Eat Your Damn Vitamins.

A popular article is making the rounds on social media today, and I feel compelled to comment.  The article in question, titled "Antioxidants Can Make Cancers Worse" from the sometimes-accurate, sometimes-misleading IFLScience states that "while many proponents of dietary antioxidants or supplements will claim they have incredible anticancer properties [...] some trials have [...] found that antioxidant supplements can worsen some cancers."

Have the reams of evidence supporting the link between antioxidant intake and good health have suddenly been discredited? 

No.

This is only referring to a "literature review," not an actual study, whereby a group of researchers tried to explain why supplementing with single, high-does, isolated antioxidants (eg, vitamins A or E) can result in a higher risk of cancer, or somewhat worse cancer outcomes if supplementing during treatment. The researchers make a pretty obvious conclusion: the nutrients aren't getting to where they need to be in the cell because they are not consumed with the right nutrients and cofactors that help them do their job. You see, when you eat, say, a handful of blueberries, you're getting way more than just anthcyanins (a common antioxidant) - you're getting vitamin C, polyphenols, and a whole slew of phytochemicals (including some we have yet to discover & isolate), many of which are necessary cofactors for those antioxidants to do their job. No small wonder, then, that an isolated compound will not have the same effect in vivo as a whole food!

If you’ve spent any time in the garden this spring, its likely you’ve found mats of Cleavers (Galium aparine) stuck to your pant legs as you’ve tried (perhaps futilely) to rip out your massive crop of weeds.  Also known as Stickywilly, or Goosegrass (because geese apparently love the stuff), cleavers is a noxious weed that grows nearly everywhere - and it’s excellent eating, too.  Take your revenge on the weeds by eating them for dinner! Why this friendly weed is so awesome: As a tea or tincture, cleavers is an excellent lymph tonic.  Our lymphatic system is responsible for pulling metabolic waste, cellular debris, and other junk from our bloodstream to be filtered by the kidneys, so by gently stimulating the flow of lymphatic fluid, cleavers helps support detoxification. Cleavers is also a diuretic, and helps support the kidney and urinary systems.  Cystitis, kidney stones, and painful urination / inflamed urinary tract are all conditions that may indicate use of cleavers.  Regular, tonic use of cleavers is recommended for some individuals with reoccurring urinary tract infections. Cleavers is also an alterative herb, meaning its actions support the body’s metabolic processes related to elimination and cellular detoxification. Topical application of the tea can be used to treat skin issues such as eczema and psoriasis.  Alternatively, dried cleavers can be infused with olive oil for topical use.   Like other leafy green vegetables, cleavers is also an excellent source of vitamin C and vitamin K. The velcro-like hooks on Cleavers can cause contact dermatitis in some people, but this effect is neutralized by cooking.

How to identify it:

(Photo source)

Aaah, poop.  The word makes you chuckle, doesn’t it? Well it shouldn’t - poop is serious business! While people eating indigenous diets the world over frequently enjoy transit times (that is, how long food takes to move from your mouth to the toilet) of 12-24 hours, we Americans frequently take over 72 hours to poop out our Big Macs.  That means you might be walking around with 3 days worth of partially digested food in your colon. Yum! Constipation not only makes you feel bloated and gross, it significantly raises your risk for many chronic and inflammatory diseases, like diverticulitis, hemorrhoids, and other more serious digestive disorders.

Why is poop important?

Consider this: While your small intestine is responsible for breaking down and absorbing all the nutrients from your food, your colon (or large intestine) has the mighty job of pulling all the excess water out of the remaining chyme (i.e., undigested food) that remains, keeping you hydrated and preventing diarrhea (thanks, colon!). However, by the time this mixture reaches your colon, its chock full of bacteria, viruses, cellular debris, extra hormones, and other toxic junk that your body is trying to be rid of. If this mush stays in your colon for too long, many of the substances that were meant to be eliminated will actually be absorbed back into your bloodstream along with the water.  This is more than just a pain in the bum: the reabsorption of excess hormones and toxic junk due to chronic constipation can significantly increase your risk for estrogen-dominant diseases and several types of cancer, among other things.

