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JULY 2019 // TAMMUZ 5779 // ISSUE 42
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Dr. Chayala Englard on scar tissue treatment
Is this food group the monster it’s made out to be? Laura Shammah on the truth about carbs
On vacation Why do I miss my job? // Heart to Heart
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From the Editor shiffy@wellspringmagazine.com
Summer Project: Nurture Yourself “Help me gain weight,” a reader wrote to Shani Taub, of our “Ask the Nutritionist” column.
While the majority of the population can’t relate to this challenge, which Shani addresses in this issue, for those who can, the struggle of weight gain is very real. If you’re from the other camp, you may be thinking, “If only that were my issue.” Although it may appear the better option of the two problems, an inability to sustain weight gain may not only stem from various serious health issues, but it can also result in a wide range of health complications. While for one person, making sure to supply the body with foods that are especially abundant in healthy fats is her form of self-care, for someone else, the prescription for healthy living may be something else entirely. The technical details of how we take care of ourselves are less important than the underlying intention, which should be the same for all of us: I’m doing this because I care about the special, unique individual that I am. I’m doing it because I want to live the best, most fulfilling life.
Over the past few years, at this time of year, we’ve presented a special summer project as our main feature. The project provided you readers with a fun activity to engage in during summer downtime, when some of us have more leisure hours. We covered fermenting vegetables — and we loved getting the photos and feedback from many of you who fermented your own pickles! — and ideas for initiating a healthy lifestyle changeover in the home.
8 Wellspring | July 2019
As we were working on compiling this summer edition of Wellspring, it occurred to me that perhaps this summer’s project could be something more inward-focused. It’s for all of you out there who say, “Okay, so I’m already leading a relatively healthy lifestyle. I have my ups and downs, but I have a basic idea of which foods are good for me and my family,” as well as for those of you who don’t. In this issue’s "Wellbeing," we cover a topic that may feel very foreign to you — or which you may find quite familiar. Wherever you fall on that spectrum, the final takeaway is relevant to all: Taking care of your inner world is the prerequisite to all good things in life.
Often, our efforts toward physical self-care are a reflection of how much of a priority our wellbeing is to us. As Dr. Chayala Englard, already renowned amongst our readers for her breadth of knowledge and expertise in women’s health issues, writes in this issue’s cover feature on scar tissue, taking care of wounds that remain from giving birth, or from any other procedure, may take work and consistence, but it plays an important role in healing. The same is true when we happily say no to junk food and feed our body with meals that provide nourishment and energy. But then there’s emotional and spiritual self-care, which reflects on an entirely new level of dedication toward not only the body Hashem gave us, but also the neshamah that we thank Him for each and every morning. When we take care of our nefesh, when we make time to hear her krechtz, we’re doing the ultimate chessed. We’re giving to the soul in a way that only we can. As this issue’s “Torah
Wellspring” explores, it’s the Torah that teaches us that giving to ourselves, allowing ourselves the time and attention to delve into our own inner world, is the precursor not only to happiness, but also to being able to give to others.
One woman I’m working with, in the capacity of emotional coaching, is a single mother of young children. A few sessions ago, I asked her how she’s doing with suppers. Does she cook, buy takeout, rely on tuna sandwiches? It turns out that she's barely ever cooked herself a hot meal. Last week, when she came to me, she looked happy. “I want to share my progress with you,” she said. “I bought myself a really good pot. And I had a delicious vegetable stew for dinner last night.” What she did may seem technical, but it's very telling of the emotional progress she’s been making, baruch Hashem. Inspired by this woman’s initiative to give to herself from a good place, when my husband was recently out of the country for a family simchah, I went to the supermarket and bought a variety of colored peppers, zucchini, and fresh mushrooms. I made a large quantity of my favorite wholesome side dish — sautéed vegetables — so I could have my daily fill of nourishing food, even when there were no other adults to serve.
And, later in the week, when, in my husband’s absence, I sang the zemiros before making Kiddush on Friday night, I was about to turn the page and skip over the poignant song of Eishes Chayil, when I stopped myself and thought, “You deserve this.” It felt so reassuring to launch into the familiar words that pay tribute to the woman of valor, which every Jewish woman is.
When we do something for ourselves from a proper perspective, the message we’re giving our inner child is, “You’re worthy of my love. You’re a valuable human being. You make a difference.” So whether you’re spending much of this summer as the only adult in your household, or in the company of your husband, or in any other setting, how about making this your project? As a start, instead of endless mac-n-cheese dinners, prepare or buy good-for-you meals—because you’re worth it! Tell yourself, “This is the summer I will be giving to myself because I matter. I will give my nefesh what she needs so that I can be there for others with love and happiness.” Although you may not be sending pictures of your homemade pickles this summer, we would love to hear how you've invested in nurturing yourself.
Wishing you a lovely summer of growth, health, and happiness,
Shiffy Friedman
Well-Put! Fun without safety is no fun. Esther Erps, EMT, Cup of Tea
Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 9
Contents
JULY 2019 TAMMUZ 5779 ISSUE 42 The next issue of The Wellspring will appear iy”H on August 14th.
21
WELL INFORMED 16
TORAH WELLSPRING By Rabbi Ezra Friedman
20 SPIRITUAL EATING By Rabbi Eli Glaser, CNWC, CWMS 22 DENTAL HEALTH By Dr. Jacques Doueck, DDS 24 SECRETS OF A KOSHER DIETITIAN By Beth Warren, RDN 26 HEALTH UPDATES IN THE NEWS By Esther Retek 21
FIGURES By Malka Sharman
34 HEALTH ED Points for Carbs By Laura Shammah, MS, RDN 38 DEDICATED TO HEALTH 10 Questions for Chaya Malka Abramson By Menucha Chana Levin
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LIVING WELL 42 IN GOOD SHAPE Good Morning, Sneakers By Syma Kranz, PFC 44 ASK THE NUTRITIONIST Healthy Weight Gain By Shani Taub, CDC 46 HEALTH PROFILE Client: Sruly W. By Rachel Esses 48 FEATURE Scar Tissue Treatment By Dr. Chayala Englard, PT, DPT 54 AT THE DIETITIAN Acid Reflux By Tamar Feldman, RDN, CDE 56 CUP OF TEA With Esther Erps, EMT By Esther Retek 62 MEMOS FROM A KINESIOLOGIST Lyme Disease 101 By Miriam Schweid 63 DIY Mosquito Protection By Miriam Schweid
66 WELLBEING 66 COVER FEATURE Meet Your Inner Child By Shiffy Friedman Q&A with Hudi Gugenheimer By Esther Retek 76
CHILD DEVELOPMENT By Friedy Singer & Roizy Guttman, OTR/L
81
HEART TO HEART By Shiffy Friedman, LMSW
84 SERIAL DIARY By Zahava List
56
Letters
The content in this magazine is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Springboard
On Acupuncture, Anorexia, Hearing Loss, and More More Points for Acupuncture Issue #41: Cover Feature
invites readers to submit letters and comments via regular mail or email to info@ wellspringmagazine. com. We reserve the right to edit all submissions and will withhold your name upon request. We will honor requests for anonymity, but we cannot consider letters that arrive without contact information.
12 Wellspring | July 2019
I read your article on acupuncture with great interest. While it was very well-researched and comprehensive, I felt that there were not enough positive testimonials. Just ask the people lined up on a quiet street on the Lower East Side in the springtime. During bein hazmanim, just after Pesach, throngs of bochurim with packets of tissues, red eyes, and suffering from incessant sneezing, wait in line for the Chinese Acupuncturist to save them from their misery. One treatment on the colorful plastic-covered table, and their allergies are resolved until the next March. I did not see the acupuncturist dipping the needles into anything, neither herbs nor steroids. This is an annual visit for me, and the many others whom I now call my allergy friends. H. L.
An Important Angle Issue #41: Cover Feature
Wow! Once again, you’ve covered a controversial issue neutrally — you presented both sides of acupuncture with as much objective evidence as possible. Best of all, I was so happy to see that you provided the halachic perspective, too. I'm a strong believer in natural medicine, but I would never go for any treatment without consulting my Rav first. Especially when it comes to natural healing, consulting Da’as Torah is very important, because such methods often utilize ancient practices that may be forbidden according to
halachah. At times, I was surprised to learn that what I thought was forbidden is actually permitted. We’re privileged to have authorities to reach out to, who could provide us with clear responses when needed.
Thank you for writing about the topic with clarity, and for addressing this important angle. Dovid E.
There’s Help for Anorexia Issue #41: HealthEd
I found Laura Shammah’s article on anorexia very helpful. Since, unfortunately, I had to research the topic in order to help a family member, I discovered that there are so many myths and misunderstandings on the subject. Most people don’t have clarity regarding this illness, and I appreciate the clear information you provided. When we were struggling, we got great help from the eating disorder division at Relief Resources. I strongly encourage people to reach out to them. They gave me a lot of information, referrals, and support. Toby A.
Monsey, New York
Beware of Too Little Sodium Issue #41: Secrets of a Kosher Dietitian
Beth Warren’s article on sodium was very informative and comprehensive. While it focused on
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Letters
Quick Question
Q
My son keeps having recurrent strep throats. When the doctor re-cultured him to make sure the strep was gone, the results were still positive, so he took antibiotics three times consecutively. The three different medications did not seem to help him. When he has strep, his symptoms include very bad breath and sometimes leg pain. What do you recommend as an alternative treatment?
not consuming too much sodium, I would like to point out that sometimes it happens that the body has too little sodium, which is not healthy either. Among other health risks, having too little sodium can lead to insulin resistance and it may raise LDL cholesterol. It also causes lethargy and fatigue. I feel that this is something that especially health-conscious people should be aware of. We may become so afraid of sodium that we cut it out almost completely from our diets. Another cause for low sodium is drinking too much water, as was my case, which results in the body being rinsed of its sodium content. Sodium is an important electrolyte that plays an essential role in our functioning and so it’s important to make sure that we get it in healthy amounts every day. Thanks for being the community’s platform for these and other important topics.
P. Lerner
Hearing Loss at Camp is Real
Issue #41: Cup of Tea with Dr. Shoshana Richelson
I’m currently spending a marvelous two months at a girls’ sleepaway camp, where I’m employed as a head-staff member. What an amazing experience! Seeing first-hand how the girls benefit from the unique environment, which allows them to spread their wings and grow in ways they cannot during the year, is a zechus that I enjoy and cherish. So many wonderful things take place during camp, and the girls truly have the
14 Wellspring | July 2019
A
If your child is having recurrent strep throat infections, that’s a sign that his immune system isn’t functioning optimally. Focus on building up his system to fight the bacteria in the following ways. 1- Give acidophilus twice a day to restore the friendly bacteria in his intestines.
2- Take your child off dairy and chocolate for a few weeks, until the strep leaves the body. 3- Taking colloidal silver, a natural antibiotic, twice a day for 10 days, usually kills the strep. 4- Have him take a nutritional supplement that targets the immune system, such as Immune Power or Immune Boost, twice a day, as directed. 5- Make sure he gets enough sunlight for vitamin D, and that he sleeps 8–10 hours nightly (or more, depending on his age). Take care, Chaya Tilla (Tina) Brachfeld, RN, Health Kinesiologist
time of their lives. I am in awe of the devotion of the entire staff and all that they do to ensure that the girls gain the most they can, in both ruchniyus and gashmiyus. I am writing this letter, however, to raise awareness about one aspect that perhaps isn’t given sufficient attention. It is not unique to the camp I was part of; I have been in other camps and it was an issue there, too, and I have no doubt that it holds true for all camps, to varying degrees. Every summer, when I bid farewell to my fellow head-staff members, I quip to the staff member who is in charge of orders and camp supplies, that the very first thing that needs to be ordered for next year is a decibel monitor. Yes, I am writing about the noise level in camp! My dear friend, Mrs. Miriam Liebermann of the West Side, has been working
valiantly to raise awareness about excessive volume at weddings for years. As soon as I got home from camp last summer (and saw the light at the end of the laundry tunnel), I contacted Miriam and told her that there is a new frontier that needs to be addressed: Summer camp! Miriam encouraged me to write to raise awareness. Maybe we can change things already for this year.
The sound level of the mike systems and music in summer camp is unacceptable. It is unbelievable how loud the music is made, with hundreds of youngsters with still-developing, young bodies exposed to it on a daily basis. The children are assembled in the dining rooms, social halls etc., all summer through, and they are bombarded by this unacceptably loud noise three times a day— during meals, and then again during breakouts, events, danc-
These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent or cure any disease.
Springboard
ing, performances etc. If a wedding once in a while is harmful, imagine the damage of the equivalent of a wedding several times a day! It is frightening. We need awareness. Parents send their children off to camp so trustingly, never imagining that they may very well return home with their hearing permanently damaged for life chas veshalom. Parents (rightfully) trust that the camp staff will do everything they can to keep the campers healthy and safe. And they do try, but they probably just don’t realize how damaging this is. Often, the mikes and sound systems are in the hands of teenagers who don’t realize the importance of this and who just want to belt out the loudest cheers and the most lebedig music. They hold the mikes right near their mouths and scream at the top of their lungs — and at the top of the amplifiers. It's geshmak, it's fun, it makes a “matzav," but it's also so unsafe and downright dangerous. Every camp should invest in a decibel monitor (which is not an expensive device) and the sound system should be set up in such a way that there is no way that the system’s sound can go above a safe level. It is incumbent upon parents to follow up on this and make sure that their children aren’t being harmed in this way.
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alorie
As I watch the girls have a blast, singing and cheering their hearts out to unbelievably blasting music (I have my fingers stuck firmly in my ears when I enter the dining room at such a time), I worry about the hundreds of tender ears that may very well pay the price for this a few years down the road. The rest of the staff chuckles at me indulgently, laughing at the clucking mother hen that they think I am. Maybe I am one, but I will keep clucking.
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This must change. It is not difficult to change; it just needs to be done! One head staff member in each camp should take this as their personal achrayus to make sure that no hearing damage is done to children who have no choice but to be present and don’t realize how terrible it is. I feel the only sure way to do it is with a decibel monitor with someone given the job to be on top of it. It can be done. It must be done. Hashem should give us the da'as and desire to treat this achrayus we carry with the seriousness and attention it deserves. Wishing everyone healthy and safe summers and winters!
Anonymous (to protect the camps I've attended — but they are not alone)
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Well Informed
Torah Wellspring: Spiritual Health By Rabbi Ezra Friedman
It Starts with You We are obligated to judge ourselves favorably, too
Dear Rabbi Friedman, Thank you for a thought-provoking, insightful column that is really making a difference in my life, particularly with regard to my relationship with myself, others, and most importantly, Hashem. I read the last issue’s article with much interest, curious to understand how I could come to be a more positive influence on others, especially my adolescent children. I found your message about being that one person in their lives who sees the good in them to be empowering, but I was left wondering, “What can I do if I don’t see the good?” I understand that our children, and others, are smart enough to detect whether our words are truthful or not, so I know that simply talking the talk won’t cut it.
I recognize that I’m the kind of person who has a hard time seeing the good in others, and being critical is definitely one of my weak points. I can’t help but see what needs to be repaired, not what’s already good. Is there anything I can do to help myself see others in a more positive light? I understood from the article that when I love another person, this happens as a result. So, to put my question more accurately, how can I work on cultivating this love? Wants to Love
16 Wellspring | July 2019
Dear Wants to Love, I appreciate the positive feedback and your courage to face the subject from an honest point of view. It is only through this perspective of emes that an individual can be’ezras Hashem experience growth and happiness in life.
You ask how you can love someone, such as your child, if you don’t feel the love you should naturally be feeling. You say that being critical is your weak point, and thus, you can’t help but see what they need to repair, not how they’re worthy of your love. To answer this question, let us discuss the essence of love, a topic that plays a central role not only in our relationships with others, but also in our relationship with ourselves. The most fundamental klal regarding love for others is culled from the command, “V’ahavta lerei’acha kamocha ” — Love your fellow man like you love yourself (Vayikra 19:18). When the Torah instructs us to love our fellow man, it doesn’t tell us, “And you shall love your friend very, very
It is a common misconception that feeling love toward ourselves and self-acceptance go hand in hand with gaavah.
much.” Rather, how much should you love him? As much as you love yourself. In other words, our sefarim explain, the amount you love yourself is the gauge for how much you can love another person.
Thus, in order to love someone else, the love must start with yourself. If I am critical or feel resentment toward myself, if I judge myself harshly, then I can’t love myself, and I thus can’t possibly love another person. Feeling love and acceptance toward myself is the precursor to loving others. If my outlook toward myself is not one of love, what can I expect of the approach I have toward others?
It is a common misconception that feeling love toward ourselves and self-acceptance go hand in hand with gaavah. This can’t be further from the truth. Conceit happens when we confuse being cognizant of our G-d-given strengths and being able to accept ourselves as we are, and the ego. However, not only is self-acceptance not gaavah, it’s the only key to humility. There is no dearth of passages in Chazal that highlight this phenomenon. In Tehillim, for example, Dovid Hamelech says, “Shamrah nafshi ki chassid ani” — Watch my soul, for I am a pious man (Tehillim 86:2). Tzaddikim are individuals who know where
they stand; they’re aware of their strengths, of the heights they’ve reached, but they don’t see themselves as elite or that think that it’s their credit. The Torah sees “Vayigba libo bedarchei Hashem” — And his heart was uplifted in the ways of Hashem (Divrei Hayamim II 17:6), as a virtue. In the same vein, we’re required to say, “B’shvili nivrah ha’olom” — This world was created for me (Sanhedrin 4:5).
feel that I’m worthy of love and respect, a unique human being with a tafkid that only I can fulfill, contributing to the world in a way that only I could? Do I feel like the beloved child of Hashem that I am? If I do, loving others does not necessitate that much effort. If I don’t, perhaps it would be wise to invest in this area.
