisserie booth. We planned to split the cupcake so that we could feel free to indulge on other goodies, so I asked the guy manning the booth for a knife. He explained that they didn’t have any knives or paper products because one of their goals is to reduce their impact on the environment. I was completely happy to use my coffee stirrer to cut the cupcake since eco-friendly living also a goal of mine.

After having dessert, we headed indoors for lunch (cupcakes get me every time…). We had steamed clams and the wild shrimp quesadilla daily special from Ferry Plaza Seafood — both dishes were delicious! What inspired me to write this blog post was an older gentleman from Wales who walked up to the bar and asked the waitress what made the shrimp “wild.” She explained the concept of sustainable fishing to the gentleman, and we all spent a few minutes chatting about the subject. Being a pescetarian and a fan of sustainable eating, I know a fair amount about sustainable fishing and even have the Seafood Watch app on my iPhone in case I need assistance at the grocery store. I learned a few things myself from the conversation, and I wanted to share it with you.

Sustainable food is better for people, animals, and the environment. A typical farm laborer or factory worker can work in dangerous conditions for very little pay with very few benefits. In a sustainable food system, workers are better compensated for their work, and in some situations are given fresh produce and even housing as benefits. Sustainable fishing targets specific species while helping to protect animals such as dolphins and sea turtles. It also ensures that our seafood is preserved and will be around for future generations. To learn more about sustainability, I highly recommend the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA) website.

One thing I do hear often is that the cost of sustainable food is a deal-breaker. I’m not going to lie… when I see a pint of raspberries for $3 versus a $6 pint of organic, local raspberries, I do grimace a bit myself. Many times, however, the price of local high-quality sustainable ingredients is comparable to a lower-quality product grown in subpar conditions. We are not going to change every product that we buy overnight, but a few smart changes by educated consumers can effect change on the food industry and ultimately result in healthier, higher-quality products that we and our families deserve.

View Balance as an Opportunity

Posted on June 3, 2011 by The Wellness Scientist

Ever have one of those weeks where you feel like you can’t keep up? This was one for me! Too many priorities and too little time!
I had to remind myself to breathe and to use this as an opportunity to put things in perspective.
Sometimes, we have to “lose our balance” to get it back. Instead of accepting that we will never achieve balance, taking a moment to reflect can often help us recover it.

For me this week, I had a long list of “to do’s” for my business. I also decided that I was going to start to spend 10 minutes per day learning conversational Japanese for an upcoming trip, and I had some interesting new developments in the 23andme community that made me want to pull out hundreds of printed ancestry charts and start databasing to discover how I am related to someone with whom I had a DNA match. I didn’t want to admit that I had taken on too much, because I didn’t want to let anything go. However, I have been on edge this week & having trouble concentrating. I’ve been skipping meals and forgetting to drink water throughout the day. No wonder I was feeling frustrated!

I invite you to think about what types of imbalances have impacted you this week. Has this effected you physically? Mentally? Emotionally? Rather than letting it get you down or giving up on trying to find balance, view your imbalance as a opportunity to think about your needs and to rediscover your balance in a new light.