You see, your bowel transit time is a great indicator of your overall health.  By breaking down, digesting, and absorbing food and nutrients into molecules that your body can use for energy, growth, repair, and maintenance, your digestive system is the central axis allowing your body to keep breathing and thinking and checking your Instagram feed every minute you are alive.  

In order for food to be properly broken down and waste products correctly eliminated, the food you eat must run through your digestive system at a very specific pace: quick enough to flush out toxins before they are reabsorbed, but slowly enough for all the nutrients and water to be fully absorbed.  Maintaining a healthy bowel transit time of approximately 16-40 hours will not only help ensure that your cells are properly nourished, it will make you a much, much healthier person. Horray for poop! If you’re chronically constipated, you probably know it.  If you aren’t quite sure where you lie on the spectrum, consult the Bristol Stool Chart - types 1 and 2 indicate constipation.  

Why am I not-so-regular?

Most modern Westerners have a bowel transit time that is much too long, generally due to diets high in processed foods and low in plant fiber. Other things that might be increasing times between bathroom trips include being sedentary, use of opiate drugs (including prescription drugs with codeine), hypothyroidism, dehydration, frequent coffee and soda consumption, and chronic laxative use.

What can I do about it?

So what can you do about a case of Fecus Interruptus? Thankfully, there are many options:

Drink more water. In an ideal world, men should be getting around 16 cups of fluid per day, and women around 11 cups.

Eat more wet foods (like soups and stews).

Reduce intake of caffeinated and alcoholic beverages (bummer, I know).

Work on getting adequate exercise, at least 30 minutes 3 or more times per week; even a quick walk around the neighborhood once a day can have a substantial effect (exercise tones the digestive muscles, and encourages the peristaltic muscle contractions that move food through your digestive tract).

Increase your fiber intake by eating more vegetables and fruits (especially apples and pears, which are high in the soluble fiber pectin).

Choose whole grains over refined grains, and avoid all processed foods, especially dry snack foods (e.g., chips, crackers, pretzels), as these will make your innards like the Sahara desert.

Eat foods that are high in magnesium, like leafy green vegetables, nuts, and seeds, or consider a magnesium supplement.

Take the time to have a bowel movement, and learn to listen to your body’s signals for when you are ready to have a bowel movement (seriously).

Work on stress reduction techniques, like deep breathing, yoga, and meditation.

Consider taking a dose of bitter herbs before meals, to help digestion (Herb Pharm makes a fabulous blend), or make a before-dinner cocktail with good old Angostura Bitters.

These days, iodine is not really a sexy mineral.  There are not a lot of breakfast cereals or green food powders are out there advertising themselves as a "great source of iodine," few prime-time TV ads urging us to get a good daily dose, and this mineral has yet to see it’s own Dr. Oz special. But like all essential vitamins and minerals, this trace mineral is, in a word, essential.  

Your body only uses iodine for one thing: to make the thyroid hormones thyroxine (also known as T4) and triiodothyronine (T3).  These hormones are both crucial for energy metabolism, growth, and neural development, as well as helping us not feel like we want to sleep 18 hours a day.  Lack of iodine - and thus lack of T4 and T3 - can lead to symptoms of hypothyroidism (under-functioning thyroid), like brittle hair and nails, elevated blood cholesterol, muscle weakness, depression, fatigue, and unexplained weight gain. Making matters even worse, iodine deficiency during pregnancy can lead to cretinism in the unborn child, a developmental disorder marked by severe mental retardation, poor growth, and a high risk of death.  Ever get called a cretin on the playground and wonder WTF that meant? Well, cretinism is really a thing.  Iodine deficiency can also lead to goiter.  

Goiters are not very sexy. 

In a nutshell, goiters are caused by your thyroid gland freaking out and ramping up its production of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), the hormone that regulates iodine absorption. A growing goiter will leave you looking like you accidentally swallowed a softball, eventually restricting your ability to breathe and swallow correctly if left untreated.  Sadly, this condition is incredibly common in parts of the world where iodine is not readily found in the food supply.