Since it’s impossible to love others more than we love ourselves, when I find that it’s hard for me to love others, including my own child, it may be wise to look inward and see: How do I feel about myself ? Do I love myself ? Do I accept myself ? Do I
Included in the obligation to judge every person favorably is your very own self. There’s a beautiful tefillah from the Bechacha Rav zt”l that many recite every morning before davening, in which we undertake to judge oth-
As an aside, it’s ironic to note that precisely when a person can’t accept himself and is full of resentment toward himself that he starts building an illusion about himself, convincing himself that he is what he’s not — and that’s when the ego comes into play. This is the definition of gaavah — because I keep criticizing myself subconsciously, it’s hard for me to live with myself. Thus, in order to fill this vital human need to feel loved and accepted, that I do count, I construct a false illusion of myself with regard to others, one that is focused on how I am greater than them. This is in no way a reflection of self-acceptance, but its opposite.
How do we do that? What happens if I realize that no, I’m not being as kind and loving to myself as I would like to be? To answer this, let us understand what it is that doesn’t allow us to experience self-acceptance. How does it happen that we feel resentment toward ourselves? One of the primary behaviors that causes resentment and rejects any attempt we make to love ourselves is self-criticism. The more judgmental I am of myself, the harder it is for me to accept myself. When I pass judgment on others, their natural reaction is to feel resentment toward me. This is exactly what happens within. Whenever a part of me is consistently hurling criticism my way, I will feel resentment toward my own self.
Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 17
Well Informed
Torah Wellspring: Spiritual Health
Since it’s impossible to love others more than we love ourselves, when I find that it’s hard for me to love others, it may be wise to look inward and see: How do I feel about myself?
ers favorably throughout the coming day. But before we commit to this kabbalah, we first say, “es atzmi,” myself. I have the same obligation toward myself. And so, when I’m critical of myself, I’m not only transgressing a prohibition, but I’m also making it impossible for me to accept myself, and thus to love others.
Of course, the question that arises when we’re on this topic is: What about cheshbon hanefesh, which every Yid is obligated to conduct on a daily basis — to review his actions, deeds, and thoughts with honesty, express remorse on what he did, and commit to improving for the future? Answering this question, the Ba’al HaTanya, as well as other sifrei Chassidus and mussar, explain that when we’re engaging in teshuvah at a designated time of our day, we are obligated to ponder the depth of our sins and to feel remorse to the full extent. At the same time that we’re obligated to judge ourselves favorably at all times, we’re in no way exempt from taking responsibility for our actions and repenting for our wrongs. However, for the rest of the day, being critical of ourselves is toxic. It’s the fuel that feeds our sadness and self-resentment, which only brings us to despair and continue to engage in the behaviors we’re criticizing ourselves for.
The sifrei mussar conclude this idea by explaining that every time we criticize ourselves in a way that does not facilitate repentance, bring us closer to Hashem, or make us feel better, we must know that this guilt is directly from the yetzer hara. Its purpose is to distance us from ourselves and the actualization of our potential. On the contrary, the less an individual criticizes himself and the more he judges himself favorably, thus feeling more love and acceptance toward himself, the more motivated he will be to engage in positive deeds.
It’s harrowing to observe when sometimes, individuals who are trying their best to serve Hashem, setting up beautiful Torah homes and investing their all to live true Torah lives, appear to be consumed by so much self-resentment. Even when you give them a sincere compliment, it’s so hard for them to accept it that they dismiss it. These could be individuals who are truly going out of their way to do the right thing, but still they don’t feel positively toward themselves. The causes of engaging in self-criticism are many, including that the person grew up with a negative self-perception or has a wrong hashkafah regarding how to deal with himself. But regardless of the root of the issue, bringing an end to the practice is
our bechirah. This is our work toward loving ourselves.
And so, in your quest to love others, perhaps you would like to invest in loving and accepting yourself. In order to eliminate the self-criticism that’s consuming you, first pay attention to how central it has become in your life. Listen to that voice in your head that keeps saying, “Not like that,” “You’ll never get it right,” “Not okay, not okay, not okay,” “Who do you think you are?” “What will become of you?” As we mentioned above, if this is not for the purpose of teshuvah during your time of cheshbon hanefesh, know that this is clearly coming from the yetzer hara.
Notice how these debilitating thoughts are only fueling self-resentment and thus criticism and resentment toward others. Once you acknowledge that you’re critical of yourself, you can start eliminating this destructive voice by stopping to pay attention to it. Whenever you do a good deed or even when you think a good thought, no matter how seemingly minor it seems, give it the credit it deserves — certainly not the criticism it got until now. The more you focus on the fact that you’re good as you are, you will not only cultivate more acceptance and love toward yourself, but it won’t take long before you’ll feel that way toward others, as well.
Rabbi Ezra Friedman can be reached via Wellspring.
18 Wellspring | July 2019
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Well Informed
Spiritual Eating By Rabbi Eli Glaser, CNWC, CWMS
The Craze of Cravings The mahn from Heaven wasn’t enough. They wanted meat! As we recently read in the parshah, some of the Yidden actually complained about the miraculous sustenance that the Creator of the Universe provided for them daily. “The rabble that was among them cultivated a strong craving . . . Who will feed us meat? We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt free of charge; the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. But now, our life is parched, there is nothing; we have nothing to anticipate but the mahn.” (Bamidbar 11:4-6). Nothing but the mahn? The very next series of verses extol the mahn’s exquisite beauty, taste, and texture, as well as the ease with which it was collected. How could the Yidden possible protest? The answer is inherent in the irrationality of their criticism. They wanted to return to oppressive slavery and certain death in Egypt, all for a “free” vegetable medley? There was already an abun-
physical pleasures — which often turn out to be more bitter than sweet.
The Torah goes on: “So Hashem will give you meat and you will eat. Not for one day shall you eat, nor two days, nor five days, nor 10 days, nor 20 days. Until an entire month of days, until it comes out of your nose, and becomes nauseating to you, because you have rejected Hashem who is in your midst . . .” (Bamidbar 11:18-20). Striving for excess means never being satisfied.
“And Moshe said, ‘When, in the evening, Hashem gives you meat to eat and food (mahn) to satiety in the morning, as Hashem hears your complaints that you complain against Him . . .” (Shemos 16:8).
dance of meat to be found — the tribes of Reuven and Gad had enormous flocks of cattle. What more did they desire? The craze of cravings.
When we allow ourselves to be consumed by a craving, we are prone to lose our rational perspective. We can convince ourselves that wrong is right and black is white. If we give the yetzer hara free reign to set our standards and determine our priorities, we skew our spiritual bearings for the sake of partaking in fleeting
Rashi learns from this verse that the nation’s request for meat was inappropriate and would not bring them satisfaction. Craving more than they needed inhibited their ability to enjoy and feel satisfied with what was their suitable lot. And the end result?
“The meat was still between their teeth, not yet chewed, when the wrath of Hashem flared against the people, and Hashem struck a very mighty blow against the people. He named that place Kivros HaTava, because there they buried the people who had been craving.” (Bamidbar 11:33-34).
Rabbi Eli Glaser is the founder and Director of Soveya. He is certified as a Nutrition/Wellness Consultant and Weight Management Specialist, with 25 years of coaching and counseling experience, and is maintaining a 130-pound weight loss for more than 16 years.
Soveya has offices in Lakewood and Brooklyn, and works with clients via phone and Skype around the world. For more information or to make an appointment, contact Soveya at 732-578-8800, info@soveya.com, or www.soveya.com.
20 Wellspring | July 2019
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Well Informed
Dental Health By Dr. Jacques Doueck, DDS
A FEW SIMPLE HABITS CAN SAVE YOUR TEETH With all the advances in preventive dentistry, it shocks me that so many people still get cavities. If the damage continues, they can end up with a root canal; and if the damage gets even worse and the teeth cannot be saved, those teeth must be removed and replaced by implants. In over 40 years of studying this trajectory in my own patients, I have found that a few simple habits could have prevented 80 percent of the damage.
HOW DO YOU CLEAN BETWEEN YOUR TEETH? When I ask, “How do you clean between your teeth?” most people will answer, “I brush.” I then explain that brushing is critical for cleaning at and around the gumline, but it won’t remove the bacteria that hide between your teeth. For that, you need dental floss, an oral irrigator (like a Waterpik); interdental cleaning picks; a small brush for cleaning tight spaces (like a Proxabrush); a brush designed to replace flossing, like the Sulcabrush; or any other tool designed to reach and remove the bacteria that your brush can’t reach.
People who tell me they do floss often readily admit, “Well — not every day — I floss maybe once or twice a week.” It’s important to remember that bacteria accumulate every day. If you clean between your teeth only once or twice a week, the bacteria will build up, causing gum disease and cavities (and then patients are surprised when they need a root canal or gum surgery). Another thing that surprises me is that many patients will say, “I’m too tired at night to do anything – I only brush in the morning.” Bacteria do the most damage to teeth and gums while people are asleep. Saliva is less effective as a tooth protectant while people are sleeping — and the bacteria are much more damaging. This is why it’s so important to brush and clean between your teeth every night. If you decide that you want to be in the 2 percent minority that flosses every day — make sure that you do it correctly. If you think that brushing alone will do the trick, think again. We see patient after patient with gum disease and cavities that could have been prevented with a few minutes of “homework” every night.
Thorough daily cleaning prevents damage and helps you keep and maintain your teeth for a lifetime. In addition, medical journals are full of studies that show that people with gum disease are more prone to heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes. Isn’t your health worth a few minutes a day? 22 Wellspring | July 2019
with
It
No other item that you use for your teeth will improve your teeth and gums and keep them healthy as effectively as the right electric toothbrush. For years we've been recommending the Braun electric toothbrush. These brushes move at 30,000 cycles per minute. For years, I found that my patients with gum disease and cavities were getting better results using the Braun.
Recently, Sonicare made a major design change in the Sonicare electric brush. The new technology works like a “jewelry cleaner,” which cleans beyond the bristles — between the teeth and below the gumline. Our periodontal patients have had the best results with these brushes. This type of cleaning is even more important if you have gum disease, implants, crowns bridges, or braces.
Luckily for you in this scenario, just as you’re about to grab that sugar-loaded treat, you notice an item on the shelf that says M e h a d r i n Fit N’ Free. Fit? Free? That yogurt has your full attention, and with good reason. M e h a d r i n Fit N’ Free yogurts are w s eetne delicious, low in calories, fat free, and sugar free. With a high-protein, reduced-sugar Greek option as well, these yogurts are a great option for kids and adults alike—and the variety of flavors means there’s a yogurt for every taste. Packed with healthy protein and low-calorie sweetness, Mehadrin Fit N’ Free is just right for a sweet choice that can keep you full for hours. ca
-
The Electric Toothbrush
Since you’re a responsible, self-respecting mom, no one would blame you if you want to avoid the commotion and give him what he wants (the yogurt) while giving yourself what YOU want (the quiet).
Low
POWER TOOLS FOR YOUR TEETH
happens to all of us. You’re trying to grocery shop with your children in tow, and just as you head down Aisle 7, the crying begins. Overwhelmed by the colors and flavors, your toddler points to a sugary yogurt and wants one now.
It's critical to see your dentist at least every six months, to ensure that problems are caught early, before any damage is done. Unfortunately, many people avoid the dentist. A survey conducted by the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine found that the majority of people who haven’t visited a dentist for 12 months list "fear of pain" as the main reason keeping them from making that appointment. Whatever the reason, people who don’t see the dentist for routine visits might end up seeing the dentist for serious treatment. Dr. Jacques Doueck has been practicing family dentistry in Brooklyn, New York since 1977, and is a Diplomate of the Academy of Clinical Sleep Disorders Disciplines. He speaks nationally and trains other dentists in oral appliance therapy and state-of-the-art dentistry. Dr. Doueck is a member of the American Dental Association and serves on the District Claims Committee for the state society.
s
s
Although it's well known that using dental floss is one of the best ways to clean between the teeth, fewer than 2 percent of patients actually floss all their teeth on a daily basis. What’s the solution? Oral irrigators and dental water picks, like Waterpik, work like a pressure wash to flush out bacteria from under the gums, in places toothbrushes can’t reach. In addition, some of the newer models come with a special dispenser that can administer gum disease medicines directly to the gums for better healing.
lorie
For Floss Dodgers
Pair it with slivered almonds or granola and a fruit for a wholesome breakfast, or enjoy it on its own, in a smoothie, or as frozen yogurt for a good-for-you snack you're sure to love.
Raspberry
. Plain . Strawberry . Vanilla . Coffee . Peach . Mixed Berry . Blueberry
Well Informed
Research Based Recommendations By Beth Warren, MS, RDN, CDN
||| SECRETS OF A KOSHER DIETITIAN |||
SECRET
#16
SHIFTING FOCUS FROM CALORIES ONLY
“I feel fat.”
As important as portion control is to a healthy diet, the quality of food choices is right up there on my hierarchy of health priorities.
24 Wellspring | July 2019
“That food will make me fat.” “Does this skirt make me look fat?” heard one of these If you're human, you've probably said, thought, or d, the meaning of Indee lines, or one of the many variations of them. appearances, and gs, feelin ent the word fat has come to define differ food. and s, attitudes about ourselves, other e who view fat I wouldn't be surprised if you're like the many peopl forgotten its we've , far beyond its molecular definition. As a result with using em probl r greate real, simple, basic meaning. But there's a and othfood, lves, ourse see and feel the word fat to describe how we ience exper we fat, of think we n Whe ions. ers: It breeds negative emot best our for dress a into fitting not of t, weigh g gainin fear — a fear of blame We gues. friend’s wedding, of getting teased by friends or collea and live happily it as the reason why we cannot find the perfect match fat in them. with foods of afraid ever after. Ultimately, it makes us is a big no-no. It Tying such a strong negative emotion to eating unhealthy relationplaces an intense pressure on us that leads to an the quantity of calon ship with food. This can lead us to focus only calories. Although those of y ories we consume and not on the qualit phobia may lead fat loss, t weigh in ions both are important considerat with making them iate assoc you se becau foods you to avoid many Some people ct. you fat, even when there is no actual fat in the produ them, they eat they try so hard to avoid “forbidden fats” that when ultimately binge. you. By grouping Either route will not make you a healthier, skinnier and then use them all fats together, it's easier to write them off as bad piness with your as an excuse for your unhealthy ways and your unhap poor impact on a has fat physical appearance. Avoiding foods with kinds of fats; ent differ are There health and weight maintenance. ion to help. funct big a serve some but hurt, to some have the potential
To schedule a nutrition appointment with Beth in the Brooklyn, NYC, NJ locations or virtually, or book an appearance, email beth@bethwarrennutrition.com or call 347-292-1725. Most insurances accepted. You can also follow her Instagram for healthy eating motivation and recipes @beth_warren
F-A-T: The Definition Fat is a nutrient, plain and simple. It's not an imagined threat, like a scary monster hiding in b, your closet, nor should it be an adjective, adver be dn't shoul it fact, In h. or any other part of speec used in any other context, other than to describe the nutritional content of a food. Separate food from your emotions. Eggs, nuts, and seeds, and healthy oils like avocado, olive, walnut, and flax, all contain fat — and e, they're all tied to great health benefits. Of cours a into turn easily can thing too much of a good those ver, howe fat, y qualit e choos negative. If you calories will be well spent, even though they do need to be accounted for in your daily intake. As important as portion control is to a healthy diet, the quality of food choices is right up there ion my hierarchy of health priorities. High-qual per es calori more in conta may ty foods, like nuts, serving than a 100-calorie snack pack, for exam lly actua is nuts of y qualit ing satiat the ple, but correlated with causing you to consume fewer es calories throughout the day, overall. The calori ocomp Some ed. consumed are thus compensat nents of nuts are also not completely absorbed by your body, which means some of the calories you consume will come out in the digestion process. Also, these quality calories, like those in nuts, are packed with nutrients your body needs, typically in their natural form — unlike processed foods. You may finish eating within a few seconds and move on to your next activity. But once you've consumed that processed food, your body is only beginning g the processes of digestion and absorption, settin
off a systematic process inside your body to break down the chemicals and sift through the nutrients it can use, which slows down your metabolism. Nuts, seeds, avocados, and other quality calories are filled with nutrients your body loves. Like the highest quality gasoline, these important foods are granted VIP access, so to speak, straight through . the body, speeding up your resting metabolism sincrea es calori y qualit ting diges The process of es your resting metabolic rate by as much as 11 percent. Your metabolic rate is the burning of calal ories inside your body as it undergoes its norm two other (The . there sit processes while you just ways to burn calories are through exercise and the thermic effect of food — calories burned while processing and storing foods.) Another crucial factor is that processed food products are designed to make you eat more. The concept is not a conspiracy theor y — it's real. The large amount of salt, sugar, and fat in these products changes brain chemistry the same way an e addiction to drugs or gambling can. You becom which , eating stop t canno and hooked on the food causes “conditioned hyper-eating,” meaning every , time you even think about a food with fat, sugar it. and salt, you cannot help but crave In the end, calories do matter when it comes to losing weight. But the quality of calories matters first. Opt for foods that have the potential to help you lose weight and keep it off. After you get accustomed to these foods, work them into your calorie needs per day. Trust me, you’ll be a lot happier — and not just with your weight loss.
Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 25
Well Informed
Updates in the News By Esther Retek
SEEING GREEN How much outdoor time is needed to absorb the benefits of nature? If you’ve ever watched a child run free on the plush grass, you don’t need a research study to tell you that spending time in nature is good for kids’ health.
It’s something that most parents know intuitively. When kids have a chance to play free in nature, they’re happier, better behaved, and connect better socially. Most adults know that nature is good for them too — that’s why they try to leave behind the stress of work to vacation in beautiful, natural places. A wealth of research indicates that escaping to a park, hiking, or spending time at a lake can affect a person’s health tremendously. One question remains. Could scientific research prove how much time is needed outdoors in order to enjoy these benefits?
One study led by the University of Exeter, published in Scientific Reports, found the answer to be an average of 120 minutes a week. The study used data from nearly 20,000 people in England, and found that people who spend at least two hours weekly outdoors have a greater sense of wellbeing, more emotional stability, and
26 Wellspring | July 2019
more mental clarity than those who do not. It didn’t matter whether the 120 minutes was achieved in a single visit or over several shorter ones.
