Steinmetz Center for Integrative Medicine

Turmeric: The Spice of Life

caringdoc — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 06:30:14 +0000

Turmeric, the bold yellow-orange spice that adds color to your curry, has been a staple of Indian cuisine for millennia. Long used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine, we are now confirming in the laboratory the many health benefits of this member of the ginger family. Turmeric and one of its components curcumin have anti-inflammatory properties and help relieve the joint pain of arthritis. It packs a wallop of anti-oxidants and helps scavenge the free radicals that lead to oxidative stress and inflammation. And it can help preserve memory and cognitive function. Epidemiologists propose that the reason people in India aged 70-79 [...]

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Increasing Fiber

caringdoc — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 06:30:10 +0000

Fiber is the portion of plants that we cannot digest or absorb in our gastrointestinal tracts. Most fiber stays within the intestine where it modulates digestion of other foods and affects the consistency of stool. There are two types of fiber, each of which is thought to have its own benefits: soluble fiber consists of a group of substances that is made of carbohydrates and dissolves in water. Examples of foods that contain soluble fiber include fruits, oats, barley, and legumes (peas and beans). Insoluble fiber comes from plant cells walls and does not dissolve in water. Examples of foods [...]

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Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare

Steinmetz Center for Integrative Medicine — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:38:50 +0000

In October 2012, a documentary called “Escape Fire” made its debut. This is a must see for anyone interested in health care and especially health care reform. The movie starts out with a dedicated young family doctor who wants to care for her patients. It shows her frustration with the system and how she goes out to find a better way to practice. There is a great discussion by Dr. Andrew Weil about health care and his fellowship program at the University of Arizona. I was especially interested in this since I am a current fellow in the program. Watch [...]

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Healthy Stress-Free Holidays

Marie Steinmetz, MD, DABFM — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 21:21:37 +0000

by Marie Steinmetz, MD, DABFM How do you approach the holidays? With dread? With excitement? Are you exhausted by New Year’s Eve? These are steps you can take to have a healthy, stress-free holiday season. Start with nutrition Practice mindful eating before the holiday starts. This means eat slowly and appreciate the taste and texture of each bite. Make mindfulness eating one of your New Year’s resolutions. Make vegetables the first part of every meal. In restaurants, look at the menu before you go and look for healthy vegetable choices. If you are at a buffet, fill half your plate [...]

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Glycemic Index- Why is this important?

Jennifer Lee, DO, MPH, DABFM — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 21:20:30 +0000

By Jennifer Lee, DO, MPH Glycemic Index is one way that we can assess how our bodies are processing the sugars in the foods we eat. A high glycemic index food is like getting sugar at higher bursts like getting lots of water from a water hose. A low glycemic index food is like getting sugar as you can handle it, like taking sips from a sippy cup. For example, a 100-calorie snack can have a low or a high glycemic index, but each snack provides 100 calories. Your body reacts to each 100-calorie snack differently because the speed at [...]

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Health Screening: The New Basics

Rosemarie D. Rose, MD, DABFM — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 21:18:09 +0000

by Rosemarie Rose, MD, DABFM When you visit Steinmetz Medical Associates for a physical or specific issue, we may recommend some basic tests that you may not have had before. Although some of these tests aren’t part of standard recommendations for health screening, we have found many of our patients have undiscovered deficiencies. When these are treated, many conditions improve or resolve. Vitamin D is involved in over 3000 chemical reactions in our bodies that are necessary for normal function. Vitamin D affects bone health and can be a factor in fatigue, mood, insulin metabolism, protection against cancers, and many [...]

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Lower Your Blood Sugar Naturally

Jeanne Willis Shiffman, MD, DABFM, NCMP — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 21:17:04 +0000

by Jeanne Shiffman, MD, DABFM, NCMP Is your blood sugar too high? Did your labs reveal that it was above the normal range but not yet diabetes? Or maybe you were told you had pre-diabetes or metabolic syndrome? Or maybe you know you have diabetes but are trying to keep the number of prescription medicines down? If any of these sounds like you, then I would first encourage you to set up an appointment with one of our nutritionists! Changes to your diet can make a big difference, and Cheryl and Katherine can help you with that. But we do [...]

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Eggs: Not Just for Breakfast – But for Lunch and Dinner

Steinmetz Center for Integrative Medicine — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 19:41:33 +0000

Our nutritionist Katherine Sumner was on FOX5 DC at the Drafting House on November 11, 2012 to discuss the nutritional benefits of including eggs in your diet. There’s one eatery in town where the staff is so crazy about eggs, they’ve offered to put one on every dish on their menu. And not just for breakfast, but also lunch and dinner! ”Drafting Table” is one of the latest gastro-pub’s to hit the local dining scene. Watch the video of Katherine below, or visit the FOX 5 website.

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Nutrition: The Key to Preventing and Curing Chronic Diseases

Marie Steinmetz, MD, DABFM — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 16:13:44 +0000

My column usually discusses integrative approaches to various diseases but I want this month to take a serious look at the most common issue causing our chronic and sometimes acute illnesses. This is our diet. This includes what we are taking in as well as what we are not taking in. Did you know we could prevent 40% of cancers with diet alone? Imagine if we had a drug that could do that – everyone would be taking it! Take a minute to look in your pantry or refrigerator. Are there sodas? Artificially sweetened beverages? Fried food? What about greens? [...]

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For Better Sleep, Tone Down Three Types of Noise

Marie Steinmetz, MD, DABFM — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 21:28:45 +0000

by Marie Steinmetz, MD, DABFM Sleep is important. If you get too little sleep too often, you raise your risk of high blood pressure, heart failure, depression, stroke and irregular heart rhythms. But getting good sleep can be challenging. Chronic insomnia affects 15 percent of adults, and more than half of us – 60 percent – have trouble sleeping at least some of the time. One major culprit preventing good sleep is noise. But many people don’t know there are actually three kinds of noise that can interfere with sleep, each needing a different approach to eliminate. “Noise” doesn’t just [...]

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