Although goiter is quite rare in the U.S. these days, the Great Lakes and Rocky Mountain regions were once colorfully known as the “Goiter Belt,” due to the fact that 40% of schoolchildren in these areas had visible goiters as recently as the 1920’s.  When iodine deficiency was discovered as the cause, a massive public health campaign was created to encourage the use of iodized salt in the American population.  Within a couple decades, incidence of goiter dropped to less than 1%.  Iodized salt became a mainstay of the American diet, and of the processed food industry. If you’ve found this blog, than surely you don’t need me to explain why processed foods are not supportive of health. However, in working to avoid processed foods (including iodized salt, which requires fillers and binders to keep the iodine consistently distributed in the product), many of us have eschewed our primary source of iodine. While the bleached, refined, and innocuous-sounding "Sea Salt” sold at your local health food store is generally less processed, it is also completely devoid of iodine.. as well as all the other trace minerals normally found in sea salt. So what’s a health-conscius, goiter-fearing person to do? It’s easy: just make sure to eat some natural sources of iodine. Found in seaweed, fish, shellfish, and anything else that comes out of the ocean, iodine is also found in the soil of coastal regions, meaning the fruits, veggies, grains, and the animals that ate them from these areas are subsequently a good source of iodine.    Excellent sources include:

You know you're a plant nerd when new wild, medicinal herbs make you very, very excited.  Today I'm psyched because Wild Chamomile, aka Pineappleweed, aka Disc Mayweed (Matricaria discoidea) is popping up everywhere in California!

Why this friendly weed is so awesome:

Wild Chamomile can be used in salads, and has medicinal properties similar to more commonly-used German Chamomile. Use this plant fresh or dried as an herbal tea to treat gastrointestinal upset, menstrual cramps, as a mild antiseptic, and as an anti-spasmodic.  Native Americans of the West coast used this plant to treat diarrhea, fevers, and about a hundred other things.

As with other member of the Chamomile family, use this herb with caution or avoid entirely if you are allergic to ragweed.

How do I identify it?

This plant looks very similar to cultivated chamomile varieties, with pinnately dissected leaves and cone-shaped, densely compacted yellow-green flower heads, though it lacks the white petals seen on the cultivated German and Roman Chamomile varieties.  It can grow anywhere from 2" to 16" high, but is most likely to be found growing low to the ground.  

Native to far Eastern Asia, Wild Chamomile can be found nearly everywhere in Canada and the continental US, from Alaska to Baja to Newfoundland.   Look for this friendly weed on paths, dirt roadways, and other places with disturbed, compacted soil.

Unsure? The flowers and leaves also smell like pineapple when crushed, lending its common name. Pineapple-chamomile flavored tea for menstrual cramps? I think yes.

Have you heard all the hoopla about seaweed's superfood status, and still wondered to yourself how the eff to start eating the stuff? Do the big bags of dried, salty, dark green flakes in your grocer’s asian food section make you shudder with fear? Do you have nightmares about shoveling green goop down your throat in the name of health? Then clearly you have not truly met hijiki and arame, two of the tastiest, easiest to cook, and most versatile forms of sea vegetables available.   Meet your new best friends.  Wakame, perhaps the most non-threatening of all the sea vegetables, is a seriously excellent source of calcium, magnesium, iodine, and fiber.  Wakame gets it’s dark green color from fucoxanthin, a compound that appears to help reduce adipose tissue in animal studies and which may also be chemoprotective.  Hijiki is a great source of calcium and magnesium, too, in addition to being a great source of iron, copper, vitamin A, vitamin C, and maganese. In Japan, where hijiki has been a traditional food for centuries, regular consumption of hijiki is also rumored to bring thick, black, lustrous hair (blonds, you have been warned).  Did I also mention they’re delicious?

[Source]

This autumn, I have had a not-so-minor obsession with broth.  As I write this, there are a half dozen pints of the stuff chilling in my fridge and freezer, just waiting for their moment in my soup pot. Back in your grandmother's day, homemade broth was how most families stretched out their meat supply beyond the prime cuts of  steak, and it added both depth of flavor and rich nutrition to most home cooked meals.  But these days, the art of broth-making has been lost to most of us in industrialized countries, where bouillon cubes, artificial flavorings, and MSG have taken its place.  But seriously, the unsurpassed taste is not the entire reason that humble broth has found such a huge place in my heart.  Its because broth is downright sexy.

