Foundations in Meditation
by Theresa Oswald, MD • September 14, 2011
A 2007 study by the U.S. government found that nearly 9.4% of U.S. adults (over 20 million) had practiced meditation within the past 12 months, up from 7.6% (more than 15 million people) in 2002. The interest and appeal of meditation is growing, but why? The language of science can provides some answers.
In over 1,000 published research studies, various methods of meditation have been linked to changes in metabolism, mood, blood pressure, brain activity, and immune response. Meditation has been used in clinical settings as a method of stress and pain reduction.
Research has demonstrated the benefits of meditation for the following conditions:
Anxiety
Blood pressure
Cancer
Chronic pain
Cognitive function in the elderly
Coronary artery disease
Depression
Eating disorders
Fibromyalgia
Happiness
Psoriasis
Serum cholesterol
Smoking cessation
Tension headaches
Meditation can be one of the most important components of any health plan. Its unique ability to activate the relaxation response and foster mental stability provides a foundation for healing. Meditation is medicine that activates the body’s innate healing response.
If you are interested in learning more about meditation and establishing your own meditation practice consider the Meditation Foundation Master Class. This series of three classes builds a foundation for your meditation practice, explores the health benefits of meditation and the power of group meditation.
Instructors: Theresa Oswald, MD and Blair Lewis
To register for upcoming classes please email Theresa Oswald, Terri@AliveandHealthy.com
Trees for Tibet – Battle of the Bands
by Theresa Oswald, MD • August 30, 2011
Battle of the Bands
Kevin & JJ, Event Producers
Volunteer Crew
Yogis in the Hood
Southmoor
Volunteering is Fun!
Rockin' Out
Pongamia Pinnata is the Tree for Tibet
Getting into the Groove
Watching Doje Video
Food For Your Health: Asian Diet
by Theresa Oswald, MD • March 22, 2011
There is a pandemic in the United States. It is the rampant disease of malnutrition but not in the usual sense. Malnutrition in regards to bad nutrition or non-sustainable food choices. The leading cause of death in this country and in most parts of the world is cardiovascular disease or diseases related to the heart and blood vessels. Over 600,000 people die from heart disease in the United State each year. Obesity is estimated to account for over 300,000 to 400,000 deaths per year. This is a tragedy because heart disease and obesity are for the most part preventable. Not only are they preventable, thy are also reversible. How can this be? Well the answer is simple but not effortless. Heart disease as well as obesity, diabetes and some cancers are lifestyle related diseases that improve with simple, gradual, intelligent, empowered, stepwise changes in what, where and when we eat and how we move.
What proof do we have that this is true? Well there are many indigenous groups of people around the world that have very low evidences of these diseases. Research shows that the traditional, plant-based rural diets of Asia produce much lower rates of certain cancers, heart disease, obesity and, in some cases, osteoporosis and other chronic, degenerative diseases than the rates seen in the United States.
The Asian diet is composed mainly of rice, whole grains, minimally processed whole foods, large amounts of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds with small amounts of vegetable oil and a moderate consumption of plant-based beverages mainly tea. It is a tasty and sustainable diet. Plants are packed with the phytonutrients we seek out in vitamins and supplements. Plants are where we derive anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, fiber, anti-inflammatory agents, immune supporters, rejuvenating substances and cholesterol lowering agents. How convenient that these amazing health promoting chemical are found in something we need to eat daily, food.
The Asian diet is the polar opposite to SAD, standard American diet consumes 90% more animal protein, twice the fat and 3 times less fiber. Unlike Western diets, meat is rarely the main dish of any meal but rather an accent or garnish.
If you would like to learn more about global health trends in nutrition, see what’s cooking on, Saturday, March 26th, 2011 at Duo, All Things Culinary, 7721 Inwood Road, Dallas, TX 75209 ( call to register at 214-884-2979).
Food For: Your Health, Pan Asian Style | 10:30 am -12:30 pm | $45
Dr. Theresa Oswald and Lorin Grant
Menu:
Miso Soup with Soba Noodles
Roasted Sweet Potato Chips and Asparagus with Wasabi Sour Cream
“Fried Rice” – Quinoa with Roasted Vegetables & Quail Egg
Green Tea “Ice Cream”
Breakfast with Serotonin; the simple joy of pancakes
by Theresa Oswald, MD • January 14, 2011
Serotonin is the happiness neurotransmitter. Neurotransmitters are brain proteins that are the chemical messengers of the brain, relaying information from one neuron or brain cell to another. The main building blocks for serotonin are tryptophan and folic acid. Knowing foods that are rich is tryptophan allows you to actually eat your way to happiness. Eating tryptophan rich foods like milk, nuts, cottage cheese, oats, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, chickpeas, bananas, mangos and eggs with whole grains boost tryptophan absorption. This is due to avoiding protein rich foods, which contain other amino acids competing with tryptophan for absorption. Try the happiness experiment one whole wheat pancake at a time.
