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Cape Cod Wellbeing, Hyannis, MA (2025)

09/15/2025

New research continues to confirm raw cacao’s potential benefits, highlighting its high antioxidant content, especially flavonoids, which support brain function, cardiovascular health, and may have anti-aging and anti-cancer properties. Consuming raw cacao may improve mood, boost energy due to compounds like theobromine, and provide essential minerals like magnesium and iron.
All chocolate comes from the seed pods the fruit of the South American cacao tree. Harvesters crack them open and take out the seeds—the cacao beans—that look a lot like large coffee beans. The beans are fermented and dried before they’re processed and how they are processed makes all the difference in their health benefits. Raw (or minimally processed) cacao beans are a SUPERFOOD that:
• Adds antioxidant effects
• Boosts your mood and cognitive performance
• Lowers blood pressure
• Protects your heart
• Regulates insulin levels. Once beans are dried and fermented, they are heated at a LOW temperature. The heat separates the fatty part of the bean from the rest.
Cocoa starts the same way, but it’s heated at HIGH temperature affecting the beans on a molecular level, changing their structure and degrading nutrient content. Dutch-processed cocoa powder uses additional processing with an alkalized chemical solution. Cocoa is cheaper than cacao and easier to find but often has added sugars, dairy products, artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup, or emulsifiers.
LESS processed cacao has more powerful antioxidant effects & health benefits. 100 grams of raw cacao powder has an ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) of 95,500, which represents antioxidant capacity. This drops to 62,100 for cacao nibs, and 26,000 for cocoa powder. Healthy hot chocolate recipe:
Healthy hot chocolate recipe:
*1 c almond or other milk of choice (NOT low fat or fat-free!)
*1 scoop unsweetened raw cacao powder (not cocoa powder which has been processed and lost most of its’ antioxidants)
*stevia or monkfruit to taste
*a pinch of Ceylon cinnamon
*options: vanilla or peppermint extract
1. In a small saucepan, whisk together milk and cacao powder vigorously until combined.
2. Heat over medium high heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally so milk doesn’t stick to the bottom.
3. Pour into mugs, add the sweetener (and flavor if you choose) and enjoy! ☕️

06/10/2025

For Healthy Summer Skin

Eat Real Food With Good Fats an anti-inflammatory diet with healthy saturated and monounsaturated fats from plant and animal sources and omega-3 fats from fish and avoid polyunsaturated fatty acids and high omega-6 vegetable oils. (Eat cold water fish, 🐟 no farm-raised fish, no corn, sunflower or “vegetable” oils. Use EVOO, grass-fed butter, ghee).

Eat Antioxidants Avoid grains and omega-6 oils, focus on proteins, fats, and vegetables and your diet will be high in antioxidants. Organic berries🫐, leafy greens, 🥬sweet potatoes, 🍠tomatoes, 🍅carrots 🥕and watermelon🍉 are packed with vitamin C, beta-carotene and lycopene that help protect your skin during sun exposure. Organic dark chocolate (70% +) 🍫is packed with antioxidants to help reduce inflammation and free radicals.

Take a Vitamin D supplement
Talk to your healthcare provider regarding strength. Moderate, safe sun exposure has the most benefits for vitamin D levels. Sunburn is never good! A hat 👒and long-sleeved shirt protect from excess sun exposure. 🌞Many clothing items now come with built-in UVA protection.

Drink Lots of Water 🚰to flush your system of toxins, keep your skin clean, deliver nutrients to skin cells, push out bacteria, reduce risk of acne, psoriasis and eczema💧. I recommend filtered water in a reusable non-plastic bottle. Eat foods with high water content: cucumbers🥒, tomatoes🍅, spinach, broccoli 🥦Brussel sprouts, oranges🍊, apples, 🍏🍎melons🍉, celery.
Make infused water to keep on hand: Lemon & lime-infused🍋🍋‍🟩 water fights infection, cleans your kidneys, reduces inflammation and prevent bloating. Cucumber🥒 water helps your skin & lowers blood pressure. (note: infuse overnight or for up to 12 hours. If you infuse for 4+ hours, remove the fruits from the water. store in the fridge for up to 3 days.)

P.S. Sugar is bad for your skin, creating AGEs (an apt acronym!) Advanced Glycation End products, harmful molecules that increase inflammation when sugar molecules bind to proteins like collagen and elastin, damaging them and leading to wrinkles, sagging, and other signs of premature aging.