It's Incredibly Nutritious. Properly made bone broth - which basically involves little more than throwing some beef bones or a chicken carcass in the stock pot and letting it simmer for a day (with some herbs and veggies if you'd like to be fancy) - is incredibly rich in calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, silicon, sulphur, and numerous trace minerals that most of us are lacking in our diets. The long, slow cooking process pulls the minerals from the bones (hence the name "bone broth), releasing them into the stock in a form that is much more bioavailable than the monster pressed calcium pills you might already be taking.  The material from the joints and cartilage breaks down in the stock pot as well, adding in loads of gelatin, glucosamine, and chondroitin sulphates, all compounds that are also sold in pricy pill form for treating arthritis and joint injuries.  But wait - there's more! Broth has even been shown to boost immune function.  That old wive's tale that chicken soup helps fight colds and flu? Now it’s science!  It will make all your food taste awesome.

Hydrolyzed vegetable protein, a byproduct of soy processing and a common ingredient in canned soups and many vegan/vegetarian foodstuffs (Garden Burgers, anyone?), is incredibly high in Monosodium Glutamate - that is, MSG.  A common ingredient is asian cooking, MSG was first isolated and patented by Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda in 1908 to enhance the umami, or savory quality of foods ("umami" is actually Japanese for tasty).  The flavor of Glutamate is actually the specific protein in meat that our tongues and brains identify as "meat flavor" - making it no small wonder why this ingredient is frequently added to faux meat products. However you might feel about MSG, there's really no question that the delicious, savory flavor it mimics is desirable.  Your body is craving the real thing.  Give it broth!  It is insanely easy, and frugal. As a full-time employee, part-time student, and full-time nerd, if it isn't quick, easy, and - most importantly - cheap, it’s not going to happen.  It's as simple as that.  Thankfully, broth can be made entirely of scrap ingredients that would have otherwise been tossed into the compost or trash.  I keep one tupperware container in my freezer for vegetable scraps leftover from food prep - onion ends, carrot tops, tough broccoli stems, and the like - and one for leftover meat bones and bits.  At the end of the week, or when your containers are full, making broth is as easy as tossing the frozen scraps into the stock pot with water.  Three minutes of prep can yield you a week’s worth of delicious, nourishing bone broth! I strongly recommend a slow cooker for maximum ease.  Here's how I do it:

[Source]

Lazy Student's Kitchen Sink Bone Broth

You will need:

There's something about the physical action of eating crackers that is weirdly satisfying: the feeling of breaking a stiff piece in half with your hands, the solid "crunch" between your molars, the little crumbs and bits that fall from your lips, like Cheetos dust from heaven.  I honestly can't figure it out - its not like our neolithic ancestors had a biological incentive to eat from "cracker trees" or what have you (what else in nature provides that slightly sweet, slightly crumbly texture?).  So I feel you, grain-free and gluten-free readers.  Life is tough.

But wait - there's an alternative!  And it's glorious, delicious name is Chia.

Chia is an incredibly nutritious and versatile superfood, as I'm sure you're all by now aware.  The ancient Mayans and Aztecs called it "Running Food," and used it for sustenance during long voyages.  Chia is a complete protein, and high in fiber, antioxidants, and numerous minerals.  Its one of the best plant sources of omega-3 fatty acids, containing even more than flax. And you can use it to make Chia Pets.  What's not to love?!

Oh yeah, its also the basis for these amazing grain-free, gluten-free, & vegan Tomato Basil Crackers.  Amazing dipped into hummus, tahini sauce, guacamole, or simply eaten by the handful, these crackers are mind-blowingly simple to make, and easy to customize, too. Inspiration for these came from this recipe over at Oh She Glows - thank you for the new addiction!

