Mama Mia! Ze Mediterranean CHALLENGE!

Opah! Πετώ στην Ελλάδα αύριο! For those of you who don’t speak Greek, which, after seeing what the language looks like, I’m assuming it’s all of you, I am flying to Greece Tomorrow! Gotta love babel fish translator, the only reason I passed my Spanish class. Anyways, my parents and I (the brother is in North Carolina ‘working’ at a children’s museum) will be taking off tomorrow and arriving at the American Embassy in Athens! That’s right, Linden’s crashing the Embassy, ruh-roh. Our family friend, Dan Speckhard, is currently the ambassador there and has invited us to come explore Greece. Jealous? ;)

Coincidentally, as I was exploring my favorite alternative medicine news website, this article popped up on a study that showed those who consume a Mediterranean diet have a longer life expectancy. This isn’t the first time I've heard this, and I’m sure it’s not your first time, either. It makes sense when you think about it: a diet high in fish (hello, omega-3), fruits, veggies, cereals and light wine drinking. Greeks also tend to eat less red meat and processed foods, consuming olive oil instead of saturated fats. That’s when I got the idea for my first, ever HHH CHALLENGE! Do you dare? Are you ready? Can you HANDLE it? MAMA MIA!!! Ok, that’s enough intimidation, here’s the plan…

For 9 days, starting tomorrow, you and I will eat a purely Mediterranean diet. So get that grocery list ready and find Greek restaurants near you (googlemaps, baby), and get ready to live like a Greek for a week. As for me, I don’t think I’ll have too much trouble finding authentic Greek food ;)

The Picture I provided is of the Greek food pyramid, so that should help give you an idea of what to eat the most and the least. Here’s the run-down. The staples of the Mediterranean diet are seafood, fruits and veggies, whole grains, nuts and seeds, legumes, yogurt, olive oil and small amounts of wine. Greeks don’t cut out fat, but choose healthy fats, such as nuts and avocados. Limiting the amount of trans fat, Greeks reduce their risk for heart disease and stroke. Olive oil on everything is their motto, which helps prevent countless diseases, including cancer and other ailments, such as arthritis. Omega 3 fatty acids are found in many Greek recipes, which have countless health benefits. It’s all about the veggies. Most meals are primarily veggies and legumes, with small amounts of meat or fish on the side. Whole grains are a huge part of their diet as well, but make sure that you are eating wheat instead of white. Finally, for desert, relish the natural taste of fruit. We get caught up in fatty, processed deserts like donuts and cakes, and forget the truly indulgent taste of a juicy mango or crisp apple.

Here is a link to Mediterranean recipes.

Can't believe I leave tomorrow! I should definitely start to pack... heh...

Good look, and report back to me!

Until next time---

Hungry πεινασμένοςHippy

;)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinksherbet/3298399777/

Adderall the New Coke

The other day I was with this girl named Katie. She has proudly given herself the nick-name, “Sasha-Fierce,” which she stole from Beyonce, but I don’t have the heart to call her out, so I’ll let it slide. She never, ever let’s boys boss her around. In fact, I think every boy she meets is either in love with her or afraid of her. She dances when she wants, sings when she feels the need to sing, and cries when she just needs a good cry and she will not apologize because life’s her party and she’ll cry if she wants to. Katie is my role model, so brave, so confident and so “Fierce.” But the other day, Katie shocked me when I found her crying in the locker room at our local pool. When I asked her what was wrong, she turned up to face me, looking defeated and shamed. “Am I fat?” she whispered. Katie is 9.

After hearing her say this, I knew it had started. It’s like clockwork, girls slowly grow up and the media and society break apart our self-esteem, leaving us feeling flawed and fat. But at 9? I hoped Katie would have had a few more years, but sadly, young girls are being affected by impossible to live-up to beauty standards faster and faster, thanks in large part to celebrity “role models.” You look at any major Disney movie star with her stick-thin frame, thick extensions and professionally airbrushed face and see her portrayed as normal to millions of idolizing girls.

