Photo by John1710.

If you’ve read this you might want to go vegetarian. We are what we eat so how about the animals we eat?

When cattle is raised on grains and pumped full of antibiotics, it changes the overall health of the animals, obviously. Because cows were designed to chew the cud (grass!) grain-fed cattle have much more disease, which large farms treat with antibiotics. The animal fat in cattle develops into the artery clogging, saturated fats. On the other hand, when gorging themselves on a a natural diet of fresh grass, cattle have a much higher ratio of essential fatty acids, like omega 3′s, making a burger or steak almost equal in healthy fats to a piece of salmon or cod. All those colorful blades of grass also increase the amount of healthy and cardiovascular protecting carotenoids like beta-carotene. For me, the choice is clear.

You’ve heard that salmon is good for your heart. Degradation of those benefits occurs when salmon, like feed-lot raised cattle, are farm-raised. Why? In these pens, salmon are fed the equivalent of grain diet. The grains, like in cattle, change the good fat, bad fat ratio to the bad side of the spectrum. Farm raised salmon also has very low amounts of those anti-oxidant pigments making their flesh so gray and discolored that food coloring is added to the feed. In addition any toxins like dioxins and PCBs that are in these grain diets, accumulate in the fish, making them sometimes much more dangerous to your health than tuna.

All this makes shopping for beef and salmon much more complicated. Here are my tips:

• Make sure the beef you buy is not only grass-fed but also grass-finished. The label grass fed means very little health-wise if the rancher sends the cattle to the feed-lot to finish and fatten them up before selling them.

• Make sure you salmon is labeled wild salmon and if being sold fresh, that it’s in season. Wild salmon is caught between May and October. If you see fresh salmon for sale in December, it probably isn’t wild. If it’s not labeled wild you should assume it’s farmed. Look for the designation.

Dr. Gibran Ramos completed his six year training and internship in Naturopathic and Chinese Medicine at National College of Natural Medicine. Dr. Ramos helps patients transform their lives and optimize their well-being at a private practice in Portland, Oregon.

photo by smellyknee.

When I think of Halloween, I get a flash of orange in my mind’s eye: Pumpkin! Native American Indians have long treasured this dietary staple for its nutritional and medicinal qualities. These days pumpkin is a culinary cornerstone, with strong associations of falling leaves, harvest and celebration.

Did you know that the pumpkin you thoughtfully selected and placed on your doorstep is bursting with nutrients including carotenoids, lutein zeaxanthin, iron, zinc, and fiber?

Carotenoids give pumpkin its orange color. They are potent antioxidants which the body converts to vitamin A. Carotenoids boost the immune system, fight free radical damage, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Lutein and Zeaxanthin are carotenoids but don’t convert to vitamin A. They are the only carotenoids found in the retina and the lens of the eye. They help to prevent cataracts and age related macular degeneration.

Carotenoids are best absorbed along with fat in your meal, so don’t be afraid to use a little butter, olive, or coconut oil in your pumpkin pie or pumpkin soup!

And we shouldn’t forget the crispy and delicious seeds–they’re not just for birds. Seeds are nature’s powerfood- tightly packaged in a safe encasing, ready to burst into life at any moment!

Pumpkin seeds are high in beneficial essential fatty acids, phytosterols, zinc, manganese, magnesium, iron, copper, protein and much more. Some of the health benefits include:

• promoting prostate health
• reducing inflammation
• lowering LDL cholesterol
• reducing the risk of heart disease
• reducing the risk of cancer

When you’re done creating your masterpiece Jack O’Lantern, don’t throw out the meat or the seeds. Save them for a delicious soup or pie and you’ll get just the boost you need for the chilly winter days that lie ahead.

Here are some great recipes:

Photo by clayirving.

We can all agree there’s nothing quite like a ripe heirloom tomato with a little sprinkling of salt. Tomatoes are one of my favorite foods to cook because they’re super versatile. Tomatoes didn’t make it to Italy till the 16th century. They originally came from Mexico and South America. Can you even imagine Italian food without tomatoes?

Tomatoes are very high in vitamin C and A, but their biggest health claim is actually lycopene, a potent antioxidant in the carotenoid family. Other foods high in lycopene are watermelon, pink guava and papaya.

Here are some of the benefits of lycopene:

• Cancer protective particularly prostate and colorectal
• Powerful antioxidant particularly effective against the oxidative damage from sun exposure (and therefore skin aging)

Lycopene is much higher (up to 5x) in organic varieties. GMO tomatoes can have arctic flounder genes to increase their durability under cold conditions. 

Tomatoes belong to the nightshade plant family along with potatoes, eggplant, chili peppers, bell peppers and the namesake of the family, the deadly nightshade or belladonna. This delicious family does have one downside in that they have alkaloids which can be inflammatory. The ones in deadly nightshade will kill you. Very, very quickly. I often suggest to people with inflammatory conditions that they minimize or eliminate these foods for a period of time. This lowers the inflammatory burden on the body and helps get out of the inflammatory cycle.

At first, the Italians were wary to take up the use of tomatoes at first because of its membership in the nightshade family. But thankfully for all of us, they got past that.

My favorite heirloom tomato: Purple Cherokee. Yours?

Dr. Nishant Rao is a co-founder of WellWire.com. He is a well-traveled naturopathic doctor and new father, practicing an integrative approach to create wellness in and around Los Angeles. Become a patient or discover his practice.

Photo by vivain.

Slippery Elm Syrup and Throat Coat Tea are two prepared products to take with you on the go to help moisten dryness and assist in healing tissue.

The Immunity in Your Gut: Probiotics

Most are surprised to learn that approximately ¾ of your immune function takes place within the digestive system! Beneficial bacteria when properly maintained are one of the body’s strongest lines of defense. Therapeutic levels can be achieved with a high quality refrigerated probiotic supplement.  If you’re allergic to dairy, several non-dairy forms are available.

Christine M. Dionese L.Ac. specializes in integrative medicine, medical journalism and was the VP of marketing at WellWire LLC. Visit her wellness and lifestyle blog, Reaching Beyond Now.