Grain-Free Tomato Basil Crackers

Yield: About 20 large crackers

You Will Need:

1/2 c chia seeds (any color)

1/4 c raw pumpkin seeds

1/4 c raw sunflower seeds

1/2 tsp salt

black pepper, to taste

2 tbs tomato paste

1 c water

1 clove garlic, finely minced

1 tbs red or sweet onion, finely minced

8-10 basil leaves, finely chopped

1 tbs finely chopped parsley, marjoram, oregano, or thyme (optional; fresh is best)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

1. Preheat the oven to 325, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, mix the seeds together.  In a separate small bowl, mix the water, sea salt, pepper, and tomato paste until fully incorporated.  Pour the liquid into the bowl of seeds, and stir to combine.  Stir in remaining ingredients.

3. Let mixture sit for 5-10 minutes; it will start to congeal a bit as the chia seeds absorb the water.  Spread the mixture onto your prepared baking sheet, using the back of a spoon to even it out until its less than 1/4" thick.  No biggie if its a little inconsistent, this recipe is pretty forgiving. If you're using a standard sized baking sheet, it will probably cover the whole sheet.

4. Bake at 325F for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven, and carefully flip the whole thing over back onto the baking sheet so the parchment paper is on top.  Carefully peel off the parchment paper, and cut into your preferred cracker shape using a pizza cutter or a chefs knife (or, just make one big cracker.  Whatever.) The cracker sheet will look fairly solid at this point:

5. Bake for an additional 25-35 minutes, or until they start to look golden brown.  Remove from oven, and allow to cool completely in the pan.  Store in an airtight vessel of your choosing.  

These are seriously awesome, and quite frankly, highly addictive.  Who misses wheat crackers? NOT THIS LADY.

If theres one thing the health-conscious blogosphere/news media/interwebs seem to agree on these days, its that green & superfood smoothies are awesome.  If I were to take all of the headlines at face value, a 32oz blend of mango, banana, and spirulina with a scoop of vanilla protein powder should not only cure me of type-2 diabetes and cellulite, but also make me 20 years younger.  The media loves to hype superfoods and cure-alls, I get it.  While I agree that adding greens to anything and everything is a fabulous idea, it still doesn't make smoothies a good choice for most of us.

Here's why: Sugar.

You may not realize it, but that 30oz "healthy" fruit smoothie in your hand likely has 100 grams of sugar (or more) - thats as much as nearly 3 cans of Coca Cola, or two (yes, two) double chocolate chip Frapuccinos. "But wait!", you ask, "Fruit sugars are better, because they're natural!"  True, they are closer to nature than high fructose corn syrup might be, but as far as your gut is concerned, sugar is sugar (or, in this case, fructose is fructose).  Fruit sugar can and will cause insulin spikes, particularly when consumed in the quantities found in many commercially or even home-prepared smoothies.  Think about it - when was the last time you ate 2 cups of mango, 2 cups of pineapple, and two bananas in one serving?  Blending fruit into a beverage makes it all too easy to sip mindlessly and consume more sugar than you may have intended, making them as poor a choice as soda or fruit juice for glycemic health.

This factor really can hit home if you're suffering from candida-related issues, or just plain watching your sugar intake (which you should be!).  Some odd years ago when I was in a seemingly endless cycle of candida infections and UTIs (and misery), I was also a committed smoothie-holic, and would leave the house every morning for work with an enormous green smoothie.  My typical recipe involved blending 3+ servings of fruit (grapes and apples were my favorites - both high on the sugar spectrum), a handful of kale, and a scoop of whatever super-antioxidant-meal-enhancing-protein-drink I had on hand.  At the time I'd thought this was the healthiest thing I was drinking all day, despite avoiding all other sugar like the plague in attempt to get control over my health. But after a while, I started to notice a trend: my symptoms would always flare up about an hour into my workday, just after I'd finished digesting my fabulous green smoothie.  Hmmm.  It was then that I started examining my diet more closely, and realized that I was basically eating a quarter cup of sugar for breakfast.  Changing this habit, along with a few others, wound up being the key to banishing the cycle of candida once and for all.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that what works for me is by no means universal: if you're a big-gulp slurpee with a biggie-sized fries kind of person, then finding a way (ANY way) to get some decent nutrition into your body will be to your benefit.  Perhaps starting your day with a couple servings of fruit, a dash of chia seeds, and a handful of greens is the first step towards retraining your palate to enjoy real food, and if it's replacing a typical breakfast of a scone and latte, then I commend you on taking the first step towards taking control of your health - small steps, after all, are better than no steps.  But if you're already well aware of the damaging effects of high levels of sugar consumption and the insulin resistance, inflammation, and metabolic syndrome that come along with it (if you aren't, please read this, this, and this), if you're working towards weight loss, or if you're struggling with candida-related illnesses, then I would strongly recommend that you avoid big wallops of fructose disguised as health food.  