And what about as we grow older? Well, the stars girl my age read about in beauty and gossip magazines are the picture of perfection. And if they aren’t, they’ll be pictured on the cover with the headline, “Guess which Celeb Let Herself Go: The Best and Worst Bikini Bodies in Hollywood!” How great for us! It lets us know what is acceptable and what isn’t. Interestingly, many of the same celebrities that are pictured on the “Best” side have also been accused by the same magazines as having eating disorders. Hm… are they trying to tell us something?

We’ve all heard of the crazy way our role models stay skinny. While most of them claim, “I eat what I want, in moderation,” this obviously is usually not the case. From cocaine and anorexia, to syrup and water week-long detox diets, like Katie’s role model, “Sasha-Fierce,” celebrities will do anything to cut the extra pounds. If Katie heard that about Miss. Fierce, I would expect her to say how stupid that was. Or would she ask her mom to make that for her school lunch the next day?

Unfortunately, as kids enter college, the problem only gets worse and the need to be thin overshadows the need to be healthy. On college campuses, Adderall is widely used, legally and illegally, to help people concentrate, study and… stay skinny? Yep, that’s right. Because it is an amphetamine, it works like speed, suppressing your appetite. Ah, a miracle diet pill! Here’s a scenario: a girl illegally buys Adderall to study during exam week. After the week she realizes, “OMG! I lost 5 pounds!” The compliments start coming and she decides to keep on buying. She uses it not only to suppress her appetite, but to help her have the energy and drive to do longer, harder work-outs. The pounds keep dropping, and before she knows it, she has an addiction to Adderall and an eating disorder.

Can you blame her? Recently, LaLohan, or Lindsay Lohan, America’s favorite bad-girl, attributed her weight loss to Adderall. And apparently many other movie stars use and abuse this drug, too, crushing up the pills and snorting them. As red is the new black, adderall is the new cocaine.

I can only imagine how wide-spread this problem really is. Adderall is so accessible on campus and ADD is a fairly easy disorder to fake, so these miracle pills are readily available to any college student wishing to use drugs to solve her size zero aspirations. Marylyn Monroe was reportedly a size 12. Posh Spice? Double zero. What’s next, negative zero? Why are women everywhere making themselves disappear?

**Hungry Hungry Hippy**

You are What You Eat

“You are what you eat.” It’s amazing how many times you’ve heard this. From your mom when you were young while she was force-feeding you spinach, or in my case, anything green; from your nutritionist/doctor/personal trainer (hahaha… personal trainer, I wish); And finally, from that mean girl in high school, who said it in that tone while you were eating the glazed donut she refused because she was “cutting carbs” before beach week, not so subtlety suggesting you should do the same. Well, as annoying as it is to admit, all of these people were speaking the truth that our health care system has been ignoring for-eva.

What you eat has an enormous impact on whether you will be happy and healthy or sad and sick. Food isn’t just something that fills up (and sometimes out) our tummies. Choosing a specific dietary plan can cure chronic diseases and help prevent illness in our future. Doctors need to teach us how to live healthy, free of prescription drugs and costly medical bills. They need to make sure that annoyingly true phrase haunting our conscience after every late-night Taco Bell binge is more than just an afterthought…

“An overwhelming 94 percent of the doctors surveyed believe that nutrition plays a major role in prevention, and 95 percent say nutrition plays a major role in chronic disease management and treatment. On average, they estimate that two in three of their adult patients who have chronic disease would benefit from nutrition services. If the costs were reimbursed by a third-party payer, almost all of the physicians (94 percent) say they would refer more of their patients with chronic ailments for nutrition services than they do now.”

Basically, doctors know that nutrition can be more powerful than drugs in treating and preventing chronic diseases. What diseases? Heart disease, cancer and diabetes for starters, which just so happen to be the number 1, 2 and 6 killers in the U.S. These diseases are not only the numero uno killers in the U.S., but are also the drug companies major money makers. And as doctors said, they would tell their patients about nutritional therapies that would help, in many cases, as well as drugs, and would PREVENT these deaths in the first place, but, “More than 80 percent of physicians surveyed said lack of reimbursement is either a major reason or the single biggest reason that providing nutrition services is not routine.”