“What really amazed us was that this was true for all groups of people,” says Dr. Mathew White, lead author of the study. The 120-minute threshold applies to both men and women, to older and younger adults, across different occupational and ethnic groups, among those living in both rich and poor areas, and even among people with long-term illnesses or disabilities. “It’s well-known that getting outdoors in nature can be good for people’s health and wellbeing,” says Dr. White, “but until now we've not been able to say how much. Two hours is hopefully a realistic target for many people, especially given that it can be spread over an entire week to get the benefit.” Even if you’re only a short-term resident of a more natural environment during these two months of the summer, this is your chance to put the study’s suggestion into action.
!
HEALTHY SUMMER TIPS!
Make your workout work out. Make excuses to move
Primary Healthy
Dental Health
Behavioral Health
Nutrition
For an easy way to incorporate exercise into your lifestyle, find ways to stay active throughout the day— like taking the stairs! Physical & Aqua Therapy
Get that H2O in Make sure to keep yourself hydrated at all times, especially when active. Drink plenty of water throughout the day.
Always consult your healthcare provider before starting an exercise program or if you experience any discomfort during exercise.
Optometry
Have fun with it Engage in exercises that you enjoy like biking, swimming, or dancing (weddings count!), even for 10 minutes a day.
Podiatry
Dermatology
Health in Good Hands™ EzraMedical.org · 718.686.7600
Women’s Health
Well Informed
Updates in the News
SUMMER HOMEWORK FOR CHILDREN OR PARENTS? How your academic acuity affects your child’s
With an overabundance of booklets, homework, and review sheets provided by teachers, summer months are becoming less of a detraction to the skills that children have acquired over the school year. However, new research reveals that laboring over the books is not the only way to increase a child’s reading comprehension.
The study, conducted by researcher Sandra Martin-Chang from Concordia’s Department of Education and published in the Journal of Research in Reading, found that parents who understand language complexity — also known as readingrelated knowledge — are able to spot a child’s problem areas and better explain the literacy concepts. Reading knowledge includes realizing and being aware of the underlying rules of literacy acquisition, such as noting when the “magic E” at the end of the word changes vowel sounds, or knowing which words are spelled irregularly. Parents who are able to notice which literacy rules apply to which words tend to pass on those skills when listening to their children reading, which in turn, helps reading development.
“Parents with higher reading-related knowledge are not only more likely to have children with higher reading scores, but are also more attentive when those children read out loud to them,” Martin-Chang reports. For the study, 70 sets of six- and seven-
28 Wellspring | July 2019
year-old children and their parents were recruited. The children were administered reading tests and were then provided with reading material just above their performance level. This extra difficulty was intentional, as it gave opportunities for parents to step in and lend a hand. The parents were instructed to help their children as they normally would while their children read to them. The sessions were recorded and coded for evidence of parents’ verbal and nonverbal feedback. “We were interested in two forms of feedback,” says MartinChang. “The first was commenting on how the child was doing, and the second was measuring the parents’ response when the child hesitated or made a mistake.” The results confirmed the researchers’ beliefs that parents with higher reading-related knowledge offered more praise and less criticism to their children than parents with lower knowledge. They also found that parents with a better ear for language tried more frequently to explain the relations between letters and letter patterns to their children. Martin-Chang believes parents and teachers should be encouraged to play with language, pay more attention to its characteristics, and learn its concepts. So who has the summer homework — you or your child? If a Scrabble game counts as playing with language, either way, I’m in.
!
HEALTHY SUMMER TIPS!
Have fun in the sun –safely.
Behavioral Health
Beat the heat.
Nutrition
10am-4pm are the hottest, most sunburn and heat exhaustion prone hours of the day.
Primary Healthy
Dental Health
Physical & Aqua Therapy
Protect yourself. Use broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher, and reapply every 2 hours + post-swim.
Feeling the burn? Cool a sunburn with cold compresses, and moisturize skin with a non-greasy lotion.
See a doctor if you experience blistering, fever, or chills.
Optometry
Podiatry
Dermatology
Health in Good Hands™ EzraMedical.org · 718.686.7600
Women’s Health
Well Informed
Updates in the News
DIVE IN Swimming provides more than just a good body workout Swimming is the fourth most-popular activity in the United States, and is considered the perfect exercise activity. But why exactly? There are a host of benefits you may gain from swimming laps regularly, and here are five of some of the recently-proven health benefits that swimming provides.
1. Works out your insides We all know that swimming works out your entire body, but new research proves that swimming also works out the insides of your body. Besides our muscles getting a good workout, our cardiovascular system gets one, too. Swimming makes your heart and lungs strong. Some other studies have shown that swimming may help lower blood pressure and control blood sugar.
2. Helps asthma The relatively humid yet unpolluted environment of indoor pools makes swimming a great activity for people with asthma. Not only that, but breathing exercises associated with the sport, like holding your breath, may help you expand your lung capacity and gain control over your breathing. The Journal of Asthma suggests that swimming helps asthma; however one must be careful not to use a pool with too much chlorine, since these chemicals are dangerous for people with breathing issues. Preferably, try to find a pool that has saltwater instead.
3. Improves your sleep Swimming helps you sleep better at night. In a study done by the National Institutes of Health on older adults with insomnia, participants reported both a boost in quality of life and in sleep after engaging in regular swimming exercise. Swimming is accessible to a wide range of people who deal with physical issues that make other exercises, like running, less appealing or comfortable. Therefore, swimming can
be a good choice for older adults—and anyone—looking to improve their quality of sleep.
4. Builds up your bone mass For years, researchers have scoffed at the idea that swimming affects bone mass. They had assumed that only weightbearing exercises were able to achieve this benefit. According to research published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, that’s not so. The study put rats into three groups: running, swimming, and a control group with no exercise stimulation. While the running group still showed a higher increase in BMD (Bone Mineral Density), the swimming group also showed a significant increase. While more studies are needed, these new findings show that previous assumptions dismissing swimming’s bone benefits may need to be revisited.
5. Brain booster Huh? Of course all exercise is great for the mind, but can swimming actually make you smarter? A study from Griffith Institute for Educational Research in Australia found that, actually, it can. The results of the study, which focused on kids who took swimming lessons as compared to a control group of non-swimmers, found that subjects who regularly participated in swimming were able to master language development, fine motor skills, confidence, and physical development sooner than the control group. The researchers suggest that the skills developed by being involved in swimming during the summer helps children be prepared for the transition back to school.
No reason to sit around any longer! Time to get up, grab your pool supplies, and enjoy the incredible benefits that this exercise provides.
30 Wellspring | July 2019
!
HEALTHY SUMMER TIPS!
Can the tick make you sick? Small, but dangerous.
poppy seed (nymph)
Dental Health
Behavioral Health
Nutrition
Actual size:
Ticks are tiny, but they’re more than just a nuisance–they can pass on Lyme disease and other illnesses to the people they bite.
Primary Healthy
sesame seed (adult).
Physical & Aqua Therapy
Tick this off your to-do list. Avoid walking in high grass or bushy areas. Check your entire body daily –they can hide behind ears.
Optometry
Found a tick? Do this: 1
With tweezers, grasp the tick against the skin and pull upward to remove intact.
2
Seal the tick in a container with rubbing alcohol and bring to your doctor for testing.
3
Wash the bite site and your hands with warm soapy water.
Podiatry
Dermatology
Health in Good Hands™ EzraMedical.org · 718.686.7600
Women’s Health
Well Informed
Figures By Malka Sharman
SUNBURN STATS An estimated
An estimated
of American children suffered from sunburns in the summer of 2018
of American adults suffered from sunburns in the summer of 2018
Sunscreen rated as SPF 30 blocks
70% 37% 95%
The best protection is achieved by application
15-30 15-30
minutes
before exposure, followed by one reapplication
minutes
after exposure begins
Moderately pigmented skin has
6
times a greater chance to get sunburned than darkly pigmented skin
It takes a bit more than
32 Wellspring | July 2019
of the sunburn-causing UVB radiation
50%
Regular use of sunscreen with an SPF of more than 15 reduces the risk of melanoma (skin cancer) by
98%
of all skin cancer is related to exposure to UV ray
The sun’s rays are the strongest from
10 2 a.m. to
10 minutes
p.m.
of sun exposure to get burned
Sources: (CDC, American Academy of Dermatology)
WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN SUNBURN OCCURS: Peeling of skin usually lasts
3-8
Pain of sunburn is usually most extreme
6-48
days
hours after exposure
Peak redness of sunburn should last between
12–24
hours
GENERAL BURN STATS:
1.1
Medical assistance is needed if the sunburn blisters cover more than
It takes
20% of the body
3 seconds
to get burned from water at
140 °F
million
people in the United states suffer burn injuries every year that require medical attention
P 1 second
to get burned from water above
156 °F
It takes
10-21
days to heal a partial-thickness second-degree burn
The United States allocates over
$211 million annually to help children with burns
Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 33
Well Informed
Health Ed By Laura Shammah, MS, RDN
Points for Carbs
Is this food group the monster it’s made out to be? Carbs are good for you, carbs are bad for you. You’ve probably heard it all, only you don’t know what to believe or to disregard in making your food choices. Take this quiz to find out how much you know about the food group that you may be afraid to touch.
1
True or False: Carbohydrates make you gain weight. Answer: False.
If you got this question correct, you’re off to a good start. If you got it wrong, you may very well be influenced by the bad reputation carbs have been getting in the dieting community — a mindset that you can change today. Of course, if carbs are consumed in unnecessarily large quantities, they could contribute to weight gain, but the same is true of any food.
Although carbohydrates have a bad reputation among dieters, carbs are your body’s main source of energy. The Institute of Medicine recommends that children and adults consume 45 to 65 percent of
34 Wellspring | July 2019
their total calories from carbs, or 225 to 325 grams of carbs daily when eating a 2,000-calorie diet. While choosing healthy carbohydrates can reduce your risk of chronic diseases, some types of carbs can cause health problems.
In my office, I do not follow these guidelines to a T. I believe that each client needs to be treated individually. I decide how many carbohydrates are necessary based on many factors, such as the client’s activity level, diet history, likes, dislikes, age, and weight.
Are Pretzels Your Favorite “Healthy” Snack?
2
Which of these is not a direct function of carbs? A. Help boost your mood, which is why not eating enough carbs can increase anxiety and depression
B. Help prevent weight gain — and even promote weight loss C. Necessary for hormone production D. Facilitate heart health Answer: C.
Don’t assume pretzels are a healthy snack because they are low in fat. They are a carbheavy, calorie-laden treat that is almost completely devoid of nutrients and is often high in sodium. In fact, you could get an entire day’s worth of sodium from one cup of pretzels.
Instead, stick to nutrient-dense snacks like almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, or sunflower seeds. If you’re looking to lose weight, keep an eye on the serving size.
While carbs have many important functions in the body, these are primarily to provide the body with energy. Hormone production is more connected to protein.
Carbs have also been shown to sharpen memory, improve sleep patterns, promote digestive health and satiety, increase metabolism, improve athletic performance and muscle mass, and increase energy levels.
3
True or False: Fiber is a type of carbohydrate. Answer: True.
Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that can help reduce the risk of heart disease, obesity, gastrointestinal diseases, and diabetes, as well as enhance weight loss, according to a review published in a 2009 edition of Nutrition Reviews. To reap the health benefits of fiber, aim to eat 14 grams of fiber for every 1,000 calories you consume. This means if you eat 2,000 calories a day, shoot for 28 grams of fiber. Fiber-rich foods include nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains.
Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 35
Well Informed
Health Ed
Scared of Eating Potatoes? Potatoes have a bad rap. However, how you prepare the vegetable makes all the difference.
While certainly starchy, potatoes are healthy if boiled, baked, or grilled. Combined with lean protein, they can satisfy your hunger for hours. Potatoes satiate hunger for about as long as brown rice or whole wheat bread, but have far fewer carbohydrates. My advice? Don’t shun a grilled, baked, or boiled potato from your plate. If you do, you’ll be missing out on a host of incredible nutrients, including fiber and vitamin B6, potassium, copper, vitamin C, manganese, niacin, and phosphorus.
4
Which of these carbohydrates are most detrimental to health? A. Simple carbs
B. Complex carbs
C. High-fiber carbs
D. Whole-grain carbs Answer: A.
Simple carbs are also known as refined or processed carbs. The two main types are refined and processed sugars, such as sucrose (table sugar) and high fructose corn syrup, and refined grains, which are grains whose fibrous and nutritious parts have been removed.
Sweet Potato Benefits The sweet potato is packed with nutrients that help you burn fat. This superfood is high in fiber and has a low glycemic index, so it keeps you feeling full a long time.
Sweet potatoes are also rich in carotenoids, powerful antioxidants that help stabilize blood sugar levels and lower insulin resistance, which prevents calories from being converted into fat. Due to their high vitamin profile (including vitamins A, C, and B6), sweet potatoes provide the right kind of energy to burn at the gym.
36 Wellspring | July 2019
Added sugars, like sucrose, are simple sugars that are digested and absorbed more quickly than high-fiber, complex carbohydrates. Therefore, they are less satiating than complex carbs. They are found in sodas, other sugar-sweetened beverages, baked goods, sweets, candy, and other desserts. An increased intake of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with weight gain. Eating too much added sugar can also contribute to cavities and tooth decay.
Refined grains include white bread, white rice, and other processed foods. They usually contain fewer nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, protein and fiber than do whole foods. An increased intake of refined grains is associated with more visceral body fat.
On the contrary, complex carbs, such as the ones found in whole-grain foods, quinoa, and sweet potatoes, offer a plethora of health benefits and should be included in a healthy diet.
5
True or False: Dairy contains carbohydrates. Answer: True.
Although dairy is considered a protein, dairy products such as low-fat milk and yogurt also contain the sugar lactose, a type of carbohydrate. Lactose in low on the glycemic index, meaning it takes longer to digest and keeps you full for longer periods of time compared to foods higher on the glycemic index. Lactose offers a prolonged energy supply, increases mineral absorption in the body and stimulates the growth of healthy intestinal bacteria. Dairy foods that contain lactose, such as milk and yogurt, are also rich in protein and calcium.
Eat All Food Groups Too many people swear off carbs, and yet, it’s such an important food group for energy, B vitamins, fiber, and your sanity. Carbohydrates raise levels of serotonin, a feel-good hormone that plays a key role in mood regulation.
As I see it, when we villainize macronutrients, we’re thinking about the worst of the group. It’s certainly not a bad thing to commit to decreasing your intake of ultra-processed carbs that are also rich in unhealthy fats and sugar — like packaged donuts — but it doesn’t mean you also need to give up sprouted-grain toast. Unless you have a medical condition that dictates otherwise, I do not recommend eliminating an entire food group from your diet. Carbohydrates are an invaluable part of a healthy diet, especially when chosen wisely. Low-quality carbohydrates won’t do much for your body, but the right kind will improve your health by leaps and bounds.
Laura Shammah MS, RDN, has been operating a private practice in New York and New Jersey for over 20 years. Her clientele runs the gamut from people with eating disorders to those dealing with hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes and cancer. She also helps clients who run in marathons or are looking to lose or gain weight in a healthy way. Her nutritional guidance is published in MaryAnne Cohen’s book Lasagna for Lunch: Declaring Peace With Emotional Eating. Laura can be reached at 718-376-0062 or Laurashammah@aol.com. Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 37
Well Informed
Dedicated to Health By Menucha Chana Levin
10 Questions for: Chaya Malka Abramson, Founder and director of the Chaya Malka Burn Foundation Chaya Malka Burn Foundation in a nutshell: The only organization in Israel that advocates for, educates, and inspires burn victims, the Chaya Malka Burn Foundation provides burn victims with emotional support, counseling, and financial assistance for costly pressure garments, helping them cope with complex bureaucracy and the struggle to thrive.
1
What motivated you to launch this organization? Initially, while living in the United States, I was trained as an artist and fashion designer. Then I relocated to the Old City of Yerushalayim, got married, and had three small children. A horrific midnight gas explosion in our apartment left me badly burned over 85 percent of my body.
In the hospital during the many months of my recovery, I gradually became aware of the life-threatening extent of my injuries. I experienced many acts of kindness that had a deep emotional impact on me and helped me heal. As a result of my personal ordeal at age 30, I became a burn adviser and also wrote a book, called Who By Fire, about it. I became a public speaker and, in 2003, created the burn
38 Wellspring | July 2019
foundation. Although I had no prior experience in any of these roles, I felt this was what I was meant to do.
After speaking for years about my story, I wondered what other topics Hashem would want me to explore. Then I found the passuk where Dovid Hamelech says, “I love You (Hashem) because You listen to me and my prayers” (Tehillim 116:1). I found it very meaningful. That turned into a talk, “Listening Leads to Love.” Other topics I speak about are: “Make Compassion Your Passion,” and “Seeing Past the Physical,” which is about my daughter, who was born with Down’s syndrome. She has taught me things I did not learn from anyone else. I started traveling to different countries and have now been doing public speaking for over 20 years.
2
What is one great challenge you face in running the Chaya Malka Burn Foundation? Fund-raising was particularly difficult for me at first, but I realized it was a necessary part of running an organization. I dislike publicity, but I learned how to network. In the beginning, after speaking to a group, I would gently ask if anyone wanted to contribute. After 10 years, we could not continue be a viable organization without significant funding, so I had to reinvent myself.
Severely burned patients need two body suits called pressure garments, which prevent the formation of new scars while pushing down existing scars. They cost $1800 each and need to be refitted two to three times a year during recovery. Burn patients also need nourishing skin creams, as well as emotional counseling while recuperating from the trauma.
3
What is your current role in the organization? I run a referral service to help burn patients survive and succeed; I raise money; and I run our office. I also promote our "Immediate Response to Burns" flyers, giving out informational brochures at events, to people I meet on the street, on the bus, and in classes. Many burn patients feel the need to immediately see a doctor or rush to the hospital. I never tell them not to go, but I suggest that they start by immediately drawing the heat out of the burn, as this minimizes pain, trauma, and even the need for skin grafts. Also, we know that if a person isn’t dying or having a heart attack, the hospital wait could be long, so people should take along extra supplies of grated raw potatoes to press on the burn and then replace the ones that got hot. This action prevents further tissue damage and starts the healing process until one sees a doctor.
Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 39
Well Informed
Dedicated to Health
4
What treatment methods do you find most effective? Immediately wrapping the burn in plastic wrap is very effective. Many people think it’s good to soak a burn in cold water but it can actually be harmful and will take longer to heal. Blood vessels need to be warm. If we run cool water over them, blood vessels shrink in order to hold in the heat, which is counterproductive to the healing process. The water should be lukewarm — never ice water — but, in fact, I don’t use water at all.