If you're truly a smoothie devotee, and can't fathom a day without chugging some liquified kale, here are a few ways you can maximize nutrition while minimizing the junk:

- Drink it down quick!  Blended fruits and veggies oxidize quickly, so only make as much as you can finish within 30 minutes of hitting that "blend" button.

- Make greens the foundation of your smoothie, and start off every blender batch with a heaping handful of spinach or kale.

- Add a spoonful of coconut oil or half an avocado to both add some healthy fat and make the smoothie more filling, so you aren't famished a half hour after finishing. This is supposed to be breakfast, right?

- Focus on nutrient-dense, high-fiber, low-sugar fruits, like strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries, and limit yourself to 1/2 - 1 cup of fruit.  For a complete list of fruits by sugar content, go here.

- Use full fat coconut milk or unsweetened nut milk to thin out your smoothie instead of sweetened, processed soy milk; or, just pour in a bit of ice water.

- Add a shot of fiber to help slow sugar absorption in the form of a heaping tbs of chia seeds or ground flax seeds (bonus - these both give a boost of omega-3's!).

- Skip the processed, sweetened meal replacers and protein powder blends, and instead opt for unsweetened whey protein (or, you know, just eat some eggs with breakfast).  Always look for organic whey, or at least rBST-free.  The fruit in your smoothie will give you all the flavor you need!

True story: One time back in college, ginger swooped in at the last minute like a superhero and allowed me to go see one of my favorite musicians, just when I thought all was lost.  No, I didn't throw some sunglasses and blinky raver lights on a knobby hunk of ginger root and take it as a last minute date.  Turns out, ginger was the only thing that could clear my sinus congestion long enough to act like (party like) a normal human being for a few hours.  

[pretty sexy for a superhero.  Source.]

You see, I'd been suffering from the mother of all cold viruses - I'd been basically bedridden for the better part of two weeks, with a piercing headache, sore throat that wouldn't quit, and the total inability to breathe out of either nostril for over 10 days.   I had been pounding echinacea tincture like a frat boy downs Jagermeister, chewing on chunks of osha root (still pretty much my least favorite taste in the world), and had even resorted to the gnarly mucus-blocking OTC stuff (which, sadly, only seemed to make me feel worse).  

[Jagerbombs are not advised. Source.]

But then! After a feverish google search, I landed across a suggestion for quite possibly the only thing I hadn't tried: fresh ginger tea.  It was too simple - I had tried the nuclear-powered drusgstore stuff.  This was too obvious to work.  Right?

So I dragged myself to the grocery store, procured a nice looking piece of ginger root, sliced it up, and tossed it in a pot with some boiling water for about a half hour.  I'd left the lid off the pot, which allowed the mixture to condense into a super-potent brew.  I added a touch of honey, took a sip, and questioned whether I had mistaken the sweetener for some wasabi, because DAMN that stuff was potent.  But lo! Suddenly the inflammation in my sinuses decreased, and a long, fresh breath of air was taken in.  

[The ability to breathe through your nose is truly a simple pleasure of life. Source.]

Turns out, ginger is effective for more things than just relieving that gnarly plug of snot in your nose.  Ginger has an anti-inflammatory effect throughout the whole body, making it a useful treatment for musculoskeletal ailments like arthritis and burstitis.  It's an awesome remedy for nausea, it helps lower blood pressure, and it might even make you smarter.  It also tastes awesome.  Win!

Ginger is available at most health food stores in alcohol extracts or capsules, and is a useful thing to keep in your medicine cabinet.  You can also make nuclear-powered ginger tea as I did, by adding about 1/2" of sliced or grated ginger root (roughly 1/2 - 1 tsp) to boiling water and letting steep for 10-15 minutes.  Premade ginger teabags, crystallized ginger candy, and ginger syrups are also available for those who are lazy and/or don't feel like waiting that long.  If taking large doses of ginger makes your stomach or esophagus burn, lower your dosage and take it with food.  And of course, grated ginger makes an awesome addition to many stir-frys, sauces, and curries.  I like throwing a chunk into my juicer along with some carrots and greens for a supercharged breakfast juice.