As the WUTANG Clan put it ever so eloquently, “Cash Rules Everything Around Me, C.R.E.A.M. get the money, dolla dolla bill ya’ll.” The doctors thus write you a prescription when they should be writing you a meal plan.

However, 96 percent of primary care physicians believe that the Nation’s health care system should place more emphasis on nutrition to treat and manage chronic disease. As Congress sits high up on the hill, debating health care reform issues, the benefits of nutritional therapy should not be ignored.

The quotes from this fabulous blog post were found... here.

Think about it & get back to me!

-HHH out.

Bikram Yoga: If You Can't Take the Heat...

Now, I know I’m no yoga expert, but I’ve dabbled. It all started a year ago my friend and I joined a class for beginners. We soon realized that beginners meant kids 12-and-under. When I first walked in I was pretty embarrassed, but figured as a varsity athlete I would school these munchkins, right?! This was going to be a confidence booster! Wrong.

“Good warm up everybody, let’s get into some strength training!” the instructor cooed in a melodic tone. Warm up? I was sweating bullets. I looked around at all the teeny little bodies surround me, practicing hand stands and twisting into positions I didn’t think were humanly possible. Argh. Apparently, I had forgotten how limber children are. Oh, to be young again. After two humiliating classes, I thought I was through with this yoga business. That was until last Friday, when I decided to face my fear and try it one more time.

Two of my coworkers at AAHF have started doing Bikram Yoga, otherwise known as “hot yoga.” Basically, there are 26 different yoga poses you do in a room that is extremely hot and humid to increase your flexibility (I need all the help I can get in that department) and help you sweat out your toxins. They finally convinced me to give it a try, and blocking out the memory of my previous experience, I decided to go for it. At least I knew that it wouldn’t be another class full of freakishly flexible pre-teens!

I dressed in a sports bra and running shorts to prepare for the heat. Apparently, the room is recommended to be AT LEAST 105F degrees with about 40% humidity. Honestly, I think even if I was completely naked I would feel like I was wearing too much. For the first time in my life I was jealous of bald men. Walking into the room, my feet stuck to the damp floor. Bodies were sprawled out on mats and towel and mirrors covered almost all of the wall space. As I lowered to the ground I began to think about how this class was not 30 minutes, not an hour, but 90 minutes. What activity would I normally do for an hour and a half straight? Watch 3 episodes of Sex and the City. Actually, scratch that, I could watch the whole Sex and the City movie. Wow. I had to stop thinking about that…

At first, the positions were not too bad and were actually kind of relaxing. After about 30 minutes I felt myself sort of zone out. This, I believe, is what you would call “meditation.” Ohhmmm… Zen. Towards the end, I will admit, I wanted OUT! However, the cardinal rule is you may not leave. As I looked at the door I began to hallucinate Gandolph the Grey Wizard from Lord of the Rings bellowing, “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” Frightening. Ok, it was definitely time for a break. I looked up at the clock and was relieved and shocked to realize we only had about three minutes left. Hallelujah! I made it! PRAISE GHANDI! Or whatever yoga god…there is… never mind.

It wasn’t until I left the room that I realized how much I had sweat. It was as if I had just stepped out of the shower, minus the horrible smell. Walking down the street I wasn’t even embarrassed because I knew people probably thought I just swam a few laps at the local Y. If only the guy sitting next to me on the metro knew… I must have sweat out all of my toxins because I not only felt stronger, but also cleaner. It’s hard to describe, because I was obviously filthy, but my body felt healthier.

The next morning I woke up extremely sore in muscles I wasn’t aware I had. But it was a good sore, an addictive sore.

My next class is going to be this Thursday and although I know it will be long and hard, the mental and physical benefits are definitely worth it. I suggest this type of yoga to anyone and everyone who is willing to try a new thing and test their body’s endurance.

The studio I go to is called Bikram Yoga Dupont, and it’s located at 635 Connecticut Ave. NW in Washington, D.C. The intro week, which is the package I bought, is only $20 and includes mat rentals. Here’s the website http://www.bikramyogadc.com/index.htm

Yoga provides the mind and body with countless benefits. The website, www.naturalhealthsciencenews.org, provides numerous scientific studies that detail the healing power of yoga. From nixing back pain and asthma, to curing anxiety and depression, this therapy helps many people with various health issues. For example, one study showed that meditation/yoga works as well as medication to beat depression. Pills with horrible side-effects, or yoga twice a week, the main side-effect: fitting back into those skinny jeans that you kept for "inspiration" all those years ago.

