Hu Kitchen

Hu stands for Human, as in their logo, 'get back to human' and their food philosophy is paleo. My diet is paleo, minus the fruit, so of course, I love this place! But Hu Kitchen is so much more! It's fresh food is farm to people and it also has shelves stocked with paleo friendly food. If you aren't familiar with the paleo diet, just know that it is gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free, soy-free goodness! You also won't find any GMOs in this place.



What I love most is Hu Chocolate and instead of telling you what is in it, Hu tells you what is NOT in their chocolate. No refined sugar, soy lecithin, gluten, emulsifiers, GMO or cane sugar. They use coconut sugar as the sweetener which is paleo friendly. I suggest Hu chocolate so often to my patients as a healthier alternative that I can't believe it took me this long to get them in the office for patients' convenience. We are now selling them in the office for $5 a bar and we carry a variety. You can also make your own chocolate using honey with this recipe. For more info on how healthy cocoa is for you, read this article.

Bad news: there is only one Hu Kitchen, at 14th St and 5th Ave.
78 5TH AVENUE NEW YORK, NY 10011
to be exact.

Good news: you can buy their chocolate at the office!

Holiday Cheer, Not Fear

This blog was inspired by the need for my patients to have a special holiday plan during the month of December so they stay on track with their nutritional recommendations and not fear the holiday season with all the extra sweets around. The holiday season is the hardest time of the year to stay on track with holiday parties, extra holiday treats at the office, and the holiday desserts we think we must have when we celebrate. We justify one cheat that throughout the month turns into a month of cheating and weight gain. With a little extra thoughtfulness both can be avoided.

1) Have snacks around

You never know when your coworkers are going to bring in something to the office that looks irresistible and you know you shouldn't have it. Worse yet, when you are starving and so will power takes a back seat. Or if your spouse brings home leftovers. It's best to have snacks around at the office or home that are part of your diet and you enjoy. This way you have a back up plan so when you are hungry you don't reach for whatever is around or when there is something hard to resist you have a better chance of resisting it with a replacement option.

2) Plan ahead

Besides planning snacks ahead of time it is a good idea when going to any holiday gathering where there is going to be food you bring your own dish. It always looks thoughtful for you to bring something and this way you know there is going to be at least one thing there that you can eat. This also brings the temptation down to cheat.  You can also eat before going to a party.  Being full creates less temptation at the party.

3) Be creative

We all have childhood memories around the holidays of having special treats. Whether it was a certain cookie, pie, or main dish the emotional connection makes it extra hard to resist so the best thing to do is if it has ingredients that you aren't supposed to have to again plan ahead and find a recipe that does work. There are so many alternative healthy recipes at the click of a button when you Google. Substitute apple sauce for eggs, coconut sugar for white refined sugar, and almond flour for regular flour. You don't have to figure it out yourself just Google a healthier recipe. And if you have any questions about a new recipe feel free to ask me! You can still have your favorite holiday treat, just a healthier version.

With these three steps the holidays can actually be more enjoyable because you aren't feeling the aftermath of eating poorly or the weight gain either. Enjoy the season, for health is wealth!

Miracles of Coconut Oil

Over the last year there has been a surge of new coconut products - coconut sugar, coconut butter, coconut water, etc. I highly recommend these products to my patients as healthy alternatives to white refined sugar, margarine or fruit juices. A few weeks ago I blogged about the benefits of oil pulling and after sesame seed oil the next best oil to use is coconut oil and I wanted to take the time now to talk more about how much one can benefit from adding more coconut oil into their diet.

The health benefits of coconut oil include hair care, skin care, stress relief, cholesterol level maintenance, weight loss, boosted immune system, proper digestion and regulated metabolism. It also provides relief from kidney problems, heart diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, HIV, and cancer, while helping to improve dental quality and bone strength. These benefits of oil can be attributed to the presence of lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid, and their respective properties, such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-fungal, antibacterial and soothing qualities.

Hair care:
Coconut oil is one of the best natural nutrients for your hair. It helps in healthy growth of hair and gives your hair a shiny quality. It also provides the essential proteins required for nourishing and healing damaged hair. By regularly massaging your head with coconut oil, you can ensure that your scalp is free of dandruff, even if your scalp is chronically dry. It also helps in keeping your hair and scalp free from lice and lice eggs.

Heart diseases:
There is a misconception spread among many people that coconut oil is not good for heart health. This is because it contains a large quantity of saturated fats. In reality, coconut oil is beneficial for the heart. It contains about 50% lauric acid, which helps in actively preventing various heart problems like high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure. The saturated fats present in coconut oil are not harmful as you commonly find in vegetable oils. Coconut oil does not lead to increase in LDL levels, and it reduces the incidence of injury and damage to arteries and therefore helps in preventing atherosclerosis.

Digestion:
A tablespoon taken before each meal can help improve digestion. It can also be taken in warm ginger tea to sooth heartburn or nausea.