I’ve found that plastic wrap and grated raw potatoes are the best treatments for immediately drawing the heat out of the burn. If a burn is still red or blistered, I continue with grated potatoes, honey, aloe vera, or burn cream. If the burn is open, I use a goldenseal-root powder, sprinkling it over the burn cream, and covering it with plastic wrap, which doesn’t stick to the skin. This treatment works like an antibiotic and is excellent for wounds.
One rebbetzin in Bnei Brak, also a burn expert, once casually mentioned to me that just plastic wrap by itself works to draw the heat out of the burn. Then, one Erev Rosh Hashana, (many burn accidents occur before a busy Yom Tov or Shabbos) as I was lifting a pan from the oven, my hand touched the top of the oven and burned right through my skin graft. I remembered her plastic-wrap suggestion and covered the burn immediately, sealing it airtight. Pain comes from heat and the plastic wrap drew all the heat out in just 10 minutes. Afterward the burn didn’t get infected and healed without a scab. That’s how I personally discovered that the plastic wrap method really works.
5
Which stories highlight the work you do? Once a seminary girl called me to say she had burned her finger badly while using a hot glue gun three days prior. She was crying, “I went to the doctor and now my hand is killing me.” I referred her to a burn expert and the girl’s hand was soon feeling fine again.
Once, someone called me at midnight after burning her eye. I told her to lie down and put plastic wrap over her closed eye, sending her husband to their garden to get a piece of aloe vera. I instructed them to clean it and squeeze some of the juice into her eye. She didn’t question me, tried it, and, baruch Hashem, by the next morning her eye was perfectly fine. 40 Wellspring | July 2019
6
What was an unusual request you received on behalf of a burn patient? Once, when a neighbor’s child got burned by boiling water from a Shabbos urn, they put him into a cool shower. I saw the little boy’s lips were blue from the cold so I took him out immediately, wrapped him up and kept him warm. I knew that if he had turned blue, it could have been worse than the burn itself.
But the mother kept screaming, “Put him back in the water, he needs to be in the water!” I gave her the number of the burn-expert rebbetzin in Bnei Brak, so she could speak to her and calm down. We then continued to use wet compresses to cool the burn only on the red area. This was before I knew about raw potatoes.
People often get hysterical about a burn since they are afraid of scars. Even those who completely believe in holistic medicine will go to a hospital for a burn. One woman recently rushed her daughter to a hospital, but ironically, the medication they used caused an allergic reaction, and she thought she was going to die. Thank G-d she is home and recovering now
7
How can burns be prevented? Keep your electric hot water urn far from the edge of the counter and watch hot pots or liquids. Be calm and careful when kashering anything. Carefully supervise children at Lag BaOmer bonfires. A teenager’s clothes once ignited from such a bonfire. Don’t use lighter fluid for barbeques. Keep matches out of children’s reach. Watch your children in the bathtub. Don’t place treats in a cabinet next to your stove or hot water urn. Kids love to climb. Parents should be extra vigilant on Erev Shabbos, Yom Tov, and at all very busy times.
8
How do you manage the stress that comes along with your work? It’s a bit stressful when the phone calls come in when my kids are home, even though they are all older now and know that burn emergencies come first. Children, no matter how old, need us to tell them about the good things they are doing and how much they are loved. I find saying Tehillim, attending shiurim, and going to the beach to be very calming. If I can’t do that, in the moment, I close my eyes, breathe deeply and remember that everything is from Hashem. He can always help, 24/7. Then, I take one thing at a time.
Chaya Malka’s Homemade Burn Salve 2 oz honey (provides antioxidants and rehydrates the injured area) 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (provides healthy fats and vitamin E to replenish the skin with nutrients)
20 drops lavender essential oil (helps calm the inflamed injury site while also disinfecting it)
Combine all ingredients in a glass jar, mix together, and spread lavishly over injury. Cover injury site with plastic wrap, dressing, or a Band-Aid.
Sunburn Prevention The best prevention is abstention. If you’re outside at the hottest times, approximately 10 a.m.–4 p.m., use protective clothing, such as long shirts, pants, or skirts. Wear wide-brimmed hats and sunglasses. To treat a bad sunburn:
Apply honey or grated white potatoes. Use a moisturizing cream, aloe, or olive oil often, to prevent skin from peeling. Wear loose cotton clothing for comfort, and drink a lot of water to prevent dehydration. If the victim has difficulty breathing, he should be transported to the hospital immediately.
9
What is the best part about your work? Knowing that what we do is reducing pain and suffering in the lives of Am Yisrael is the best part of my job. Getting positive feedback is the icing on the cake. Mothers often call to thank me, telling me that the plastic wrap method really works and has helped them and their children time after time. With severely burned patients, parents appreciate my advice about not showing their worry to their child, which makes him worried, too. I tell them to assure their child that he is getting better, saying things like, “see where the burn is improving,” and to whisper positive messages in his ear, especially before bedtime. Even have him overhear a conversation you are having about his improvement. What we think often becomes the reality. I also alert people that trauma therapy could be very helpful.
Checklist for your next outing:
Check that your sunscreen hasn’t expired.
Take plenty of water, protective clothing, a hat, and sunglasses with you. Apply safe sunscreen half an hour before you go into the sun.
Reapply sunscreen every two hours while swimming or sweating.
Move to the shade every couple of hours to check for burns.
Sunburns happen even on a hazy day. Two years ago, a seminary girl called us after she suffered a whole week in bed with sunburned legs that had turned purple. Thinking she was safe from harmful rays, she was shocked to discover that hazy days are no safeguard from painful sunburns.
10
Have you experienced any hashgachah pratis incidents recently? Yes, definitely. I had heard about a five-year-old boy who fell into a bathtub of boiling-hot water and been hospitalized for a month. I wanted to contact his parents to offer them support but didn’t know their name, phone number, or even which hospital the child was in. Then, during this very interview, we discovered that the family lives in the same building as the interviewer, who had their contact information. In addition to everything else I do, fund-raising is last thing I get to, although it’s necessary to provide all the needs of the burn patients and the ongoing education the CMBF does.
In January, an Israeli woman called to say she’d just read an article about us and was so inspired, she wanted to contribute financially to the organization, which is tax-deductible only in the United States. I therefore opened a new bank account here in Yerushalayim. She decided to contribute NIS 45 (about $12.50) monthly. Every gift makes a splash, and I feel grateful whenever people offer to help. I feel that we get wisdom and wealth from Hashem, and everything else, in order to share it with others.
This information is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 41
Living Well
In Good Shape By Syma Kranz, PFC
Good Morning, Sneakers!
Why morning workouts are better for you Do you rise, shine, and lace up your exercise shoes, or do you save your workouts for the end of the day? Both approaches have benefits. Many people who work out in the morning say it makes them feel more energetic, while workouts after a long day at work help relieve stress. Any time of day that you’re moving your body is good, but if you’d like to give your brain function and overall health a boost, working out first thing in the morning could give you an edge. Here’s why.
Boost Your Brain An Australian study recently published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine shows that a session of moderateintensity exercise in the morning can boost decision-making abilities and cognitive skills throughout the day. That extra burst of morning activity jumpstarts your brain and gets it mentally prepped for the day. The study also points out the importance of taking short walking breaks throughout the day to maximize cognitive function. Both were beneficial for boosting brain function. Morning exercise enhances mood and protects against depression and anxiety. Exercise can positively impact a variety of proteins in the brain. That's one reason that exercise appears to have anti-depressant effects — without the side effects of prescription anti-depressants.
42 Wellspring | July 2019
Established Routine This one’s common sense: Working out first thing in the morning, or after the children leave the house, is an excellent way to establish a routine. Once you know that this is how your day runs, you’ll be a lot less likely to skip the gym. As the day progresses, many factors can interrupt or deter your commitment, but if you just “get it over with” before the buildup of responsibilities come your way, you know it’s done.
Improve Sleep Exercise, in general, promotes better sleeping habits. However, exercising in the evening can make it harder to fall asleep at night, as it boosts endorphin levels. A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that participants who exercised at 7 a.m. experienced deeper, longer sleep than those who exercised in the afternoon or evening. Morning workouts are the best way to reap all the sleep benefits of exercise.
Reduce Blood Pressure The aforementioned study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research also found that morning exercise is better for reducing blood pressure or maintaining healthy blood pressure levels than afternoon or evening exercise. For the study, lead researcher Dr. Scott Collier and his assistants tracked blood pressure levels and sleep patterns of individuals aged 40–60, who exercised moderately for 30 minutes, three times a week. The research volunteers walked on a treadmill at 7 a.m., midday (1 p.m.), and in the evening (7 p.m.). The subjects who exercised at 7 a.m. experienced about a 10 percent reduction in blood pressure that carried through the remainder of the day. They had about a 25 percent dip in blood pressure at night, as well.
What Works for You? Although morning workouts may be a boon for your brain and metabolism, there are advantages to exercising later in the day, especially when strength training. Strength peaks in the late afternoon and early evening. In fact, research shows that strength peaks at around 7:00 p.m. You’ll probably experience your best performance when your muscles are strongest. But even if you do most of your training after work, a brisk circuit-training session, even if it’s only 10 minutes, can help get your blood pumping, give your brain a boost, and help your body get ready for the day. Give it a try.
Syma Kranz, PFC, is a certified aerobics, Pilates, and Barre instructor, as well as the fitness director at Fusion Fitness in Lakewood, New Jersey. What started out as a small exercise class in her home catapulted into a popular gym that prides itself with tzanua, professional instructors and an appropriate atmosphere with lyric-free music and proper attire. Syma specializes in training women to integrate fitness into their busy lives, paying special attention to proper form and alignment and specializing in core and pelvic floor strengthening.
Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 43
Living Well
Ask the Nutritionist By Shani Taub, CDC
Healthy Weight Gain I’m underweight and it’s not good for me
Question: As an avid Wellspring reader, I realize that most of the magazine’s nutrition articles are geared toward helping people maintain or lose weight. Can you please provide some advice and insight on how to gain weight in a healthy manner? It would really be beneficial for those of us on the underweight side who can use an extra pound or two, including myself. I know that we’re in the minority, but I could really use the guidance. Thanks in advance!
Shani’s response: You’re right that you’re from the minority, but you’re certainly not alone. In my work as a nutritionist, I often work with women like you, and I understand that the struggle can be very real. Being either overweight or underweight can be detrimental to health and should thus be addressed. I commend you for reaching out. Being underweight can be a result of various factors. While some individuals lose copious amounts of weight due to illness or rigorous medical treatment like chemotherapy, others simply have a small stomach with a naturally low appetite. In all of these cases, being underweight is a sign of malnourishment — a signal that the body isn’t getting enough of the nutrition that it needs to function optimally. While weight can be increased through the consumption of high-caloric foods like chocolate and potato chips, this is obviously not the solution you seek. Thus, the one healthy way to gain weight for all individuals — children and adults alike — is to frequently eat foods that are high in natural fats. The two types of fat these foods contain are monounsaturated
44 Wellspring | July 2019
fat and polyunsaturated fat. What makes them good for you is that, among other heart-health benefits, they help reduce the LDL cholesterol, which is the kind of cholesterol that clogs the arteries. Research also shows that they benefit insulin and blood sugar levels, decreasing the risk of type 2 diabetes. The two main types of polyunsaturated fats are omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, essential fats our bodies need for brain function and cell growth. They’re mostly found in fish, nuts, seeds, and plant-based oils. The fats you want to stay away from, which will certainly lead to weight gain — but not the kind you seek — are trans fats, which are often listed on nutrition labels as “partially hydrogenated oils.” Most are artificial and raise LDL cholesterol while lowering HDL cholesterol — the good kind of cholesterol that keeps blood vessels clear. While consuming a limited amount of foods that are high in natural (monounsaturated or polyunsaturated) fats does not lead to weight gain (contrary to what many who need to lose weight are afraid of ), if we do so frequently enough, such as every hour, with a particular focus on choosing these foods, healthy weight gain does occur. Thus, my recommendation to you is to make it your business to eat from the following foods every hour or
so: avocados, nuts (particularly walnuts), seeds, nut and seed butters, edamame, 100 percent fruit juices, eggs, olives and olive oil, flaxseed, salmon, and high-fat yogurt. Since you probably can’t eat a lot at a time, focus on eating more often rather than in greater quantity. Simply keep eating throughout the day, consuming the high-calorie foods first to make sure you have an appetite for them before you get full. For example, if you want to have a salad with a peanut butter toast for lunch, start off with the toast and only eat as much salad as you can stomach. While vegetables have a host of health benefits, and you should try to include them in your diet as well, since they’re very low in fat and calories and your current
focus is to gain weight, make sure to consume the high-fat foods first. In the same vein, while water is a very important part of a healthy diet and should be the most consumed beverage by the average individual, in your case, I would recommend that you get more of your hydration from freshly squeezed juices and fruit smoothies. Add nuts and seeds when and wherever you can just to add calories. Use almond butter freely, and focus on having high-fat dairy foods. Focusing your diet around these foods will not only lead to healthy weight gain, but will also provide your malnourished body with the important nutrients it needs to fill you with energy and all the benefits that good health generates.
The Fertility Connection
I’m Afraid of Fat!
Attaining and maintaining a healthy weight range is critical for all areas of health, and fertility in particular. It often happens that when girls or women are underweight, menstruation does not occur as it should. Ovulation only becomes possible when the proper amounts of nutrients are present. When I work with women and girls in these circumstances, they and I are awed how making the simple, consistent diet changes discussed in this article may be all it takes to immediately turn things around for them.
When I work with clients, especially young girls, for whom the fear of consuming high-fat foods can be overwhelmingly present, I tell them that they will be their own lesson that they won’t get fat from eating healthy fats. It’s not the fat in the food that makes a person fat, I explain. Rather, eating anything in excess will have that effect. When an individual incorporates a moderate amount of healthy fats into their diet, she does not gain weight (unless it’s done as explained above). On the contrary, she derives many health benefits that facilitate satiety and weight loss. Time and again, these initially resistant women prove the reality to themselves.
It’s important to note that even an overweight individual may be malnourished. Many women who experience fertility issues and are overweight may be consuming copious amounts of calories every day, but if those calories aren’t derived from foods that provide the body with the nutrients it needs, their fertility issues escalate. In addition, too much excess body fat is also an impediment to fertility. The body needs all nutrients in the right amount; moderation is the key to being healthy.
Please send your questions to the nutritionist to info@wellspringmagazine.com. Shani Taub, CDC, has been practicing as a certified nutritionist in Lakewood for almost a decade, meeting with clients in person and on the phone. She also owns the highly popular Shani Taub food line, which carries healthy, approved, pre-measured foods and delicacies sold at supermarkets and restaurants. Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 45
SRULY W.
Living Well
Health Profile By Rachel Esses
Age: 48
Gender: Male
Weight: 256 pounds
Marital Status: Married
Location: Williamsburg
Height: 5'9”
Occupation: Food distributor
Favorite health food: Carrots That's a great health food. Carrots are not only tasty and crunchy, they're also a good source of potassium, antioxidants, and fiber, as well as being a weight-loss friendly food. They've been associated with lowering cholesterol levels and improving eye health. Favorite junk food: Chocolate pretzels Chocolate, particularly pure dark chocolate, and cocoa are actually good for you. They may reduce heart disease, improve blood flow, and are a good source of antioxidants. However, commercially produced chocolate-covered pretzels are coated in processed chocolate, and the pretzels are high in empty calories. Favorite exercise: Treadmill, twice a week Favorite nutritious dish: Tuna kale salad with lots of tomatoes My usual bedtime: 1:00 a.m. My usual wake-up time: 6:00 a.m. My biggest meal on a usual day: Usually my biggest meal is dinner, since I’m running around to different supermarkets during the day. Many people find that they forget to eat during the day. I would suggest setting an alarm or simply being mindful of about when you need to eat throughout the day while at work. Eating throughout the day keeps your metabolism going and also prevents you from being hungry. My usual dinner menu: Baby chicken or steak, with pasta and French fries. My weight loss saga: I barely eat during the day, so by the time I get home I eat double the amount I’m supposed to be eating. Yes, I’m sure it isn’t a good thing, but I don’t have time. It is a challenge to keep up with eating throughout the day if you feel like you have no time, but you can always make time. Taking 10–20 minutes out of your day to eat a light snack or lunch will do you more good than harm. Greatest weight loss challenge: Eating throughout the day, whether something big or small. One of the significant components to weight loss is eating consistently throughout the day, which keeps the metabolism working. If you’re tight on time, aim for the quick options, such as whole-wheat bread with sliced turkey for lunch or one bag of popcorn as a snack. This way, you won’t feel hungry. As a side perk, you’ll find that you have much more energy. My weight/lifestyle goals: To first lose 30 pounds for my daughter’s wedding … in five months. How I would treat myself if I get there: I would just feel very proud of myself. I guess a new shirt wouldn't hurt as well.
Rachel Esses is a nutrition counselor at Nutrition by Tanya, a nutrition practice run by Tanya Rosen, which has locations in Boro Park, Flatbush, Lakewood, Monsey, Monroe, Williamsburg, Queens, Five Towns, and Israel. Tanya is the creator of the TAP (Tanya approved products) line available on her website, offices, and at select supermarkets, offering all-natural low-calorie delicious snacks and food. Tanya can be reached through The Wellspring.
46 Wellspring | July 2019
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Living Well
Feature
48 Wellspring | July 2019
The Naughtiest Troublemaker Scar tissue˙s invisible power Dr. Chayala Englard, PT, DPT What is scar tissue and why is it so troublesome? This article covers the stages of healing and the types of abnormal scars, complications, and treatment options.
Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 49
Living Well
Feature
I
f the body was a class of students, scar tissue would win the title of the naughtiest troublemaker.
Yet, scar tissue’s trouble is subtle and often goes undetected for many years. Many mistakenly think scar tissue is not important — and also not treatable. But experts in the field actually consider scar-tissue treatment to be the missing link needed to obtain permanent and optimal healing.