After researching alternative medicine therapies, it makes me wonder why U.S. health care doesn't promote Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) more. Alternative therapies are more of a lifestyle than a medicine. Changing the way you live not only cures illnesses, but protects you in the future. Living a life based on CAM is the key to being healthy because it really works to PREVENT diseases and illnesses. Small lifestyle changes can really impact your health in the future, not to mention your wallet.

Hey, if the queen of procrastination can start living healthy now to prevent diseases that loom in my future (hopefully, a very,very far off future), then you can too. And it's never too late to start. But first, I need to do all I can to make sure my choice to utilize CAM is protected.

-See you @ Bikram Yoga!

*Namaste*

H.H.H.

Crohn's Remedy?

Just found this article on a Crohn's nutrient cocktail that can put kids with Crohn's into remission!

Click here

<3HHH

Crohn's Disease Hitting Close to Home

Lindsay, one of my best friends, has been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, which is an inflammatory bowel disease that affects any part of your gastrointestinal tract, from your mouth to your… you know. This explains all of her stomach pain, skin rashes and eye inflammations. Crohn’s is an autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks the gastrointestinal tract, producing inflammation. While it’s nice to finally know what’s wrong with her, this disease is no walk in the park, and as of now, there is no known cure.

There are many complications associated with Crohn’s disease that Lindsay will have to watch out for. The most common is blockage of the intestine, which occurs because the disease thickens the intestinal wall when inflamed, leaving scar tissue, narrowing the passage. There is no cure for this disease, and the treatments, which include drugs, nutrition supplements and surgery, only treat the symptoms, not the cause.

But enough with this sad medical talk, let me tell you a little something about Lindsay, my 20-year-old Minn- EEE- Sow-tan buddy. First off, she is WEIRD, in the best way. Some of her passions include: musical theater, trampoline gymnastics, synchronized swimming, traveling the world teaching kids Spanish, astrology and whale sounds (har har). She’s ridiculously funny, even when she doesn’t mean to be. Sometimes, she’s inconveniently funny, at least for me. She is responsible for all of my humiliating, and far to recent pee-in-my-pants stories. Come to think of it, she is the only one ever responsible for those... accidents. ARGH.

Whenever she isn’t talking, you catch her breaking out into a full-on Broadway song, mostly at inappropriate times, like while using a public restroom. And she knows all the words- not just to the Wicked Soundtrack, but to whole movies, like Titanic, which if you remember back in Video Cassette days, took up two whole tapes.

Lindsay is obviously a character, and I know that this disease won’t break her. But I don’t want it to change her at all, because to me, she is perfect. So, I’ve been doing my alternative medicine research, and this is what I have come up with…

To Lindz, and anyone else suffering with or who knows someone suffering with Crohn’s Disease:

· FIBER, FIBER, FIBER!: Fiber and healthy digestion go hand and hand. It helps things run smoothly- all the way through. Eating a diet with fiber-rich fruits and veggies and taking fiber dietary supplements should help. Sometimes, however, fiber may make symptoms worse, so test this out for yourself.

· Fish: Eating fish high in omega-3 fatty acids, like salmon and taking Fish Oil supplements can help to prevent relapses.

· Multivitamin: Taking a daily vitamin containing zinc, folic acid, vitamin B12 and vitamin D prevents deficiencies, which commonly occurs with Crohn’s disease sufferers because their intestines can’t properly absorb nutrients.

· Goodbye, Sugar: Low sugar diets (sorry, Lindz) reduce symptom severity.

· Is it Dairy?: You could be lactose intolerant, so experiment by cutting dairy out of your diet and seeing if symptoms improve.

· Low-fat: You may not be able to digest/absorb fat naturally so you should experiment by cutting out foods high in fat and processed foods.

· Eat Smal Meals: Eating 5-6 small meals a day may be easier for you to digest.