Skin care:
Coconut oil is an excellent massage oil for the skin. It acts as an effective moisturizer on all types of skin and has a natural SPF 4. It also delays the appearance of wrinkles and sagging of skin which normally accompany aging. It makes for a great after-shave lotion. Coconut oil also helps in treating various skin problems including psoriasis, dermatitis, eczema and other skin infections. It can relieve the pain of hemorrhoids when used topically. When put on cuticles it helps nails grow and also makes a great eye-makeup remover!

Weight loss:
Coconut oil is very useful for weight loss. It contains short and medium-chain fatty acids that help in taking off excessive weight. It is also easy to digest and it helps in healthy functioning of the thyroid and endocrine system. Further, it increases the body’s metabolic rate by removing stress on the pancreas, thereby burning more energy and helping obese and overweight people lose the weight.

Immunity:
Coconut oil is also good for the immune system. It strengthens the immune system because it contains antimicrobial lipids, lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid which have antifungal, antibacterial and antiviral properties. A tablespoon melted into a cup of warm tea can help sooth a sore throat.

Candida:
Coconut oil has been shown to prevent and even cure candida. It provides relief from the inflammation caused by candida, both externally and internally. Its high moisture retaining capacity keeps the skin from cracking or peeling off. Further, unlike other pharmaceutical treatments for candida, the effects of coconut oil is gradual and not drastic or sudden, which gives the body an appropriate amount of time to slowly kill the fungi and prevent adverse symptoms that can occur when killing the fungi too fast. Adverse symptoms of treating candida to aggressively is known as a die-off reaction. But, in the treatment of this condition, people should systematically and gradually increase their internal dosages of coconut oil and shouldn’t initially start with a large quantity. When having a yeast infection you can soak a tampon in coconut oil and insert it overnight for topic treatment.

Purpose————–Preferable Type to Buy

Cooking————–Refined Coconut Oil

Weight Loss———Virgin Coconut Oil

As a Carrier Oil—–Virgin Coconut Oil

Good Health———Virgin Coconut Oil, Organic Coconut Oil

Massaging———–Pure Coconut Oil, Refined Coconut Oil

Hair——————–Pure Coconut Oil, Refined Coconut Oil

Medicinal uses—–Virgin Coconut Oil, Virgin Organic Coconut Oil

For more information read "The Coconut Oil Miracle" by Bruce Fife

Juice Press is a Must

After many weeks of saying, 'I should check out Juice Press' I finally went this last Saturday. One of their locations being only 10 blocks from my office (1050 Third Ave. at 62nd St.) a friend and I took a stroll and loved what we discovered.

There was an assortment of choices for juices and one could easily get overwhelmed but Juice Press does a good job of labeling to make it as easy as possible. Green labels were used for super green drinks, blue labels were used for green drinks with fruit or starchy vegetables and orange labels were used for fruit drinks. Actual ingredients are listed for all products so you know exactly what is in it, no guessing necessary! My friend has been before to the 239 Columbus Ave. at 71st St. and was looking forward to his 'Horny Gorilla' juice but they don't make that one at this location, so something to keep in mind. Instead he got the 'Lait de Coconut' which even though on the expensive side of the average juice price at $13, tasted like coconut candy. All it is is coconut water blended with coconut meat but it's so rich and creamy. Now remember, all my patients out there that have to stay off of fruit, coconut is a nut, not a fruit, so if you are in the mood for something sweet I highly recommend it!

Besides all the juices, they have smoothies and I decided to get 'D-tox Super Smoothie'. It was $10 and was so rich it could have been a meal for me. I loved the consistency for it was as thick as an actual milkshake and stayed that consistency the whole time I was drinking it. Ingredients were coconut water, acai berry, avocado, cashew, agave, coconut meat, cacao powder, coconut oil, vanilla and mint. It wasn't too sweet which I liked and the taste reminded me of carob. It wasn't minty at all and if I did not read the ingredients list I would not have known there was any mint in it.

My friend and I decided to share the 'Sin-o-Bun' which at $9 is about a $1 a bite. Expensive as it was I thought it was well worth it. It was soooo delicious, tasted like a sweet cinnamon roll (not the same texture), and the raw dessert was made of buckwheat, date, golden flax, cinnamon, vanilla with an icing of Irish moss, coconut, coconut sugar and vanilla.

Ambiance was pleasant. They played a mix of music from Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" to Frank Sinatra's "Polk-a-dots and Moonbeams". At the time we went it was not busy and we waited 4 minutes for my smoothie, so just a FYI for New Yorkers on the go. Unfortunately everything they sell comes in plastic so bring your stainless steel straw with you when you go. My smoothie did come in a Greenware cup which is made from plants, not petroleum and will compost in a commercial facility in 50 days. So kudos to Juice Press for being environmentally aware!

Juice Press does advertise a juice cleanse (6 juices a day) so if your in the mood you may want to check it out on their website. And if you decide to go to the one on Third Ave. and feel like eating out Anassa Taverna is a delicious Mediterranean restaurant at 200 E. 60th St. at Third Ave.

I am lucky that Juice Press has a location in Williamsburg at 144 N. 8th St., 7 blocks away from my Brooklyn office. I'll have to check out their lunches next!