Whole Wheat Pancakes
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 T brown sugar
½ t cinnamon
4 t baking powder
1 t salt
Combine
Add
2 cups milk
¾ cup water
½ cup apple sauce
2 T ghee (clarified butter)
1 t vanilla.
Cook on griddle.
Top with fresh blueberries, pecans and grade B Maple syrup.
Brain Fuel and Low Glycemic Index
by Theresa Oswald, MD • January 14, 2011
The brain has a very high metabolic rate but no fuel storage. This means that optimal brain function depends on a steady stream of fuel especially glucose in our blood stream. Complex carbohydrates with a low glycemic index provide steady fuel or glucose availability. Glycemic index (GI) is a measure of how rapidly carbohydrates are broken down into glucose. A low-GI food will release glucose more slowly and steadily. A high-GI food causes a more rapid rise in blood glucose. Beans are an excellent low-GI fuel source. Beans are also amazing anti-oxidants with twice the anti-oxidant capacity of blueberries.
Here is a fun, easy to prepare and yummy bean recipe.
Bean and Cheese Tostadas
2 whole wheat tortillas
½ cup shredded cheese
1 cup vegetarian refried beans with 1 t garlic powder and 1 t cumin powder.
Heat beans and spices in pan.
Top tortillas with cheese and heat on griddle until cheese melts. Top with bean mixture and garnish with shredded greens, fresh salsa and/or guacamole.
Brain Nutrition for Kid’s; it all starts with breakfast
by Theresa Oswald, MD • January 14, 2011
Today’s class at Duo focused on Food For Kid’s Brain Health. We all know that the brain is the body’s most powerful organ — controlling movement, learning abilities, speech and actions. Good nutrition can improve mood, enhance learning, aid motivation and increase energy levels. Research shows that when it comes to learning, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. For best results whole grains and other complex carbohydrates paired with good quality, easily digested protein provide the optimal building block for the neurotransmitters responsible for happiness and attention.
Eggs are an excellent choice because they contain choline, which aids memory and omega 3 fatty acids that reduce inflammation and augments brain development. Try this simple, kid approved and delicious recipe:
Cheesy Egg Wedges
4 eggs beaten
1/3 cup milk
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ t baking powder
2 cloves minced garlic
2 T chopped chives
1 cup shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese (8 ounces)
1 cup cream style cottage cheese
Whisk ingredients bake in lightly greased 9 inch pie plate uncovered at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and knife inserted near center comes out clean.
Wellness Prescription – Using Exercise as Medicine
by Theresa Oswald, MD • October 5, 2010
De-conditioning or lack of exercise is at the core of 23% of chronic disease. Just doing the first thing to get off the couch results in the greatest health benefits. That initial phase of increased activity from the sedentary state (getting up) is the steepest part of the curve. Exercise health benefits are huge and everybody knows it. Most importantly, they include improvement in mood and brain health.
Regular exercise reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s 30%. It is also the most important protective effect in preventing Alzheimer’s dementia. Moderate exercise lowers the risk of dementia even into the 8th decade of life!
Exercise is the best holistic treatment for depression and anxiety. Patients treated with exercise are less likely to have relapses than those treated with medication. Exercise boosts brain blood flow and serotonin production. Exercise has been repeatedly shown to be as effective as anti-depressant medication in the treatment of depression. The antidepressant effect of exercise is often more enduring than that of antidepressant medication.
Research shows modest exercise, like walking daily, decreased heart disease deaths by 50% in both men and women. Exercise lowers blood pressure, decreases blood & platelet stickiness and reduces stress hormones and sympathetic nervous system activity. Physical activity helps overcome all coronary risk factors (except heredity), including smoking and excess clotting. Heart patients who briskly walk one half hour per day reduced their risk 18% for repeat heart attacks both fatal and nonfatal. Increased “good” cholesterol HDL is women stair climbing 16 minutes per day.
No drugs holds as much promise as physical exercise for slowing aging effects. The 12 year risk of dying from all causes was reduced by about 50% in people age 61-81 years walking > 2 miles/day as compared to those walking < 1 mile/day.
A balance complete exercise program includes the following:
Flexibility:
Stretching 2-3 times per week using all major muscles groups.
Sustained stretching 2 or more times per week with addition of balance training.
Resistance Exercise:
Maintains muscular strength (tone) with 6-15 repetitions of all major muscle groups.
Training 2 or more times per week with 48 to 72 hours between workouts.
Aerobic Exercise:
Moderate intensity – 5 times/week 30 minutes or vigorous intensity – 3 times/week 20 minutes. Moderate exercise with varying bursts of intensity as little as two minutes.
Of all things known about exercise, please remember this: fatigue really is exercise deficiency…..most of the time.
Relieving Pain and Fighting Inflammation—a Holistic Approach
by Theresa Oswald, MD • October 4, 2010
Inflammation is one of the body’s natural ways of protecting itself. However like any process in the body, it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Too much inflammation in the body has been linked to a number of medical conditions such as:
• Heart disease
• Stroke
• Cancer
• Chronic obstructive lung diseases (emphysema and bronchitis)
• Asthma
• Chronic pain
• Type 2 diabetes
• Inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis)
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Diseases where the immune system attacks the body, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or scleroderma
Research shows that we can influence how much inflammation we have in our bodies through exercise, stress management and proper nutrition.