•
I learned much of what I know about scar tissue behavior and treatment from the esteemed Dr. Mary Massery, a physical therapist (who was recently featured in this magazine) specializing in neuromuscular conditions, breathing mechanics, and postural stability. The physiology explained in this article is based on a lecture given by Dr. Frank Vicari, a top pediatric plastic surgeon located in Chicago, Illinois, who works very closely with Dr. Massery. All humans and animals scar, as it's a natural part of healing. In fact, it's the only way we can heal from a wound. Scar tissue is made of collagen, a naturally occurring protein, and specialized cells, called fibroblasts. Scars can form on the skin and in tendons, ligaments, the gut, intervertebral discs, and more. A colleague of mine told me about the case of a male patient who was vomiting for hours on end. The ER did a CT scan and found a tremendous blockage. While the doctors initially thought the blockage might be cancer, it turned out to be scar tissue that had built up from colon cancer surgery that had taken place five years earlier. Emergency surgery was performed and he has not vomited since. Unfortunately, we hear similar stories all too often. The Phases of Wound Healing Wound healing happens in three stages: the inflammatory phase, the proliferative phase, and the maturation or remodeling phase. In the inflammatory phase, or the first two to three days immediately following an injury, platelets release growth factors, which activate fibroblasts to produce. What's most needed during this phase is wound control, management, and healing. Wounds must be kept sterile, hydrated, and protected from infection.
50 Wellspring | July 2019
The next phase — the proliferative phase — is when new scar tissue is formed. Fibroblasts are continuously released, peaking at two to three months. The issue here is that when the fibroblasts are randomly released, the body is basically throwing collagen at the problem. As so aptly described by Dr. Vicari, “New scars are like a plate of spaghetti, which over time will be reorganized.” During this phase there is much production and little degradation (dividing). At this point, the scar is considered immature and is characterized by the three R’s: red (due to angiogenesis, an increase in blood flow), raised, and rigid. After about three months, degradation equals production, and the amount of collagen being produced levels off. The maturation or remodeling stage lasts up to two years, during which there is constant matrix (the environment in which the scar tissue develops) remodeling, realignment, and cross-linking of collagen. Simply put, the more cross-links in the collagen, the greater the wound strength. Writing this paragraph reminded me of the most severe scar I ever worked on. My patient, a”h, had multiple surgeries for metastasizing colon cancer. Her main scar ran from her sternum down to her pubic bone. That scar was opened a total of five times to access her internal organs. The scar was so strong and tough that it pulled on her back muscles, causing excruciating back pain. The only way she experienced relief was when I would release some of the tightness of that abdominal scar. Here's where therapy and treatment are vital to reorganize the scar tissue along normal lines of regular skin tension, instead of causing haphazard, rough beds of hardened tissue. The goal is to decrease the opportunity for the dermis (skin) to tether to the underlying fascia. (To “tether” is to tie with a rope or chain, so as to restrict its movement.) Tethered scars can lead to a loss of mobility and strength, and be a source of chronic pain. The more work done and the more appropriate cross-linking that occurs, the greater the realignment. Scars can then start to soften, decrease in redness, and become more malleable. Abnormal Wound Healing Signs and symptoms of abnormal wound healing include erythema (redness), pain, itching, loss of range of motion, and tethering. A poor immune system, comorbidity of
autoimmune disease, genetics, and more can lead to the development of a hyper-trophic or keloid scar. A hyper-trophic scar is one that's thickened, wide and often raised, whereas a keloid is one that outgrows the boundary of the original scar. This occurs when collagen production supersedes degradation. Keloid scars are most common in individuals of darker skin. According to a new study done at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, African Americans are seven times more likely than Caucasians to develop a keloid following head and neck surgery. Keloids most often occur on the chest, shoulders, earlobes (following ear piercing), upper arms, and cheeks. Common initiators of these scars are cutaneous injury (including trauma) irritation, insect bites, burns, surgery, vaccination, skin piercing, acne, folliculitis, chicken pox, and herpes zoster (i.e., shingles) infection. Although the scars seem to be thicker than normal skin, the tissue is actually weaker. In addition, George Cotsarelis, a dermatology professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, notes that scar tissue lacks hair follicles and sweat glands. He is currently studying how to regenerate hair follicles and sweat glands on wound sites, which may, in turn, avoid scarring. Hormones also have an effect on scars, with fluctuations in blood flow and healing. Pain can be generated by scar tissue adhering to nerves, causing radiating and referred pain. Pain may also be the result of restricted blood flow due to tight scar pull on surrounding tissue. Scarpa’s fascia, a continual layer of tissue that layers the lower thoracic and anterior abdominal wall, is not well known, yet is the hotbed site for tethered scars. Fascia and other tissue all over the body are meant to move freely, except
for the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet. If fascia is held down on one end, the other end will tug or tether, limiting movement in all planes. Common causes of tethered scars are surgical pins and screws, chest tubes, G-tubes, tracheostomies, abdominal surgeries (hernia repair, cesarean births, appendix removal), infection drainages, and so on. In “Abdominal Adhesions: A practical review of an often overlooked entity,” an amazing article published in the March 2017 edition of Annals of Medicine and Surgery, the authors state that abdominal adhesions may also be the cause of chronic abdominal pain, whether it's constant, related to eating meals, exercising, lying down, or sitting for a long time. This is especially common in women after a caesarean birth, who may attribute the abdominal discomfort to hormonal changes, weight gain, nursing, changes in eating habits, or sleep deprivation. Other symptoms of tethered scars include chronic (persistent or intermittent) bloating, abdominal cramping, altered bowel habits — including constipation or frequent loose stools (e.g., from development of small-intestinal bacterial overgrowth), nausea with or without early satiety, female infertility, and rectal bleeding. Individuals will stay in a position that avoids tugging the scar. For example, in the case of abdominal scarring from surgery, a child can often be found in a fetal or pretzel position, and an adult in a forward-bent posture. For people who've had knee replacements, their preferred knee position is almost full extension. Therapy and machines are necessary to increase flexion range of motion for walking, bending, and other daily activities. I once worked on a patient who had a double knee
While the doctors initially thought the blockage might be cancer, it turned out to be scar tissue that had built up from colon cancer surgery that had taken place five years earlier.
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replacement and understandably had extreme difficulty with walking. I will never forget that sound — of the fresh scar tissue popping — as I bent her knee that first session. It was so loud, I thought the whole gym must have heard, and I was sure I broke her leg. The other therapists saw my horrified face of horror and started laughing. “You’ll get used to that sound,” they told me. Till this day I can clearly hear that pop in my head when I recall that incident. Contractures are strong scars that developed over flexion creases such as the elbow, axillary (arm pit), fingers, knees, or ankles, leading to a loss of joint mobility, necessitating surgery. Surgery for Scars Surgery for tethered scars or contractures is comprised of two steps. First the scar tissue needs to be removed or released, eliminating the deforming force. Then new tissue is needed to replace the old scar tissue. Skin grafts are not recommended because that fresh tissue will adhere to underlying tissue, causing new problems. The better option is to lengthen tissue with Z-plasty and the like, or laying down additional tissue with a local flap (an adjacent tissue expander). For those without enough tissue to recruit, surgeons will use aloe-derm, acellular cadaver tissue. It's important that the transfer tissue have no blood flow, so
Once a specific technique is chosen for its best potential for that specific scar, ideal follow-up is five to 10 minutes, two to three times daily, for at least six months following the surgery or injury.
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the body will not reject the foreign tissue. Many advanced surgeons are utilizing platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to prevent reoccurrence of abnormal scar tissue following surgery. Thus, although scars are a result of surgeries, they should be identified and managed more effectively, so as not to restrict movement and affect quality of life. I’ve heard so many times, “I went for my six-week followup visit, and the doctor said my stitches are healed. So why do I have so much pain?” This statement can pertain to any surgical technique. As we have already discussed, there are many factors that can affect scar tissue healing. However, one thing is certain: Follow-up care is essential for optimal healing. Dedication on the part of the patient, family, and therapists as a unit will make all the difference. How to Protect Your Skin There a few key facts to keep in mind about fresh scar tissue. Firstly, the Cleveland Clinic warns that scar tissue is less resistant to UV rays; therefore, sun exposure may cause scars to hyper-pigment, or turn darker than the surrounding skin. The skin should be protected from the sun for at least one year following your surgery. Silicone sheets, paper tape, tagaderm, or onion-extract gels are great options for scar protection and hydration, and they help lift the skin from adhering to underlying
tissue. Pressure garments are used following serious burns to protect the fragile skin and promote better circulation in damaged tissues. According to the Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, one should start massaging his or her scars two weeks after surgery, once the sutures have been removed and all scabs have fallen off by themselves. Creams such as shea butter and essential oils, such as tea tree oil and vitamin E oil, are excellent products for scar massage and contain healing properties for collagen elasticity. ASTYM, a trademark technique causing “a-stimulation” of the body’s natural healing response, utilizes specialized tools designed to break up fibrotic tissue. Techniques of skin rolling (lifting and rolling the skin), deep-scar mobilization, and Arvigo massage are performed directly on the skin without the use of a cream or oil. Once a specific technique is chosen for its best potential for that specific scar, ideal follow-up is five to 10 minutes, two to three times daily, for at least six months following the surgery or injury. Other forms of scar-release treatment are cupping (up to 4 inches deep), cryotherapy, acupuncture, shock-wave therapy, and laser. Of course, any treatment must be combined with stretching, yoga, and range-ofmotion exercises to increase the tissue’s extensibility. I can vividly recall treating a teenage burn victim with multiple skin grafts at the JFK Hospital Outpatient Center. My supervisor and I would sit for over an hour, moisturizing, massaging, and stretching the boy’s limbs. The smile of relief on his face after the session was worth all the soreness in my hands. Deep breathing is another amazing tool that should be incorporated into every scar tissue treatment protocol. Breathing correctly will assist in reestablishing the proper internal pressure system and fascial alignment. I am constantly amazed at the power of deep breathing. A patient of mine who had had major abdominal surgery reported feeling “collapsed” and unable to stand upright, requiring the use of a binder and an assistive device. All the typical rehab she had done had not helped, and she even felt worse. After just one session of deep-scar mobilization, diaphragmatic breathing, and gentle stretching, she called to tell me that she felt like a changed person. Scar tissue may be invisible and powerful, yet it's highly trainable. My advice is to educate yourself, be your own advocate, do the work needed, and ask Hashem take care of the healing. Dr. Chayala Englard can be contacted through Wellspring. May any refuah that results from this article be a zechus for Devorah bas Shimshon a”h.
Post-Birth Scars As a pelvic floor therapist, I treat scar tissue quite often. The most common referrals are for caesarean births, episiotomies, and other birth-related trauma (especially with equipment-assisted births, such as forceps and vacuum extractions). Tearing during birth can be a distressing experience. If just the skin and some of the tissue under the skin is torn, this is known as either a first- or second-degree tear. A woman with either of these types of tears may not even require stitches but could still experience pain or discomfort and have scarring. A third- or fourthdegree tear is present when the skin, underlying tissues, and part or the entire anal sphincter is torn. The restricted movement of a scar is called an adhesion. Perineal and abdominal adhesions can be very painful, especially with sitting, prolonged standing, or straining of any kind. After a caesarean birth, many women report itchiness, discomfort with weather changes, and pulling sensations. Daily scar massage is one way to break up these adhesions. It can be done with oils or a home ultrasound device for further effectiveness. Leg stretches will also assist by increasing flexibility, thus allowing more blood flow to the pelvic floor. If this is something that you’re experiencing, my message to you is not to despair. Many women have been helped and you can be, too. This is true even if the scars have been untreated for a long time. The ideal time to treat scar tissue is within two years, which is when the skin is in the remodeling phase, but there is certainly hope beyond that time frame. In fact, I’ve worked on episiotomy scars that were 40 years old and the treatment was successful.
Treatment Due to Physical Appearance While this article focuses on treating scar tissue that interferes with functioning, if often happens that individuals would like to treat scars for cosmetic purposes. These are scars that aren’t causing discomfort or pain, such as scars from chicken pox, bites, and acne, but whose physical appearance is unpleasing. Scars in this category only require intensive treatment if they are raised, hyper-trophic, or keloid. Otherwise, if they’re just surface, I recommend using spin products to repair cell damage and promote healthy cell turnover.
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At the Dietitian By Tamar Feldman, RDN, CDE
Weaning Off Acid Reflux Medication: A Case Study In the last installment, we discussed the root cause of GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease, or more simply, reflux) and tips to heal it. In Part 2 of this series, I present a case study of an individual who successfully weaned herself off reflux medication.
Chani, age: 38 At her first session, Chani described reflux symptoms that had started eight years ago, after the birth of one of her children. I had worked with Chani a few years earlier on weight loss, but now she was complaining of numerous digestive issues, including reflux, constipation, burping after fatty foods and proteins, and a bloated sensation after many meals.
Chani was taking a proton-pump inhibitor medication for acid reflux. She had been on it for the past five years and had tried numerous times to stop taking it, but was unsuccessful. She stated that her burping, bloating, and constipation had started approximately two years earlier, three years after she had begun taking the medication. Chani confessed that she considered her diet to be of poor quality and high in junk food.
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Other significant factors: Frequent sinus infections, with antibiotic treatment roughly four times a year • Brain fog
• History of hypoglycemia – feeling weak and shaky between meals • Excessive phlegm
• Consumed limited dairy products because she had noticed that they caused an exacerbation in her phlegm and other gastrointestinal symptoms
Plan of action: 1. Test for gluten sensitivity in the stool
2. Test for H. pylori, bacteria commonly linked to reflux
3. Small frequent meals, with small amounts of fat at each meal
4. Educated on nasal rinsing to prevent sinus infections and antibiotic use 5. Supplements for digestive support:
• DGL (deglycyrrhizinated licorice), MSM, and zinc carnosine before meals
• Betaine HCL or water with apple cider vinegar mixed in – to increase stomach acid prior to meals • Citrucel fiber and buffered vitamin C for constipation • High dose quality probiotics
Treating Reflux at the Root Chani’s case was straightforward: Overuse of antibiotics, food sensitivities, and not enough stomach acid had led to imbalanced gut bacteria and an inability to properly break down foods. While her H. pylori test came back negative, she did test positive for gluten sensitivity. After six weeks without dairy and gluten and taking all her supplements religiously, she was able to wean herself slowly off her medication, cutting back the dosage and frequency over two to three weeks until she stopped taking it.
Chani required digestive support from these supplements and extra acid added to her stomach for an additional few more months while we worked on improving her gut bacteria through a plant-based, high-fiber diet, high-dose probiotics, and avoiding antibiotics. Once we were confident that her digestion was in a healthy place and her symptoms had completely resolved, she was able to stop taking the supplemental acid and digestive support before meals as well.
Names and identifying details have been changed to protect client confidentiality. Tamar Feldman, RDN, CDE is a highly acclaimed and experienced registered dietitian/nutritionist and certified diabetes educator. She maintains a busy nutrition practice with offices in Lakewood and Edison, and via phone/skype to numerous international clients, specializing in balanced and sustainable weight loss and nutrition therapy for autoimmune and gastrointestinal issues. She can be reached at 732-364-0064 or through her website: www.thegutdietitian.com. Follow her @gutdietitian. Write to Tamar at tamar@thegutdietitian.com to join her whatsapp group for weekly gut health lectures.
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Health Personality By Esther Retek
Cup of Tea With:
Esther Erps, EMT
I
f you inquire about lifeguarding courses in the tri-state area, one name is bound to come up again and again: Esther Erps. She’s a lifeguard, a lifeguard instructor, and a lifeguard instructor trainer, and yes, these jobs are all different. Just one conversation with Esther reveals why she has earned her reputation. Her seriousness toward the subject coupled with her fun-loving personality makes our conversation an enjoyable learning experience. More than how she speaks about the topic, it is Esther’s easily perceptible sense of responsibility regarding her role that leaves an indelible impression. It’s no wonder that a woman so passionate about saving lives and educating others to do the same has been meeting such success in the field. With her wealth of knowledge and unparalleled experience, Esther is not only a renowned head lifeguard in a summer camp for the last 29 years, she also gives lessons for girls and women throughout the year. “These jobs allow me to express my passion for lifeguarding and my desire to educate people on this subject,” says Esther. In addition to teaching the skills and information, she instills within her students a passion and a sense of responsibility toward their work. 56 Wellspring | July 2019
OCCUPATION: Lifeguard, lifeguard instructor, lifeguard instructor trainer
LOCATIONS: Brooklyn, New York Swan Lake, New York
PASSION: Teaching and swimming, of course
WISHES PEOPLE WOULD KNOW: The importance of following safety rules in the pool and pool area.
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Esther’s ardent interest in lifeguarding dates back to her childhood. “Ever since I was young, I found the pool to be my safe haven. Swimming, not surprisingly, became my favorite activity. As it does for everyone, swimming made me feel free, independent, graceful, and boundless. In addition to that,” she explains, “I was always conscious of being safe around the pool.” Then, an interesting confluence of events led Esther to her career. “The summer after I graduated high school, the school I had attended opened a camp for its students. Always the camp-lover, I immediately applied for a staff job, but I was told that the only position still available was lifeguard. In my determination to get in, I practically ran to the Boro Park Y to obtain a lifeguarding license. However, by the time I was done, the camp staff informed me that they needed someone with a WSI (water safety instruction) certification too. “That summer, I ended up utilizing my license as a lifeguard in a bungalow colony. The following year, still wanting to go to camp, I made sure to obtain my WSI. But when I informed the camp that I was all set, they told me that unfortunately they could not accommodate me since they had already hired someone else. Again, I ended up spending the ten weeks of that summer in a bungalow colony. Finally, the next summer, at a friend’s suggestion, I applied for and landed the lifeguarding job at Pupa Girls’ Camp.” It’s at this location that Esther has spent her last 27 summers. “I acquired much of my knowledge thanks to this great place,” she continues. “They sent me to train as an EMT, then later to become a lifeguard instructor, and recently as a lifeguard instructor trainer, which means that I can train lifeguards to train others.” With this much experience under her belt, I know Esther is the go-to person for all my pool-related questions. When I ask her what she thinks is most important for people to know about swimming, her prompt response is — not surprisingly — safety. “My essential goal is to educate children and adolescents to be safe in and around the water. They need to know how to get in, how to get out, how to go to the side when they need to rest, 58 Wellspring | July 2019
and anything else that will enable them to swim in a safe manner. Once children are well aware of the safety guidelines, my goal is for them to know how to swim. I would do anything to teach a child how to swim.” Only after instructing how to swim, Esther moves on to teaching the more complicated maneuvers, such as nicer strokes. “For campers, my goal is also obviously first safety, and then learning how to swim, but I work to encourage the girls to pass the deep-water test. A teenager should be able to swim comfortably in deep waters.” When I ask her about fears girls have before taking this test, she replies, “My lifeguards and I never push a girl to do something in the water if she’s not ready for it. Swimming could be dangerous, and if a girl doesn’t feel comfortable she should never be pressed to do so. Often, though, a girl is ready to take the test but is afraid to take that first jump, or start her laps. In that case, I would do anything to help her. I would jump in with her, swim alongside her — anything to put her at ease.”