03/12/2025

When you see “natural flavors” on an ingredient list, you probably think that’s a good thing But there’s no way to tell what that actually means—companies aren’t required to give any more detail. The legal definition states that natural flavors must be derived from vegetables, fruits, meats, herbs, and dairy products. But the interpretation is getting a little hinky. For instance, a new imitation vanilla is created as a by-product when genetically modified yeast eats sugar. Since it’s not derived from synthetic chemicals, it’s considered natural by law. But some companies, like Häagen-Dazs, have refused to use it. 🍦🍨Chemicals (in your food) need further explanation: all flavors contain chemicals, whether they are natural or artificial. In fact, every substance in the world, including water, is composed of chemicals. Any compounds that give foods their natural flavor are chemicals, and despite long complicated names, they can be harmless. Maple tastes like maple because of methyl cyclopentenolone. Cinnamon contains cinnamaldehyde and coconut, gamma-hexalactone. They’re names that would make you think twice if you saw them on an ingredient list—but they’re 100% natural. The good news is that if coconut is in a product, the label will say coconut not gamma-hexalactone. But still, pay attention to the complicated names on labels. Castoreum is a heavily scented brown or tan liquid that is secreted from a beaver’s castor gland, located super close to its a**l gland. 🦫Beavers use castoreum to communicate with each other about marking territory, establishing colonies, and deterring predators. Because it is very difficult and expensive to harvest, you won’t usually find it in your food, but it is often used perfumes to add sweet, fruity scents to products. Now I know why I never liked fruity perfume products!
There are hundreds of natural flavors created by food chemists. Here are a few that are commonly found in foods and beverages:

Amyl acetate: distilled from bananas to provide banana-like flavor in baked goods.

Citral (aka geranial): obtained from lemongrass, lemon, orange, and pimento and used in citrus-flavored beverages and sweets.

Benzaldehyde: extracted from almonds, cinnamon oil, and other ingredients and often used to give foods an almond flavor and aroma.

Linden ether: honey flavor
Massoia lactone: coconut flavor
Acetoin: butter flavor

My advice: avoid “natural flavors” as best you can since you don’t know what you’re getting. Buy products that have 5 ingredients or less and are as close to their natural state (i.e. less processed) as possible. I will address added preservatives in a future post.

12/12/2024

I have focused on 3 things since I began health coaching in 2013: balancing omega 6️⃣/omega 3️⃣ for anti-inflammation, creating a healthy gut and lowering sugar. (I later added intermittent fasting and incorporate the original three). CNN just reported that increased rate of colorectal cancer in younger people is most likely due to an overabundance of certain omega-6 fatty acids — from ultraprocessed foods in our diet — that may hinder the anti-inflammatory and tumor-fighting properties of another essential fatty acid, omega-3. The key is to INCREASE your intake of 3️⃣ and DECREASE your intake of 6️⃣ which are usually found in seed oils and used in almost every processed food. https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/11/health/colon-cancer-omega-6-ultraprocessed-food-wellness/index.html?utm_source=cnn_Evening+Newsletter+-+Wednesday%2C+December+11+2024&utm_medium=email&bt_ee=jp%2B6W29u37AP7E2QFmGyK254zGjuA%2FAND8UWhMDqE1dUSnaS57etDGimuEPq5Df%2B&bt_ts=1733957742888

11/04/2024

As we head into the danger zone of “the holiday season” 🥮🥧🍪 I am grateful that Intermittent Fasting (IF) has changed my relationship with food. Prior to starting IF, I was either eating or thinking about eating. Oh, I still think about food, but now I savor the wait and plan how I am going to make the best of my two meals (and small snack) a day. My relationship with food has changed, I am in control, and it feels good.
To recap: 3 years ago, I was feeling unhealthy and very overweight. Over the next year I lost 35 pounds and got to my goal weight of 150. As of today, 1033 fasts, (an app helps me keep track) I have varied between 13 hours (but ONLY when I am traveling AND have social obligations that involve late dinner) and 20 hours. Mostly I fall into the 16–19-hour realm. I have only done two 24-hour fasts, though I should do more.
My weight has fluctuated within 5 pounds. I weigh myself every day so that the gain doesn’t get out of hand. When I am up 4 or 5 pounds, I lower carb intake for a few days and start clean fasting. Because I have been on maintenance, I “dirty” fast which means I have half and half in my coffee. Clean fasting means nothing but plain tea, black coffee, and water during the non-food hours.
I make sure to break my fast with mostly protein and fat. 🥑🥚In the mornings, I rarely eat straight carbohydrates like toast, pastries or cereal. The standard American breakfast is loaded with carbs and sugar. This is a completely enjoyable and doable lifestyle for me. IF is not for everyone, but it can really work for some. It helped lower my cholesterol levels and improve my liver functions. I was headed toward non-alcoholic fatty liver disease from the fat built up in and around my liver. Eek!
I love helping people get healthier! Along with IF, I help people lower sugar, eat anti-inflammatorily and obtain and keep a healthy gut microbiome. It all dovetails very nicely.