· Stop Stressing!: Stress can make symptoms worse and can even trigger flare-ups. Stress management techniques include the following:

o Exercise

o Biofeedback: Usually taught in hospitals, it helps you learn how to reduce muscle tension and slow your heart rate using a feedback machine.

o Relaxation Techniques: Yoga, meditation, deep breathing etc.

These techniques should help you manage your Crohn’s. For the best results, find a doctor in your area that actively practices complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).

Click here to find a practitioner near you.

These are two websites that I got info from: Peace Health and Medical News Today

- H.H.H.

P.S. If anyone else has any alternative therapies for Crohn's disease, please comment!

Nice to Meet You!

Hola, blog browsers and welcome to Hungry Hungry Hippy’s blog! I am very excited to start my first ever blog and hope that someone, somewhere is reading this getting a little bit excited, too. As this is my first ever blog post, I have decided that it would be a good idea to tell the reader a little bit about myself and what this blog is going to be all about! So, here you go reader, the inside-scoop on everything Linden! P.S. Linden = me.

So, now that you know my name, I’ll start listing off some generic get-to-know-you-type-details to get the small-talk outta the way. I’m a 20 something (well 20, but I’ve always wanted to use that phrase, it sounds so Sex and the City), living part time in Blacksburg, VA (huh?) where I attend Virginia Tech University, double majoring in Communication and Sociology. I also live and grew up in Arlington, VA, a suburb outside of Washington, D.C. (Insert OBAMA holler).

This blog will be about living healthy, the natural and holistic way. I should add that health has always been my top priority. I’ve been active and athletic for as long as I can remember. It all started with kick-the-can when I schooled every boy on my block, including Timmy Hall who, may I add, was five years my senior and the reigning kick-the-can champ.

In later years I pursued other sports, including soccer, basketball, kickboxing, track, swimming, and later lacrosse and field hockey. Now I play field hockey at Virginia Tech, and dabble in yoga, pilates, and coed sports, of course! Obviously, being active is a huge part of my life and something I pursue for both my physical and mental health. You see, I have a little something called ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)- I’m sure you’ve heard of it. I think that most people probably associate ADHD with that little kid that ended your babysitting career- however that’s not always the case (just the most memorable). I’ve discovered that I don’t need take medication to keep myself concentrated (most of the time). Exercise is my Adderall.

Anywho, growing up in and around D.C. and having parents who are very actively involved in the government has made me extremely interested in everything politics. (And everything Ovechkin. Surprisingly, not anything Redskins… GO COWBOYS!). It has also given me the wonderful opportunity to intern at an advocacy group, The American Association for Health Freedom, which has actually been the inspiration for my blog. This nonprofit organization works to protect the health freedom of consumers and practitioners to choose to use and practice alternative/integrative medicine! Now, at first I was like, huh? Ok. Alternative what? But after working with them I have become extremely inspired to begin leading a life that is much more natural, based on alternative health practices.

Alternative medicine, or an integrative approach to medicine, is one that incorporates diet, exercise, supplements and other natural health techniques, along with conventional allopathic medicine techniques.

The main reason this is so interesting to me is because I have a health issue that no conventional doctor has been able to cure. It’s called IBS aka irritable bowel syndrome. You know I’m dedicated to this blog when I tell the whole Internet community that my bowels are irritable. Basically, I’ve got a stomach ache almost every-single-day. They've run countless tests and I've even gotten the dreaded colonoscopy. The verdict? Nothing. Nada. Nien. Just the IBS label that has been given to thousands of other sufferers *shout out to my peeps.* So, I’ve decided to take things into my own hands and cure this painful and extremely inconvenient (bloating + bikini’s = argh) illness myself. My first idea? A gluten-free diet! We’ll see how that works…

This blog will be a sort of how-to on living naturally, full of links to articles, recipes, personal experiences and stories, restaurant recommendations, etc. And it will also be an account on my struggles to stay healthy, the alternative way. I’ll also be looking for advice from fellow bloggers. Finally, I’ll keep everyone up-to-date on what’s going on in the integrative/alternative medicine struggle to gain acceptance in the political/mainstream world!

Later gators,

Hungry Hungry Hippy

The American Association for Health Freedom Website