After hearing about a mother who was unable to rescue her child because she couldn’t reach the bottom of the pool, Esther says she has also made it a goal to make sure that every camper can reach the bottom of the pool easily. That’s Esther Erps. Responsibility and patience, woven with passion and enthusiasm.
In order to maintain a safe pool environment, Esther delivers a safety lecture to all campers at the start of every summer. In this speech, she outlines all her rules and the consequences for not obeying them. “From the beginning, we introduce our systematic buddy procedure. This allows me to keep track of every girl in the pool. Randomly, I blow my whistle. The girls know that the first one means ‘find your buddy,’ the second one ‘hold on,’ and the third one ‘go to the wall.’ The system works smoothly because I am very strict to follow through with it. Lifeguards sometimes fail to realize how important this procedure is to ensure that everyone is safe.” Esther also notes that this proves to be challenging at times — not just to control the hullabaloo going on in the pool, but interestingly, to witness when some girls openly reject others. “Although it’s not frequent, it’s sad to see older girls strug-
gling to find a buddy. It’s hard for me to see girls walking into the pool without a buddy simply because they’re not ‘the kid’ girls go for. It sounds immature, but it’s a sad reality.”
Throughout the summer, Esther also focuses on imparting the basic safety rules outlined by the American Red Cross. Utilizing her creativity, she came up with a system to help the girls absorb these rules, making it fun even for the older ones. Every week, she hangs attractive posters around the pool area with a catchy phrase such as “Be cool; follow the rule” or “Too much sun is no fun.”
“Over the eight weeks of camp, the girls acquire a host of knowledge about safety. These are fundamental rules that every individual should be well versed in. I find that most girls are especially unaware about staying safe in the sun. It happened more than once that girls burned themselves badly, either by falling asleep under the sun or simply by not realizing how much time they spent under the sun. I understand they want their skin tanned, but the trade-off just doesn’t pay,” she stresses. “Children also need to know the importance of not screaming in the pool. To a lifeguard, screaming means ‘Help,’ and we can’t afford to have girls screaming purposelessly. Furthermore, if help is needed, the lifeguards can’t hear the call over the cacophony of loud voices.” What does Esther find challenging about her work? “The demanding part of my job,” she says, “is being on top of the ten lifeguards who work for me at all times. These girls may sometimes unintentionally have their attention diverted from the pool, or busy themselves with something else. I have to make sure they stay focused every moment.” Esther instituted a system for the lifeguards working for her that gives these girls their private time to have their swim, both before the campers file in and after. “Also, every Friday, I mandate that these lifeguards come for a practice session. I review the skills and information needed and have them do some practice. Lifeguarding is a skill, and a skill needs practice,” she emphasizes. “I also make sure that my lifeguards are those who I personally trained so that we have a common language from the start. I give the campers who graduated from tenth grade an opportunity to train as lifeguards over the
summer. During lunchtime, they come to the pool and learn the basics. If they qualify, they continue to learn all summer long and come back the following year with the required license.”
While every swimming day is loaded with responsibility for all lifeguards, the one day they dread, across the board, is “Aqua Day.”
“Although it’s fun for the campers, this day has me with a knot in my stomach and bated breath until I see the end of it,” says Esther. “When girls get into a competitive mode, they’ll do anything to win. I recall watching a girl treading in a race. I noticed her slowly lose her breath and her energy dissipate. Still, she would not surrender. I leaped into the water to get her, but by the time I got her out, her body had gone into shock and she’d started convulsing dangerously. Hatzolah immediately arrived to the scene, and it took the girl quite some time to get back to herself. Competition may push a girl to outdo herself in an unsafe manner. I see it time and again — it’s frightening.” “Campers, please be especially careful on this day,” is Esther’s plea. “I want every camper to enjoy herself to the utmost, to channel her energies and to exercise in a fun way, but safety comes first.”
Esther also highlights the importance of maintaining the right pool temperature, specifically to ensure that the water is not too cold. “Nowadays, pool temperature is rarely an issue for me, because our camp installed an excellent heater, but prior to its installation, I had to be very careful when I allowed girls in. People are excited to plunge into the waters, and especially when they’re hot, they want to cool off in ice-cold water. The body can’t always handle the extreme change in temperature, though.” Esther relates an incident when she saw a woman become hypothermic in the pool. Because the water was so cold, her body began shaking uncontrollably to the extent that she required immediate medical attention. “It’s important to listen to your body. If you feel that the water is too cold, don’t assure yourself that it just takes a few minutes to get used to it. Also, make sure to notice when you are in the pool for too long. If it’s late in the day, when the sun is already setting, and you’re feeling cold, it’s time Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 59
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It’s important to listen to your body. If you feel that the water is too cold, don’t assure yourself that it just takes a few minutes to get used to it.
to leave the pool,” she notes.
“And of course, it goes without saying not to play any dangerous games like swimming under other swimmers, and diving in non-diving areas or over ropes. Having fun and staying protected is not a contradiction,” she finishes off.
Regarding campers who don’t want to swim, Esther explains the system her camp has instituted. “We don’t force anyone to participate in swimming, but if they if they aren’t dressed in swim gear, they cannot enter the pool area. We offer a ‘non-swimmer’s club’ where these girls could play games and enjoy their free dry time.”
While Esther understands that not everyone loves the pool, to her there’s no better place to spend a summer’s day. “The best part of my job is definitely the amount of hours I get to spend at the pool,” she says, her words infused with palpable excitement and energy. While her summer job takes over a lot of her headspace and time, Esther devotes the rest of the year to instructing women and girls toward becoming lifeguards. At a pool in Manhattan, she helps hundreds of girls obtain their license in an exciting yet rigorous program. “I accept everyone into my classes, but usually 25 to 30 percent of them eventually leave. First and foremost, people interested in lifeguarding must love the pool. They have to be willing to spend many hours there on a daily basis. Ultimately, only girls who are persistent, passionate, and energetic can endure the training. They first have to pass the preliminaries, take tests after reading every chapter in the book, learn CPR and first-aid, and be able to pass the skills test. Often, girls opt out of the course either out of fear or because they can’t demonstrate the necessary skills.” As part of the course, Esther explains, trainees are required to tread without using their hands, pick up bricks from a few feet below water, and carry heavy items while they swim — all to ensure they are fully equipped for any emergency. Recognizing that the criteria for success are difficult, Esther never pushes a trainee who appears afraid. “I’ve learned that lifeguards need a tremendous amount of emotional strength and cannot get overwhelmed by their fears. I remember learning this lesson so vividly my very first summer as a lifeguard. Our pool had this tall lifeguarding chair that I didn’t use, but was there more for the campers to enjoy. My rule was that only one girl at a time could 60 Wellspring | July 2019
sit on it. While watching the pool, I suddenly witnessed the most horrific sight. A girl tried climbing onto the lifeguard chair, with the girl perched on it helping her get up. Then the whole chair toppled over, crashing into the pool, along with those two girls. The place turned chaotic, with panicked screams from every direction. I was gripped with fear. It took a tremendous amount of stamina and adrenaline to overcome my emotions. Without thinking or feeling, I jumped into the pool to help the girls. It was very difficult since one of the girls was under the chair, and I had to lift it in order to get her out.” The message Esther emphasizes is clear: your feelings have no place when it comes to saving a life. She will therefore never push anyone who’s overcome with fear to proceed with her training. Combining both of her passions, Esther has been teaching women and girls for the past 17 years and hopes to continue doing so for a long time. Every job, though, comes with some challenges and Esther is confronted with them too. The biggest: having people come in for training with the attitude of “Let me get my license as fast as I can.”
“I work hard to impress the gravity of the job on each trainee. Obtaining a lifeguard license requires strenuous work to make sure you are ready to face any emergency and be fully prepared to keep the swimmers safe. It is not a process that can be done matter-of-factly or because ‘you just want to have what to do in the summer’ — one has to be very enthusiastic and determined.” Esther is certainly a role model with regard to these qualities. “I derive such pleasure when seeing the results of my efforts. Watching these women and girls walk out confidently and proudly with their license in hand is certainly an amazing part of my job. I recently had a girl come back to me, relating how she had saved a child from drowning. In describing the scene, I noted that she used every technique I’d taught her, and rescued the child in the best possible way. It was the greatest feeling to hear how my lessons had played a role in helping that child.” In a world where burnout abounds, I find it refreshing to speak to a woman who’s been doing her job for almost three decades with the passion and excitement of a first-timer, without losing sight of the responsibility that rests on her shoulders. How does Esther do it? “It’s because I constantly have my vision in mind. My ultimate goal is to keep as many children as possible safe in the pool, be it in camps or in the many bungalow colonies where my students serve as lifeguards. My mantra is always ‘Fun without safety is no fun.’ If you’re educated with the basic safety rules and have a responsible lifeguard to rely on, you’ll have a great time at the pool.” With the amount of children and women who feel safer in the pool thanks to Esther and her students, she can certainly feel that she’s accomplishing her mission. Esther Erps can be reached via Wellspring.
Living Well
Memos from a Kinesiologist By Miriam Schweid
Lyme Disease 101 Prevention precedes treatment and fall.
After a tick bites, it waits several hours before it begins to feed on the host’s blood, thus infecting it. The longer the tick remains attached, the greater the risk of disease. The symptoms of Lyme disease are extremely varied and can appear from 2 to 32 days after contact is made. The first sign may be the appearance of a bull’s-eye rash, which is a red circular rash with a white center. In some cases, instead of, or in addition to the rash, the affected person experiences achiness, back pain, fatigue, and flu-like symptoms such as muscle weakness and joint stiffness. The disorder may go unrecognized for weeks or even months.
In our home, camp lists are sacred. My children study their lists as though they were law, making sure to check off every last item well in advance, to ensure that they won’t be stuck miles away from home with one mesh laundry bag instead of two. Times have really changed since the days that I was a camper. One of the more health-related changes are the newer, more updated medical forms which include mandatory meningitis shots, boosters, and countless forms to sign. Recently enough, accompanying the many forms, is a brochure on Lyme disease and tick prevention, which becomes an especially hot topic during this time of year. Here are the basics you may want to know about this condition. Lyme disease takes its name from the town of Old Lyme, Connecticut, where the disease was first identified in 1975. In 1983, once the government began tracking Lyme, the Center for Disease Control tracked 48 cases of the disease. By 2007, there were 27,000 cases of reported Lyme disease, and many more went unreported. Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness transmitted by the deer tick. The tick is shed by the host animal into grass or wooded areas, from where they can be picked up by an unsuspecting passerby — human or animal — who becomes the next host. Most likely to be affected are people who spend time outdoors or near wooded areas. The majority of cases occur in the summer
The good news is that, if found in its early stages, Lyme disease is treatable and almost always curable. A test that measures the levels of antibodies that increase from 3 days to 3 weeks after being bitten by a tick is often used to identify Lyme disease. Thus, it’s important to remain on alert for any of the symptoms described, for three weeks following a tick bite. Consult with your doctor if you notice any changes. And while I found the information found in the Lyme brochure I received (some of which I’ve shared above) very informative, I was curious as to why another very important element was not addressed: tick bite prevention. Was preventing tick bites even possible? When I did research, the only advice I got was to wear long-sleeved clothing, shoes, tights, long pants, and long dresses. While this is sensible advice to have in mind, we already have this dress code in place, so this advice wasn’t giving me active prevention. Also, since ticks are so minuscule, some of them may even bite through clothing. I understood that a better solution would be to repel them entirely.
As a practitioner who has witnessed firsthand the manifold benefits of essential oils, I invested intensive research and experimentation into developing TICSAWAY. Harnessing the power of essential oils like lemongrass, geranium, cedar wood, peppermint, and pennyroyal, each of which contains unique properties that enable tick repellence and bite prevention, this product is safe enough for kids to use on their own. It’s become a staple on my children’s camp list, because if we want our children to enjoy their summer, safety comes first. Names and identifying details have been changed to protect confidentiality.
Miriam Schweid is a Brooklyn-based kinesiologist. She can be reached through Wellspring. 62 Wellspring | July 2019
Living Well
Home Lab By Miriam Schweid
DIY
recipes for natural living
Mosquito Protection Mosquito bites are never fun, but they’re even less so for the many children who are allergic to them. When these children are stung, they may suffer from swelling, puffy eyelids, and other allergic reactions. Some may need medical assistance or first aid. This is a recipe to protect your child. Even if you’re not spending the summer in a country environment, there are plenty of mosquitoes in the city, as well.
In a clean spray bottle, combine: 20 drops of citronella 10 drops of lemon eucalyptus oil 5 drops of geranium oil 4 oz. water
Shake well and keep handy. Use the spray especially before going outdoors. It is safe on clothing, hair, and skin. Alternatively, you can purchase readymade sprays, but make sure they don’t contain DEET.
Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 63
WHEN I MAKE Sunscreen Shake GOOD Back cover CHOICES, I FEEL GOOD. You can’t eat your sunscreen. But what you can eat may help protect against sun damage.
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Nurture Yourself How can I be there for my inner child?
Q&A with Hudi Guggenheimer
On vacation Why do I miss my job? // Heart to Heart
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66 Wellspring | July 2019
Time to Grow Up:
Meet Your Inner Child
When it comes to emotional development, chronological age is not what determines our status as adults. It’s how we relate to our inner child that matters. Who exactly is your inner child? And what does she need that only you can give her?
Part I: Who is the inner child? By Shiffy Friedman
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T
he green grass and bountiful sunshine that the summer experience provides are conducive to many things,
including a deeper perspective of ourselves. For most, this is the season when we spend our time more leisurely, at a safe distance from the setting and tempo that characterize the rat race that is our life.
Whether we’re vacationing in a country environment or taking it more easy in our year-round home, the change of pace allows us an opportunity to see ourselves in a new light. If we pay attention, this is our chance to observe how we are around unfamiliar people and in new routines, and how we end up filling the time that is exclusively ours (more or less!). If our year-round life is characterized by “just do, don’t think,” this may be the perfect season to give ourselves the gift of trying out the opposite. And, in thinking more about ourselves, we'll gain the opportunity to explore a place within that may be collecting dust, possibly for decades already. This place is begging to be explored so that we can live the life we really want. One name for this place within is the inner child. If this term sounds foreign or feels complicated to you, keep in mind that how we refer to it doesn’t matter very much at all. What does matter, though — what really, really matters — is how we relate to it. This inner child is the place inside each of us that is essentially our emotional world. It’s our nefesh. Every Yid who lives in this world is a composite of three elements: the guf, nefesh, and neshamah. The body has no capacity to feel emotion, and the neshamah is beyond the realm of it; it’s the nefesh that encompasses our emotional world. This is the place where we feel — or the place that we may be afraid to feel. It’s the place from where all our emotions, including those that are rooted in our childhood, emanate. For the purpose of clarity, simply because it helps us visualize and get in touch with ourselves, we will refer to this place, which exists in each of us, as the "inner child" throughout this article. (It’s important to point out that when the "inner child" is taken as a theory and not understood correctly, the work we do with it does not penetrate the heart — it remains
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a concept in the mind.) So, what exactly is the inner child and why is it important for us to get in touch with it? The "inner child" is such an appropriate name for this internal place because the feelings emanating from it aren’t new. Rather, they are feelings we’ve been experiencing since our youth, feelings that keep coming up throughout our lives. They may be disguised in more mature or adult-like facades as time progresses, but they're feelings from childhood nevertheless. Whether you’re 20 or 40 or 80, the emotions that arise in you today are all rooted in the way you've been feeling about yourself since your youth. And so, when you’re experiencing an emotion, it is essentially your inner child that’s coming to the fore. Leah is sitting with some friends on a cool summer morning. She’s enjoying the conversation, laughing at the jokes, and contributing her take on the topic. When she returns to her summer abode, she thinks, “I’m so happy I came out here this summer. I’m grateful to have such a fun, engaging group of friends.” The very next morning, Leah’s in the circle with the same women again. This time, she’s finding the humor to be in poor taste. The conversation bores her and she’s fishing for a reason to excuse herself from the group. She enters her bungalow and heads straight for her phone or an ice cream bar in the freezer. “Why on earth am I here this year?” She practically wants to shout. “This crowd is so not my speed; such a shallow group of people.” So what’s the truth? Are the women in Leah’s place the fun, engaging group she saw them as just a day before, or are they superficial and boring to the extent that she can’t even have a decent conversation with them? Actually, the answer is irrelevant, because what Leah is experiencing has nothing to do with these women. It has everything to do with her — particularly, with how her inner child feels. When Meir arrives to the family’s bungalow after a week of work in the city, he discovers a new addition on the deck: a full patio set, replete with an umbrella and cushioned chairs. “Look what a bargain I found!” his wife Dina says, as she comes out to greet him. “We took a trip to the mall and they had this set for 30 percent off. I knew you would love it. Isn’t it exactly what we needed?” Meir is quiet for a moment and then says, “It’s nice, but why black? And the six chairs make the table look so
crowded.” “There you go again with your negative comments,” Dina tosses back. And there goes the end of the beautiful country evening both Meir and Dina had looked forward to all week. Both are left to nurse their own wounds. In this episode, too, it’s the voice of the inner child — or, rather, muting the voice of the inner child — in both Meir and Dina that led to this lost opportunity for connection. Not paying attention to what the child is telling us is a recipe for disaster in our relationship with others and ourselves. It affects our marriage, parenting, social life, and our connection with Hashem. But before we focus on how to pay attention to her, let’s understand who this inner child is.