09/08/2024

All chocolate begins at the same source: seed pods—actually a fruit—from the South American cacao tree. Harvesters crack them open and take out the seeds—cacao beans—that look a lot like large coffee beans. You can eat cacao beans raw, but they are very bitter, so are fermented and dried before they’re processed. How they are processed makes all the difference in their health benefits. Raw (or minimally processed) cacao beans are a superfood that:

• Adds antioxidant effects.
• Boosts your mood and cognitive performance.
• Lowers blood pressure.
• Protects your heart.
• Regulates insulin levels
Once beans are dried and fermented, they are heated at a low temperature. The heat separates the fatty part (the cocoa butter) of the bean from the rest (the nibs), a key part of the process.

Cocoa starts the same way, but it’s heated at higher temperatures that affect the beans on a molecular level, changing their structure and degrading nutrient content. Dutch-processed cocoa powder uses additional processing with an alkalized chemical solution. Cocoa is cheaper than cacao and easier to find but often has added sugars, dairy products, artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup, or emulsifiers – “fillers” that boost flavor and lower costs.

The upshot: less processed cacao has more powerful antioxidant effects and health benefits. 100 grams of raw cacao powder has an ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) of 95,500, which represents antioxidant capacity. This drops to 62,100 for cacao nibs, and 26,000 for cocoa powder.
For the very best benefits, eat organic chocolate that is at least 70% cacao…the higher the better!

07/25/2024

I continually read to learn more about how to keep myself and my clients healthy. This book, which I just reread after a number of years, has reawakened me to the dark side of wheat. I am aware that most of the wheat in the US is GMO, so I buy organic bread and flour etc. BUT had missed that wheat has a higher glycemic index (GI) than sugar. The glycemic index (GI) is a scale that ranks a carbohydrate-containing food or drink by how much it raises blood sugar levels after it is eaten or drunk. Foods with a high GI increase blood sugar higher and faster than foods with a low GI. Pure glucose has been randomly awarded 100…all other foods are relative to that.A slice of “healthy”whole wheat bread🍞 has a GI of 71 about the same as white bread, while a T of white table sugar (which is 50/50 glucose/fructose 🥄is around 65! I tell my clients “it’s all about the sugar”: the amount of glucose, the rise in insulin, the extra glucose stored in your liver as glycogen (which can result in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease), muscles and FAT cells.
There is ALSO the Glycemic Load. It’s calculated by multiplying the amount of carbohydrates in a food by its glycemic index (GI), and then dividing by 100. It’s a measure of how quickly the carbohydrates are metabolized and enter the bloodstream. We always want to slow down the glycemic load so that we don’t get big sugar spikes and valleys…for instance a pizza slice 🍕has a GI of around 18-20 (fat and protein slows down the spike). And fiber too!
It’s actually a bit confusing!🤯
A food’s glycemic index (GI) can be readily found in a GI chart by googling, the amount of carbohydrates in a serving are on the package or, again, by googling. There isn’t a chart for GL since serving sizes and brands vary widely.

07/16/2024

The radish, which probably originated in China, belongs to the cruciferous family, along with broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale and mustard. Radishes come in many colors and shapes:
Black: black skin, white flesh, and a strong flavor.
Daikon: large, spherical, oblong, or cylindrical with white, pink, or purple flesh, rich in folate and magnesium.
Green: cylindrical, green, refreshing.
Red: round with red skin and white flesh. The most common type. Research has found that radishes provide several types of antioxidants, to help reduce inflammation and protect cells against damage, in the edible root, sprouts, seeds, and leaves. Sulfur-containing elements can reduce inflammation, protect cells against cancer-causing agents, and interfere with the growth of cancer cells.

Compounds in radishes have also shown antibacterial activity and some evidence exists that this protects against the bacterium Hpylori, which may cause ulcers and stomach cancer. Research has also found that radishes help enhance the body’s antioxidant response and may positively impact changes in blood glucose levels by reducing glucose absorption in the gut and promoting glucose uptake.
One cup of raw radishes provides magnesium (nerve and muscle function) , potassium (bone, heart, and muscle health) and vitamin C (helps wound healing and protects cells from free radicals); and:

Calories: 18.4
Fat: 0.115 g
Sodium: 44.8 milligrams (mg)
Carbohydrates: 3.91 g
Fiber: 1.84 g
Added sugars: 0 g
Protein: 0.782 g

Caution: Too many may result in a drop in blood sugar, if you are on diabetes medication, monitor carefully. They are high in fiber so may cause bloating and gas. My radish salad recipe in comments.

07/16/2024

The radish, which probably originated in China, belongs to the cruciferous family, along with broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale and mustard. Radishes come in many colors and shapes:
Black: black skin, white flesh, and a strong flavor.
Daikon: large, spherical, oblong, or cylindrical with white, pink, or purple flesh, rich in folate and magnesium.
Green: cylindrical, green, refreshing.
Red: round with red skin and white flesh. The most common type.