Omega 3 essential fatty acids are one of the best ways to curb inflammation naturally. These fatty acids are called essential because our bodies do not made them. EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) are two principal fatty acids.
DHA can be obtained from marine sources other than fish, such as algae (where the fish get their omega 3s). EPA and DHA are the good fats (polyunsaturated) that are bodies use to reduce inflammation and as building blocks for brain health. The body can only manufacture limited amounts of EPA and DHA from another essential fatty acid, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) — found in flaxseed oil, canola oil, soy oil and walnut oil.
Omega 3 essential fatty acids work best when they are combined with reduction of omega 6 essential fatty acids and trans fats in the diet. Foods rich in omega 6 essential fatty acids and trans fats are red meat (especially grain fed), high fat dairy like ice cream and cheese (milk and low fat yogurt are great), partially hydrogenated oils, corn, cottonseed, grape seed, peanut, safflower, soy and sunflower oils and foods with long shelf life (chips, cracker). Instead use olive oil and fresh whole unprocessed foods whenever possible.
Boys and Girls Adrift
by Theresa Oswald, MD • April 6, 2010
While considering the impact self esteem has on health and healing, I read a very interesting and frankly disturbing book, “Boys Adrift” by Leonard Sax, M.D., Ph.D. In his book, Dr. Sax explores what he calls an epidemic of unmotivated boys not growing to their full potential. Why are boys adrift? One key problem is girls and women are acting in masculine ways to feel strong. This is not necessarily how they want to act or what feels natural but what society mandates by definition of what makes someone strong, successful and powerful. As a society we measure strength and power by a masculine yardstick. There is not a readily available role model of feminine power. When girls and women act like men to be powerful this puts both boys and girls at risk. When everyone is trying to act masculine to succeed, there is no balancing feminine force in society, although the world itself is defined as feminine, Mother Earth. It is ok for a girl to look and act like a boy, but for a boy to look like a girl is degrading. So what purpose does a boy have?
Women and girls are most powerful when moving in a feminine manner. What does feminine strength look like? It may look a lot like Mother Nature, nurturing, accepting, at times quiet, accommodating and supportive and at other times tempestuous, wild and seemingly chaotic. I am still learning and exploring what a truly powerful woman would look like but I know it involves love in fact fierce love, loving until it’s uncomfortable or unfashionable or unpopular. For men strength is presence and stability; for women it is love and fluidity. What would our world look like with strong leaders both men and women living to their full potential naturally and comfortably in their own skin? All it would take is a broader appreciation of power in both its masculine and feminine forms. It definitely would be worth a try.
Hold the Tomatoes
by Theresa Oswald, MD • November 21, 2009
I was talking with a friend about ways to deal with recurrent troubling thoughts. From years of experience with my own thoughts and many discussions with friends, it appears we all have thoughts that are unhelpful. If you are like me and have not found the off switch for the negative thought stream, here is an analogy that may be useful. Thoughts are like horsd’oeuvres. If you don’t like tomatoes, the bruschetta is not a problem if you don’t put it on your plate. The thoughts, like horsd’oeuvres being served at a party, will keep passing by but if they are not useful you can just leave them on the tray.
Albert Einstein
by Theresa Oswald, MD • November 21, 2009
“A human being is a part of the whole called by us “the universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest – a kind of optical illusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening the circle of understanding and compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
An Experiment
by Theresa Oswald, MD • November 11, 2009
There is so much debate about health care reform and much political posturing. The problem, from my viewpoint, is that the conceptual framework they are using for the basis of change is itself catastrophically broken. I am not really interested in health care reform.
I am interested in health care transformation. While healthcare reform seems like a daunting task of immense proportion; healthcare transformation involves each person evaluating their own health and reclaiming their body’s innate power to heal and to be healthy. Have we forgotten the immense power our bodies have to heal?
Our bodies know exactly what to do to mend our skin after a cut. Vast arrays of chemical reactions are occurring within us daily to keep our internal ecosystem in balance. When given the needed ingredients; fresh whole food, clean water, rest, shelter and a clear and calm mind, our bodies can do amazing feats to maintain balance and repair any damage.
How about an experiment of health care transformation where you are the captain of your own health care team, knowing we all come outfitted with all the needed equipment?
I feel Happiness Revolution in the air as we all are empowered to treat ourselves and our health with tender, loving care.
Buddha
by Theresa Oswald, MD • November 11, 2009
We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with a pure mind
And happiness will follow you
As your shadow, unshakable.
From the Dhammapada
Robert Frost
by Theresa Oswald, MD • November 11, 2009
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
from “The Road Not Taken”
Shakespeare
by Theresa Oswald, MD • November 11, 2009
“…for there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.”
(Hamlet Act 2, Scene 2)