From as early as the newborn stage, and especially as the infant grows into a toddler and then young child, the child’s antennae are on high alert.
Understanding the Inner Child Every human being is a storehouse of emotion. We could feel happiness, sadness, love, resentment, and many other objective emotions. But the primary feelings, those that usually influence these emotions, are actually the feelings we have about our own selves. To name a few of these feelings, we could feel loved, valued, unloved, or irrelevant. These feelings are not rooted in what’s happening around us at the current time; rather, because we’ve been carrying them in our heart for years and years. They keep rising to the surface. These are emotions that are based on how, in our youth — especially if we were a thinking, intuitive, sensitive child — we perceived the world around us. Ideally, childhood is a time when the growing child absorbs a feeling of love and respect toward herself and others because her human needs for love and respect are met. She’s surrounded and supported by adults who shower her with affection, as well as boundaries, lots of yeses, and a sprinkling of nos. She observes a healthy marriage; she witnesses firsthand how giving, as Rav Eliyahu Dessler, zt”l, explains, is the one and only route toward feeling real love. When this child grows into an adult, her heart is open to others — and herself, because of what she was given as a child. She sees herself as a good person, someone who has strengths and weaknesses, who is human and is thus allowed to make mistakes, who deserves to be cherished for who she is. But, even in the most loving, respectful environment, and even more so when circumstances are not ideal, because a
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When we numb our heart to pain, we simultaneously numb it to joy.
child’s emotional world is so vulnerable, the chances are high that she will also come to conclusions about herself that are not all peaches and cream. And as long as these conclusions — these feelings about herself — are not addressed, they will inhibit her from living the life she wants to live. What are these conclusions? From as early as the newborn stage, and especially as the infant grows into a toddler and then young child, the child’s antennae are on high alert. Even as her cognitive development is still in the process of maturing, the emotional world is already ripe and ready to absorb what goes on around her. So let’s say this toddler is lying in her crib, calling for mommy again and again. If the child’s mother doesn’t appear for a very long time, it’s very likely that this child will come to a conclusion — that may or may not be the reality, but is based purely on her perception: “Mommy doesn’t love me. I feel alone.” Or, let’s say this child, at about age four, is crying miserably because a sibling ran off with her toy or she’s hungry or she’s tired or she lost her favorite doll. What happens if a parent comes to her and says sternly, “Stop crying right now!” or “You’re not a baby anymore,” or bribes her with a lollipop and the child gets the feeling that her emotional expression is a nuisance to everyone around her? It’s very likely that she’ll come to this conclusion: “My emotions don’t count. I don’t count.” If a child is raised by parents who are constantly in battle,
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whether they put each other down in front of the children or give each other the silent treatment, the child may draw a number of conclusions, including that she’s unloved and insecure. Of course, it won’t take long for a child who is consistently told that he’s naughty, bad, rude, or unkind to feel that way about himself. As another example, if a child is being consistently taunted by siblings or peers, the conclusion she may draw is: “I’m silly. I’m stupid. I’m irrelevant.” And, especially if no one sticks up for her and the adults in her life don’t take notice, the emotion she may feel is: “Nobody cares about me. I’m alone in this world.” While this may not be the reality, the feeling is very real to the child. More Sensitive Than We Think It’s simple to understand how a child raised in a dysfunctional environment ends up feeling this way about herself. Whether one or both parents were physically or emotionally absent, or she was subjected to abuse, excessive teasing, taunting, bullying, or trauma, the natural consequence is that the child will feel alone, unloved, insecure, and the like. But how, you may wonder, does a child who grows up in a relatively healthy home come to draw such conclusions about herself ? Take a good look at your own inner world, and you’ll understand. How soon do we forget that comment someone said to us two years ago that evoked a painful feeling in us? What does it take for us to feel hurt?
Why Rehash the Past? For many people, understanding the root of their unpleasant emotions is helpful. Noticing how their personal emotional state has been ingrained in them for many years — and realizing that what they’re feeling today is essentially a different version of the same feeling — helps people take responsibility for their healing. For example, a woman who feels alone may attribute her feelings to her husband’s personality or conduct. But when she traces the feeling back, she may notice that aloneness is an emotion that she’s been carrying around since her youth. Noticing this will help her pay attentionv to her own feelings, as opposed to shifting the blame or responsibility onto others. She can then begin the process of healing because as long as she sees others as the root of the problem, change is not within her reach. But when we use logic to try to figure out our emotions as a means to not have to take responsibility, searching for the roots of our feelings is toxic. Blame, guilt, unhappiness, and an exacerbation of all our unpleasant feelings will be the result. If you notice that this is what happens when you try to understand yourself and your inner child, you may benefit from doing the work with someone who can be there to support you in a positive way.
Or, if you’re blessed to be a parent, all it takes is one good look at your child and everything becomes clear. What does it take for him to come to the conclusion that he’s incompetent, a loser, a wimp, or not needed? A promise that isn’t kept, a word that is said in anger, an incident where the child is lost for a few minutes, a grape juice spill on a white dress or couch (especially in the presence of a stressed parent), or losing a game may be enough for him to draw conclusions about himself — conclusions that are not necessarily the reality, but to the child, at that point in time, feel very, very real. As macho and thick-skinned as we would like to consider ourselves to be (which may be an indication of the contrary), our emotional world is incredibly delicate. Think of it like the hard drive of a computer. If I take a modem and hurl it across the room, chances are that the damage to the system will be exponentially greater than if I move one circuit with my pinky finger. However, even that one tiny move can wreak havoc in the system. Contrary to popular misconception (which may emanate from fear of facing and legitimizing emotion), a child does not need to experience a trauma of spectacular proportions, such as a robbery, death of a parent, or divorce, to experience the difficult emotion that she feels. Every little twitch has an impact. Thankfully, the way we human beings differ from a hard drive is that we’re blessed with resilience. Hashem helps us forget and move on; not every hurtful incident accompanies us until our last day. But still, there’s no denying that we are impacted by
twitches, especially consistent twitches, in the system. (Of course, even the most well-meaning parent makes mistakes — and that's okay. After all, we’re human, and so are our parents. If reading this brings up feelings of guilt or fear regarding our own parenting, we may want to explore what we’re feeling guilty about. If it’s because we realize that we’re making certain mistakes that need improvement, our guilt is achieving the purpose for which Hashem created it: Charatah is the facilitator of teshuvah. But, if we’re doing our best and our guilt only makes us more anxious and hard on ourselves, it’s important to keep in mind that whatever our children are meant to go through is bashert for them. If we feel guilty nevertheless, perhaps there’s more beneath the surface that should be dealt with unrelated to parenting. When guilt is not addressed properly, we often try to make sense of it, attributing it to our parenting or any other tangible area in our life, while in essence it may be an emotion we’ve been feeling about ourselves long before we’ve even entered the parenting stage.) Now that we’ve established that experiencing “twitches” in youth is almost inevitable, the question we have is how the child deals with them. Here we have a child who’s experiencing something unpleasant. Whether she feels insecure, unloved, silly, or irrelevant, at her age and stage, she doesn’t have a clue as to how to deal with these emotions. Early on in life, she lets herself feel. When a baby is sad, she cries. When she’s happy, she laughs out loud. But after a Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 71
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while, if she gets the message that expression of emotion is immature, silly, a nuisance to everyone around, or met with consequences that only give her more pain, she becomes afraid to feel. Emotions become a frightening territory. Every time an emotion arises within her, she thinks to herself, “Hey, I really don’t like the way this feels.” And so she learns how to deal with her emotions in what she sees as the most convenient and effective way: she finds a way to defend herself so as not to feel. She numbs her heart. The three main ways in which we defend ourselves from emotions we’re afraid to feel are to fight, flight, or freeze. A child who fights the emotion of feeling unloved, for example, may overexert herself to excel at something in an effort to garner compliments and feedback. A child who resorts to flight as a defense mechanism so as not to feel alone may distract herself from the feeling through screen games or food. And a child with such feelings who freezes often becomes withdrawn and quiet. This is the child with the glazed eyes, the child you look at and wonder, “Is anyone there?” It’s the child who could get hurt again and again and again and barely flinch. What looks like bravery is actually a desperate cry of pain, which the child can’t deal with. Two children, even siblings, may be feeling a similar emotion — emotions are never identical — and both may be equally pained, but each will defend himself in his own way. While one child who feels down about himself may fight the feeling by always being the goody-goody, and always being the one who is mevater and excelling in school, another child may flee from the feeling or pretend that it doesn’t faze him at all, perhaps even bringing his feeling to reality by turning into the troublemaker of the class and family. While superficially one may appear to be doing better than the other, and the outcome is more beneficial, both are in the same position regarding their emotions: they’re not addressing them. It Doesn’t End Here This is the story that happens in childhood, but what happens with this child as she grows up? The conclusions she drew about herself are so ingrained in her that they simply accompany her into the next stages of life. Armed with one or more of the three defense mechanisms at her side, the child grows into an adolescent, and then an adult. And as she matures, these mechanisms do, too. They become more sophisticated over time, such as graduating from fleeing the “I’m unloved” feeling by eating cotton candy to fleeing to more adult-like distractions, ranging from constant immersion in social networking to workaholism, etc.; from fighting the feeling of “I’m not good enough” through excelling in school to excelling at a high-powered or chashuv job. While many of the ways an adult fights or flees from difficult emotions are detrimental to themselves or others, such as through compulsive overeating, technology overuse, addiction, anger, drugs, and alcohol, interestingly enough, it often happens that an adult engages in good deeds simply in order to fight or flee difficult feelings. (It’s important to note, though, that engaging in good deeds is always the better alternative and if we mean well, we certainly get rewarded for it.)
Another advanced level of defense, which may even be cloaked in mussar, is when the adult-sounding logic kicks in, chiding us for daring to express our pain. “Look how much others are suffering and you’re complaining about this? Why can’t you just be grateful for all the gifts you have and shift your focus?” This, too, may not emanate from a place of compassion. Instead, fed by the popular misconception that our feelings have to “make sense,” this defense mechanism serves to distance us even more from ourselves. And, all this time, there’s this child inside who’s in pain. She’s afraid to feel what she’s really feeling, afraid to face what she’s been carrying around for too long. And, as long as her voice isn’t heard, the adult that she’s become may appear successful, happy, and that she's “made it;” meanwhile, she's disconnected inside. When an adult isn’t ready to listen to the voice of her inner child, i.e., to go the places within where she’s carrying feelings about herself that are inhibiting her from experiencing happiness and connection, she may focus all her energy on the technical aspects of life — getting married, raising a family, even holding down a job and volunteering in the community. And as the responsibilities grow, as much as she tries to distract herself with the tasks of life, she can’t help but notice how life keeps hitting her in the face. This child isn’t behaving as she wants him to, she doesn’t feel that her husband is there for her, she feels resentful toward many of the people she calls her “friends,” it’s hard for her to trust anyone, and she’s constantly anxious. The feeling of being disconnected — from our spouse, our children, our parents, our peers, and Hashem — may be a direct result of the decision we make to close off our heart, to not pay attention to what’s going on in our inner world. When we numb our heart to pain, we simultaneously numb it to joy. It’s only when we take the courage to open up our heart and see what’s going on inside, to finally be the first one to notice the inner child who’s begging to be heard, that we merit feeling positive emotions — often for the first time in our life. It is this flow of positive emotion that gives us the ability to thrive as individuals, in our marriage, parenting, and friendships, and, most importantly, in our relationship with Hashem. Part II of this feature explores: Can it be that I don’t have an inner child? What can I do to pay attention to my inner child? How can I give her what she needs so I can live my best life?
You’re Not the Only One The purpose of discussing how seemingly minor childhood incidents may affect us later in life is to highlight how delicate our emotional world is. When we're aware of that fragility, we see and understand how necessary it is for us to engage in inner work as a means to lead our happiest life. This work is less about understanding where the emotions come from and more about realizing that they’re a normal part of life. Unpleasant emotions are intrinsic to the human condition. Hashem sends these feelings our way for a purpose; they're a part of life that enables us to grow into the best people we can be. All our Avos, Imahos, and the tzaddikim that followed in their footsteps, including Moshe Rabbeinu and Dovid Hamelech, experienced painful emotions like rejection and feeling alone. Not only did that pain not deter them from becoming their best selves; it actually facilitated their development into the holy, righteous people they became. By learning how easily a child could come to unpleasant conclusions about herself, we come to realize that these emotions are far more common than we may have imagined. But this also helps us realize that they’re a normal part of life, and they don't mean that we're damaged. Feeling lonely or unloved doesn’t mean a person is emotionally broken. The erroneous association between painful feelings and “something is wrong here” often emanates from a fallacious belief that life in this world must be perfect. On the contrary, Hashem orchestrates events in our lives, exactly as they’re meant to be, so we will come to feel what we’re meant to feel and work with those feelings in a way that will facilitate our growth. When we’re cognizant of the purpose behind them, instead of getting bogged down by the whys and hows, the journey toward healing can begin. In the same vein, the need for love and respect is not infantile or silly. On the contrary, these are healthy human needs that deserve to be acknowledged and fulfilled properly. Ironically, precisely when they aren’t, they end up leading our life in ways that aren’t good for us and/or those around us. By virtue of being human, especially of being Yidden in galus, we feel emotions that aren’t pleasant. Happiness, contrary to what we may have believed, does not result from an absence or denial of unpleasant emotions. Rather, happiness is a product of paying attention to and giving a place for these emotions, which thus enables us to use them as a stepping stone for growth.
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Another perspective on the inner child:
Q&A With Hudi Gugenheimer
Spirited, fun-loving, and creative, Hudi coaches hundreds of people in her online-based practice using her unique approach in emotional work. She is especially renowned as an art and journaling therapist and for her "inner child" work. Why and how did you begin learning about the inner child?
As a young adult, with lots of chaos in my life, I knew I needed to seek help. In my mind, though, therapy was a series of endless sessions, nonstop intense talking, and, most of all, not getting anywhere. I adamantly refused that, but I was determined to find a different method that could help me. Then, through a workshop that my friend recommended, I discovered that therapy is not limited to that. I remember, for the first time, feeling so good when I was done. I was pulled to the concept of art therapy, especially to the teachings about the inner child. I continued to take various other in-depth training courses on the topic and have been working in the field ever since.
How would you define the inner child?
When I introduce my clients to the inner child, I refer to it as the emotional self. I explain that there's a part of us who's a little child that never grew up. In other words, we are adults with a child nestling within. I usually don’t spend too much time discussing the inner child, because it is different in each individual. I also like to convey it as being the right side of our brain. The right side of our brain is where our subconscious mind — spirituality, emotions, creativity, and artistic flair are found. It’s the place that makes you be you, the place that defines your personality.
What role does the inner child play in adulthood?
Most often, if the inner child isn’t nurtured and recognized, she will “tantrum.” That is, the inner child will express herself in a negative way to gain attention. A teenager driving recklessly is definitely a sign of an inner child screaming; a mother who gets overwhelmed by seemingly insignificant incidents may also be a sign of an inner child’s tantrum. I find that the inner child plays the biggest role in motherhood — in young mothers especially, hence my program’s tremendous focus on parenting. When a parent is trying to take care of a child, the inner child within will protest strongly, exclaiming, “Take care of me, why are you first taking care of the other child?” That’s why so many of us are triggered just by being parents, because the inner child objects, saying, “I’m the child, what makes you think you could take care of another child?” It’s an emotional struggle. From my experience, I see that many of the emotions that arise in pregnancy can be attributed to these conflicts, as well.
How does one person develop a healthy inner child while another does not?
This depends on many factors. Most often, an adult whose inner child is not being expressed had an upbringing that didn’t allow
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that expression. Sometimes, parents say to a child, “Stop crying!” That gives the child the message that the inner child within him needs to shut up. The more a child hears that, he subtly absorbs the message. Other adults were raised in an environment where their emotions were acknowledged in a healthy way. Their parents allowed them to cry, laugh uncontrollably, or express their anger. It’s not necessarily the parents who are responsible for a repressed or stifled inner child. A school environment may often be the cause. More advanced schools are aware of the importance of extracurricular activities and developing creativity, art, and the like, which allows the inner child to express itself. Other schools unfortunately fail to do so, and then the inner child lacks that expression in the long run. And, of course, any trauma will cause the inner child to need more healing and more work.
Do you think it’s important for an adult to get in touch with his or her inner child?
Absolutely! Our brains are divided in two — the right and left hemispheres. Naturally, just like we’re supposed to use both of our lungs, and both sides of our heart, we're supposed to use both sides of our brain. The left side is what I call the adult part — the practical, logical rule-follower. Simply put, it acts like an adult. Obviously, we want that side to function really well, and we tell ourselves (sometimes consciously, sometimes subconsciously) to listen only to that side of the brain: to accomplish, to cope, and to quiet the silliness or "immaturity" that gets projected from the right side. But what I have seen in my hundreds of clients is that the more one allows the right side of the brain to be expressed, the stronger the left brain becomes. The brain craves balance. The more we shut off the inner child — that right side — the more stressful and overwhelming the left brain's tasks become. The inner child will just keep nudging, as if saying, “Hello, notice me. Notice me. Notice me,” thereby hindering the left brain’s performance. When the inner child is allowed expression, the individual has more strength, energy, and patience to deal with “adult” matters. I have seen this in my own life. Before I learned about these ideas, I had a hard time holding down a job; I wasn't very successful at work. The logical part was just too stressful and overwhelming. Once I started releasing my emotions and expressing my inner child, I became so much more focused, more accomplished, and more energized to do my work.
How do you coach adults to get in touch with their inner child?
It’s very uncommon for me to start with inner child work with
my clients. If I see it come up right in the beginning, I might do some exercises, but without going into the many details of inner child work. Before I jump into this work, I have to thoroughly assess if my client is ready for it. I will often help the inner child express itself without the client knowing all the details, and only afterward get into the depths of the work. I only start the intensive process with someone who is very committed to growth, to emotional work, and who is ready to stick it out, because one of the biggest challenges that arises when I do inner child work is that a person suddenly faces a whole world of unknown emotions, many of them uncomfortable. A person who is not resilient enough will be too scared, and choose to opt out. I’m also a big believer in starting the therapeutic process without all the intense emotional work. My work is focused more on action, and I like to begin light and have the client gently get in touch with her inner child. One needs to be in a place where she can respect everything that surfaces in the inner child process.