Research has found that radishes provide several types of antioxidants, to help reduce inflammation and protect cells against damage, in the edible root, sprouts, seeds, and leaves. Sulfur-containing elements can reduce inflammation, protect cells against cancer-causing agents, and interfere with the growth of cancer cells.

Compounds in radishes have also shown antibacterial activity and some evidence exists that this protects against the bacterium Hpylori, which may cause ulcers and stomach cancer. Research has also found that radishes help enhance the body's antioxidant response and may positively impact changes in blood glucose levels by reducing glucose absorption in the gut and promoting glucose uptake.

One cup of raw radishes provides magnesium (nerve and muscle function) , potassium (bone, heart, and muscle health) and vitamin C (helps wound healing and protects cells from free radicals); and:

Calories: 18.4
Fat: 0.115 g
Sodium: 44.8 milligrams (mg)
Carbohydrates: 3.91 g
Fiber: 1.84 g
Added sugars: 0 g
Protein: 0.782 g

Caution: Too many may result in a drop in blood sugar so if you are on diabetes medication, monitor carefully. They are high in fiber so may cause bloating and gas in some.

Look for firm radishes with bright green tops from your farmer's market or grocery store. Radishes stay longer in the fridge if you remove the greens, which are also edible. Enjoy this crisp, little vegetable many ways: roast, grill, or sauté, use them raw in salads and sandwiches or to dip in tahini.

My own colorful radish salad recipe (amounts are flexible, depending upon your tastes):
In a food processor combine: 1 C radishes (tops and bottoms removed, cut in half if too large), 2 carrots, half a red onion, half C sliced red, yellow and/or orange peppers, 2 stalks celery (4 inch pieces), chop until all same size. In a bowl combine the veggies with salt & pepper to taste, 2 T mayonnaise. That’s it! I also chop in some dill pickle which helps make it a great summer salad.

06/13/2024

So wonderful to hear read from and discuss her new book “Wait” … I just started the book and am enjoying it immensely. Her first book (It is Wood, It is Stone) was terrific. This one is wildly different and about growing up on Nantucket. Proud of our hometown girl! ♥️📚👏🏼

05/20/2024

For 20 years, the 12 most contaminated types of produce (showing up in 95% of testing) have been named the “Dirty Dozen” by the Environmental Working Group (EWG). This means you should buy these 12 items organically as much as possible. This is 2024: strawberries, 🍓spinach 🥬kale collard and mustard greens🥬 grapes 🍇 peaches 🍑 pears🍐nectarines🍑 apples, 🍎🍏bell 🫑and hot 🌶️peppers, cherries🍒 blueberries🫐 and green beans tested in the US contained detectable levels of pesticides. Fungicides, used to kill diseases like powdery mildew post-harvest, were on 80%.

Pesticides have been linked in studies to congenital malformations, miscarriages, cancer, heart disease, and increased genetic damage. Farmworkers exposed to pesticides are at highest risk(a 2022 meta-a**lysis found they had a 5x greater risk for DNA damage). Another showed children exposed at an early age showed poorer neurodevelopment from infancy to adolescence. About 70% of nonorganic produce tested by the USDA and FDA have pesticide levels within the “legal” limits allowed by the EPA, however, “legal” may not mean safe! Many of the pesticides on the dirty dozen have been banned in the EU for years. Organic produce is not necessarily more nutritious, but studies have found that levels of pesticides in the urine of adults and children can drop up to 95% after a switch to an organic diet.

“No washing method is 100% effective for removing all pesticide residues,” said the National Pesticide Information Center. They recommend starting with clean hands, wash and rub produce under running water (no detergent) to remove most pesticides, dry with clean cloth.
Happily, there is also a “Clean 15”- Avocados🥑sweet corn🌽pineapples🍍onions 🧅papayas🥭frozen sweet peas🫛asparagus, honeydew melons, kiwis🥝, cabbage, watermelons, mushrooms🍄‍🟫, mangoes, sweet potatoes🍠, and carrots🥕) of conventionally grown produce with the least amount of trace pesticides.
For more details see https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/19/health/dirty-dozen-produce-pesticides-2024-wellness/index.html

03/24/2024

A tale of 2 Worcestershire sauces: read your labels! The one on the left has HFCS, sugar, caramel color, hydrolyzed soy protein and “natural flavors” Which could be anything! On the right: organic ingredients including organic sugar, Organic caramel color…xanthan gum (a thickener made from fermented sugars.) Not perfect, but much better!

Cape Cod Wellbeing

09/15/2025

06/10/2025

03/12/2025

12/12/2024

11/04/2024

09/08/2024

07/25/2024

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