If you are taking any drugs that treat high blood pressure, slow blood clotting (anticoagulant/antiplatelet drugs), are pregnant, or are diabetic, talk to your doctor/midwife/naturopath/whatever before you start taking ginger on a regular basis.  Ginger is probably safe to take while pregnant, but talk to your healthcare practitioner about possible risks first.

So next time you wake up with a nasty hangover, consider reaching for some ginger tea before you grab some coffee (or a bloody mary).  Because aside from a hopelessly plugged sinus cavity, there isn't much worse than the morning after a series of jagerbombs.

There are few things out there that are universally likable, but I'd hazard to guess that good moods are one of them.  Like a fuzzy little kitten swiping its paw at a piece of string, a good mood has the power to transform even the crappiest news, the most routine of days.  When you're feeling positive, the whole world is brighter, more manageable, more benevolent.

[This little guy could make Stalin smile. Source]

But if you're one of the millions of Americans afflicted by Seasonal Affective Disorder (aka, Winter-Sucks-And-All-I-Feel-Like-Doing-Is-Laying-On-The-Couch-Eating-Frozen-Taquitos-And-Watching-Office-Reruns-Disorder), you mind find those good moods slipping from your fingers as the days grow shorter.  We've all heard the common advice by now to get regular sun exposure and supplement with vitamin D in winter to offset seasonal blues, but if you just can't bring yourself to stand in the freezing rain to get those 15 minutes of sun exposure in the middle of February, what else can you do?

Enter St. John's wort.

This lively little herb enjoys a long history of use as an anti-depressant, and is one of the most studied alternative treatments for depression.  One meta analysis showed that extracts of St John's wort were significantly more effective than placebo in patients with major depression, showing a similar efficacy to standard antidepressants.  Another study published in 2005 found it to be more effective than fluoxetine (Prozac). Side effects are rare (but may include dry mouth, allergic reactions, and photo-sensitivity) making this a much better option for most folks than the neurotransmitter-disrupting pharmaceutical stuff.

[Now listed as a noxious weed in over 20 countries! Source]

Look for tablets or capsules standardized to 0.3 percent hypericin and 3 percent hyperforin, and start with a dose of 300 milligrams 2-3 times a day - this is the dosage used in most studies. Avoid tinctures - these formulations lack the fat-soluble compounds that give St. John's Wort its anti-depressant qualities.

St. John's Wort does have a few contraindications: Do not take this herb if you are taking hormonal birth control pills, anti-retroviral medications, or prescription antidepressants, especially SSRIs (like Prozac or Celexa).  My personal experience has been that effects can be felt within a week or less of regular supplementation, but in many people, it can take up to 3 weeks of regular use to feel the full therapeutic effects.  Every body is different. Consider starting supplementation with St. John's Wort in the early fall, before you start to feel symptoms of SAD, for maximum prevention of the winter blues.

"Oooh, tortilla chips with added antioxidants!" Too good to br true? Probably.

Many brands these days claim high levels of these now-famous compounds, with prepackaged foods everywhere boasting high ORAC levels (oxygen radical absorbance capacity - a measure of antioxidant activity) and added antioxidants. But maybe this is a meaningless claim, as this recent article from the UC Berkeley School of Public Health Wellness Newsletter points out.  Antioxidants, or  micronutrients that help mitigate cellular damage caused by oxidation, have become synonymous with overall good health and disease prevention over the last few years.  This of course means that food companies will try to promote their product as being packed with this item.

However, ORAC levels are difficult to measure accurately, and its difficult to tell if that high antioxidant capacity extends beyond the environment of a test tube.  The benefits of specific ORAC levels are pretty arbitrary, too - is my pasteurized orange juice with 2700 ORAC a significantly better choice than the sugar-laden tea drink with 2400 ORAC?   Would a product with 10,000 ORAC make much more of a difference?