Grow Healthy
With Dr. Sally's
"Vital Signs" Blog
January offers a new beginning; a time to clean up my act, grow more resilient and prepare for the coming year. There’s never been a better time to power up your immune system, The Good Food Way. Your energy, digestion, and immunity will thank you! So, if you’re ready to shake that “tired and toxic” feeling, then gift your system a reboot with my 5 Cues for a Clean January.
After 2020, it’s high time to support and renew your health. After all, your amazing body is constantly renewing itself: recycling old cells and creating new ones, 24/7. Each and every day, the cells lining your intestinal tract (your “inner skin”) and your “outer skin” cells are shed as a new layer surfaces and the old cells slough off. Every month, your liver regenerates itself and each year, your skeleton is renewed. Automatically, without your conscious thought.
If you could take just one step to create a healthier future full of vitality and free from both acute and chronic diseases, it would be to fight inflammageing. While this hybrid term has been picked up by the beauty industry because of the clear-cut connection between inflammation and the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, inflammageing is more than skin deep.
As we head into this fall, almost every patient I see is concerned about the health of his or her immune system. Between hurricanes and smoke from the wildfires, not enough exercise and too much sugar, and feeling run down from the constant stress of this “new normal”, it’s time to take a look at how we got here and make a plan to optimize your health now!
As we move further into the challenges of this pandemic, my heart goes out to you! Whether you’re working from home, are now unemployed or are on the frontlines battling this virus, we all need help lowering the inflammation that impairs our immune response. We’ve known for decades that the intake of simple carbs (think colas, bagels, chips) reduces phagocytosis, the process by which white blood cells engulf and destroy bacteria, just like little Pac Men!
If you could take just one step to create a healthier future full of vitality and free of chronic disease, it would be to fight inflammageing. While the term has been picked up by the beauty industry because of the clear-cut connection between inflammation and the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, inflammageing is more than skin deep.
VIDEO: One of the latest products to hit the produce aisle is cauliflower “rice”. This is just a head of cauliflower that’s been chopped into pea-size pieces. You can buy it precut, break it down with a knife or do it in small batches in a food processor. It’s the perfect stand-in for starchier carbs like grains, and it can be mashed, like potatoes or blended into a savory dip.