What are the challenges that appear?
As mentioned, people might get scared when they come faceto-face with their emotions, which will propel them to want to stop the work. Baruch Hashem, at this point I avoid that by doing a very serious acceptance process. I have a long talk with a client beforehand, explaining what might happen, and I make sure she’s committed to following through. Healing and becoming our best self requires us to step out of our comfort zone. That’s the only way growth happens. I also make it very clear that you need to persist until the end. I encourage potential clients to first participate in my workshops to get the feel of the work. Since I started doing a thorough interview, I rarely have a client who’s not ready once we reach that point.
What interesting insights have you acquired in your practice?
Firstly, I see time and again how marriages get completely renewed when one partner works on their inner child. What often happens is that our inner child’s lack of self-expression causes us to project our emotions onto our spouse. So much conflict could be avoided when we take care of ourselves. On a different note, when one of my clients first started the work, she struggled immensely with her weight. She had tried every weight-loss program, but to no avail. I don’t run a weightloss program, but once she started expressing her inner child, her need for food, namely her child’s need for recognition, stopped, and she finally lost a lot of weight. Here’s another interesting incident that proves the point. In my 12-week workshop for women, we start with journaling, an outlet for the inner child. One woman who shared her first journal entry in the beginning wrote: I can’t! I can’t! Everything is crazy in my house. I’m totally not managing my life! My kids are playing with puzzles on the floor, and I find puzzle pieces all over the house. I have no space to breathe. I have no patience to help them. All I want is my house to be clean now! I'm not handling life! Just a few weeks later, she read the following journal entry to me: Wow! This is amazing! My adorable kids are playing calmly with
puzzles on the floor. How nice it is to watch them! I’m so, so lucky to have them. Puzzle pieces are strewn all over, but they could definitely wait to be cleaned up later, and I'm so relaxed about it. I should really sit down and join them. They’ll be so excited. I stopped, and asked her to turn back a few journal entries to compare. She couldn’t believe how similar the incidents were — but with such different responses. She realized that nothing in her life actually changed, besides herself. When one allows her inner child to be expressed and heard, everything around her becomes pleasurable, beautiful, and enjoyable.
What would you like Wellspring readers to know?
Anyone who wants to be happy, to be able to give, or to love others, has to give to themselves first. If you don’t care for your inner child, you won’t be able to care for others. You must find a balance of the right and left brain. There are different ways of doing that. As mothers, we want to help our children and give endlessly to them, but there's no way we could do so if we don’t take care of ourselves. Self-care doesn’t necessarily mean sitting on the couch. That, too — but even more important is allowing our inner child to be expressed. If we do so, we will become calmer, more giving, more loving, and stronger.
How can we practice expressing our inner child?
Here’s an excellent exercise to do so: On a basic level, one major concept of inner child work is that we connect to the right side of our brain with the non-dominant hand. A very simple way to hear from the inner child is to write using the non-dominant hand. I don’t recommend writing anything significant with your nondominant hand, or jotting down anything practical, like a grocery list, phone number, and so on. Instead, use it solely to express emotions. Be careful not to pressure yourself into writing it too neatly or spelling everything correctly, because that will return you to your left brain. Just allow yourself to write freely, as messy and as large as you need to, with nothing but your emotions being recorded. Take a blank sheet of paper and do the following: • Address yourself using your dominant hand. Anything like: To my dearest self, Dear inner child, Dear [your name]… • Switch hands and begin writing how you feel right now. Let it flow, just a stream of consciousness, without the pressure of grammar or spelling. • At the end, close up that inner child properly by going back to your dominant hand and finishing off. You could conclude by referring to anything you wrote, such as: I’ll be accepting, loving, respecting of those emotions. Thank you so much for sharing, I really tried listening to you, you could always share your feelings with me, I love you so much… Or anything to that effect. Doing this exercise habitually has given hundreds of people the opportunity to discover a wealth of emotions and thoughts that had previously clogged their brains. What will you unearth? Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 75
Wellbeing
Child Development By Friedy Singer & Roizy Guttman, OTR/L
Tactile Tactics
Summer is a touchy-feely time.
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Friedy Singer and Roizy Guttmann are neurodevelopmental therapists and the directors of Hands on OT Rehab Services, Hands on Approaches, and the H.O.P.E. (Hands on Parent Empowerment) Foundation. They are focused on educating and empowering the community to help children with anxiety, processing and learning issues. They can be reached at info@handsonapproaches.com
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any children (and their parents) look forward to summer from the time that school begins. No need to sit still in a classroom all day. No homework to manage. Let the fun begin!
Well, almost. This is true for many kids — but for children with sensory integration issues (and their parents), the summer brings its own challenges. Let’s take a look at some of the most common summer challenges, and discuss where they come from, as well as some practical tips that you, as a parent, can use to help your family have a smoother summer.
There’s touching sand and water at the beach, there’s glue, clay, and paint during arts and crafts. There’s the feeling of sunscreen on the face, and sticky melted popsicles on the fingers, and stretchy bathing suits holding tight. Some kids absolutely love it. Many don’t care. And some kids — it drives them up a wall. Children with sensory issues have sensory systems that are hyper- or hyposensitive. Stimuli coming in at a level that most people would perceive as normal feel wrong to them. Imagine you were sitting on your porch and suddenly you realize that your back has gone numb. You’d wonder what was wrong. And let’s say you were sitting on the porch and suddenly you feel someone jumping onto your back. That would feel more intense than usual, right? You’d probably yell for them to get off you. Is that your child? Some kids have tactile hyposensitivity: they under-feel. Give them a pat on the shoulder and they’ll barely notice it. They’re the ones who are constantly seeking tactile stimulation in order to regulate and get rid of the “something’s wrong here” feeling. They like big bear hugs and extremely noticeable textures. Kids with tactile hyposensitivity by and large love summer. No more sitting in a classroom for hours where the most tactile stimulation you get is the feeling of a pencil between your fingers. Summer is a time for running, jumping, and rolling. It’s a time for rolling up their sleeves and plunging their hands into dry, damp, or goopy sand. It’s a time for pressing their fingers against the textures of glue, wood, and clay. It’s a time for feeling the smack of the water against them as they jump into the pool. It’s the kids with tactile hypersensitivity that have a hard time during summer. Tactile hypersensitivity — also called tactile defensiveness — means they “overfeel.” Give them a pat on the shoulder and they’ll feel like a bear just jumped onto them. Touching glue feels like quicksand is sucking at their fingers. Pulling on a bathing suit feels like being constrained. Touching sand (especially if it sticks to sunscreen) feels like sandpaper
is scratching their skin raw. “Get off me!” they yell, and rightfully so, considering how they’re feeling. These are the kids who don’t like being touched, who find tags unbearably poky and anything but the softest fabric unbearably scratchy. How can we help our kids with tactile oversensitivity not feel tortured by all the summer activities?
Desensitization While tactile sensory issues are some of the most frustrating for a parent to deal with, they are also some of the least complicated to resolve. The long-term solution to tactile hypersensitivity is desensitization: a process of helping the child’s sensory system become less sensitive to the different sensations, by exposing her slowly, in a developmental process. While the tactile sensory system does receive stimulation in utero via vibrations of the amniotic fluid on the fetus’s developing skin, it doesn’t distinguish between different types of touch until the child comes into contact with the external environment after birth. The exposure of the tactile system to outside stimuli, and the development of the ability to process those outside stimuli correctly, is intended to happen gradually and developmentally during infanthood. If the development process didn’t go as planned, it can be mimicked later on through desensitization. There are specific protocols for desensitization that are beyond the scope of this article; your pediatrician or OT are good resources to turn to. It’s worth noting that it’s usually only worthwhile to invest in the process if tactile hypersensitivity is a year-round disruptive issue for your child and family. If it affects your child’s ability to get dressed (because of her difficulty with tags or materials), or to eat (because of her inability to tolerate the sensation of certain textures in her mouth), or to take care of personal hygiene (because she can’t take the feel of water on her), then you should certainly look into addressing it. If these issues arise only in the summer, it may not be worth the effort you and your child would have to invest into desensitization. Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 77
Wellbeing
Child Development
So what can you do to help your child? Compensation Compensation can be used to aid the desensitization process, or as a short-term tool on its own. Compensation uses the other sensory systems — like proprioception — to regulate the child and enable her to process the tactile sensory stimuli she’s receiving. The proprioceptive system is how we sense where parts of our bodies are in space. You can try it out. Close your eyes and hold your right hand out in front of you, without touching anything. With your eyes still closed, focus on your right pinky finger. Can you feel it? Can you sense where it is in space? Try doing the same for your left big toe, your right knee and your left hip. If you have a healthy proprioceptive system, you can sense where they are, even if you’re not getting any visual or tactile sensory stimuli from them. Your proprioceptive system is located in your body’s joints. Proprioceptive stimulation is almost universally calming and regulating, and that’s why it’s one of the main methods used to help compensate for other sensory issues. What stimulates the proprioceptive system? 1) Deep pressure — think bear hug or intense massage. 2) Joint compressions — providing input into one’s joints, primarily in the arms, legs and hands. 3) Closed isometric stretches — stretches where you provide resistance against yourself, so every joint is involved Before your child starts an activity that you know will bother her tactile system, give her some proprioceptive stimulation first. Try an intense backrub. (Don’t worry. Kids with tactile hypersensitivity can’t take light pressure, but deep pressure is no problem. The reason for that is, as we mentioned above, that deep pressure primarily stimulates the proprioceptive system, not the tactile system.) Enhance the backrub by using exfoliating gloves on your hands. Rub deep and hard. You can also teach older children to use the exfoliating gloves to rub their arms and legs themselves. Do joint compressions. Info about this? And how about isometric stretches? After you’ve prepped your child with proprioceptive input, her nervous system will be calmed, and she’ll be better able to tolerate different textures and sensations. Now is the time to try stepping onto the sand, going into the water or pulling on a bathing suit.
Picking Priorities We all know: tafasta merubah, lo tafasta — if you try to grab too much, you end up not getting anything at all. Even with compensation techniques, your tactile hypersensitive child is not suddenly going to love going to the beach, the pool, and the arts and crafts hut in camp. It’s important to bear in mind: your child doesn’t have to like all textures, just like he doesn’t need to like every single activity, every single subject at school, and every single boy in his grade. The key is that his dislikes don’t impede his functioning. 78 Wellspring | July 2019
If you only take a trip to the beach once a year, dealing with sand may not be where you want to put in your compensatory efforts. On the other hand, if family trips to the beach form a good percentage of your summer experience, that’s worth putting work into. Do as much as you can to work around problems and avoid facing them head-on. • Apply sunscreen before you get to beach, so you don’t give your child the gritty sunscreen-and-sand feeling. • If you’re going to use insect repellent, try to get one that is mixed with sunscreen. The less things you need to apply, the better. • Toes are one of the most sensitive areas of our body. If your child’s experience of the beach is disrupted by the feeling of water or sand on his toes, get him waterproof shoes. • The pressure caused by the stretchy, form-fitting material of your daughter’s bathing suit may bother her. Try different bathing suit sizes and styles to find the one she’s the most comfortable in. • To your sensory child, the smell of chlorine in a pool can be overwhelming. You can try nose plugs to help him with the odor. Outdoor pools should be better than indoor pools, because the smell has more room to dissipate. If your child still can’t take the smell, stick to beaches and lakes instead of pools. (Note that this is an olfactory issue, not tactile.)
The Terrible Transitions Who just winced at the sight of the word “transitions?” You’re not the only one. Does your child have a hard time when school ends and camp begins? Does he have trouble switching activities at camp? Does he withdraw or have a meltdown on that first day at your cousins, or in the bungalow, or on your trip to Florida? Difficulty coping with transitions is standard for children with sensory integration issues. What can you do about it? Let’s take a minute to understand where trouble transitioning comes from. As explained above, children with sensory issues have sensory systems that are hyper- or hyposensitive. Stimuli coming in at a level that most people would perceive as normal feel wrong to them, and it’s not simple for them to get back to a feeling of normalcy. Why does that lead to trouble transitioning? Because a transition is, inherently, some sort of change in the environment. Change deregulates the child with sensory issues, causing her to feel off-balanced and out of control, without a clear path of how to get back in control. We know a family who once took a trip to a museum with their 4-year-old son who has sensory issues. As soon as they walked into the lobby, their son started screaming. The parents couldn’t figure out what was wrong. The lobby wasn’t overly busy or loud. There hadn’t been a significant temperature change. It took a few minutes of them trying to figure out what was wrong until it hit them: all the way on the other side of the lobby, behind the desk clerks, was an arch of large, brightly colored balloons, a bold balloon rainbow. To another child, it might have been beautiful and exciting. To this boy, the rainbow balloons were unexpected visual
stimuli that overwhelmed his visual system and threw it off-kilter. For the child with sensory issues, this isn’t a once-in-a-bluemoon experience. The more experiences he has where change or the unknown leads to overwhelm, the more he will shy away from change. What can you do to help your children have healthy transitions? First, you need to figure out which sensory system is causing the transitioning issue, because then you can make smart choices about where we will and will not take the child. If it’s an olfactory system issue, for example, you might want to avoid campfires. If it’s auditory, campfires could be great, but concerts are likely out. Second, you need a plan for how to prepare for a time when there isn’t simply one concrete trigger. For that, we turn to the powerhouse pair of preparation and visualization.
Preparation Preparation is critical, especially for younger children. Transitions bring out the fear of not knowing what is going to happen and what is expected from them, and that evokes anxiety. The more familiarity your child has with the new environment, the more comfortable he will be. The Place If your child is going to camp, see if you can go down to the camp in advance so your child can get used to the physical environment. This is extremely helpful even if the campgrounds are empty at the time. Just being familiar with the external environment — where the pool is, where the bathrooms are — will go a long way toward making your child feel comfortable when he steps off the bus for the real thing. A word to the wise: if the camp is far away, you may think about showing your child photos of the camp from the camp’s website. If you do this, be sure to emphasize to the child that these are just pictures, and it’s not 100 percent or even 90 percent sure that his bunk will look the exact same way. Otherwise he might be overwhelmed when he arrives and it’s not what he expected. The People Get the names of his counselors in advance. Ask if you can reach out to them and apprise them of the situation. When you’re speaking to the counselor, ask if your child could speak to them briefly just to say hello and be familiar with them before coming into camp. A phone call is good. Video chatting works even better. See if you can find out which children will be going to camp with your child and make playdates ahead of time, so bunkmates are part of the “familiar” category and not part of the “scary” category. The Activities A child going to sleepaway camp for the first time may be anxious about her ability to perform expected actions, like making her bed and doing her laundry. The best kind of preparation here is hands-on! Teach the requisite skills and have her practice.
Visualization Visualization is a powerful tool. It turns the unknown into the
known through the power of imagination. It also enables children to face change and the unknown in their imaginations, so they can practice dealing with it successfully. Visualizations work better with older children who can imagine how the environment would look. Let’s imagine you’re doing a practice visualization with your daughter. She’s sitting on the couch with her eyes closed. “Imagine you got to camp, Miri. You just stepped off the bus. What do you see?” Miri smiles. “A brown door.” “Okay, great. Now make the door red.” Miri’s face gets a little nervous. She wasn’t expecting that, and coping with the unexpected is stressful for her. But after half a moment she says, “Okay.” “Good. Walk through the door.” Miri’s jaw tightens for a second, but she takes a deep breath and says, “I walked through.” “Great — who do you see?” “Mrs. Cohen, the director.” “Great — now change it, so that it’s Mrs. Levi instead of Mrs. Cohen.” Miri’s fists clench. “O- okay, I did it.” Miri is getting stressed whenever you change the picture, but she is coping. The more Miri goes through this process, the more images she will have in her mind of how she can cope successfully with the unexpected. Because this may be hard to remember, when push comes to shove and Miri starts getting stressed, we’re going to give her a focal point that she can connect to this awareness. Pick a word, object or action and incorporate it into the visualization. It could be: • Visual, like telling Miri at the beginning of the visualization to imagine her favorite doll walking with her. • Verbal, like telling Miri that she should think about the word chocolate whenever she copes with a change in the visualization. • Physical, like instructing Miri to take a deep, slow breath when she copes with a change. Explain to Miri that this visual, verbal, or physical focal point is what will enable her to connect to her ability to be calm and cope even when things don’t go as expected. If she experiences a change and starts to feel anxious, she can immediately recall her doll, the word chocolate, or she can take a deep breath. That focal point can connect Miri to her successes in the visualization. She can cope with the unexpected. She did it in the visualization, and she can do it in real life.
The More Things Change… Transitions are as much a part of life as sand is part of the beach. By providing your child with tools to deal with her challenges, you will not only help her have a wonderful summer, but a healthy and accomplished life. Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 79
Wellbeing
In Session with Shiffy Friedman, LMSW
Heart to Heart
I’m On Vacation, But I Miss My Job
The summarized interactions in this column are either based on reader-submitted questions or are a portrayal of several sessions that helped guide the individual toward the first step of his or her emotional health journey. Since emotional work is always a journey, the goal of this column is to provide direction toward the first step, as well as important points of exploration that could b’ezras Hashem lead to the menuchas hanefesh the questioner, and every Yid, seeks. The Editors
I was so looking forward to the summer, when I get to have a break from work. But now that summer is here, and I’m taking it as easy as possible, I miss my job.
Empty. I’m busy with the kids and the house now, but I don’t feel that it’s enough for me. After I send off the kids to day camp, I sometimes take a nap, but when I wake up, I feel even worse than before.
What do you miss about it? What’s the feeling you experience?
It gives me something that I don’t have now.
What is that something it gives you? Can you describe it?
The feeling that I’m accomplishing.
And now? How do you feel now that you’re on vacation?
That I’m not worth much. When you’re working, you do feel fulfilled?
More fulfilled than now, but I still have dreams of what I want to do. Like what?
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Wellbeing
In Session
Right now, I teach in two high schools, and I do enjoy it, but my real wish is to be a kallah teacher one day. What will that give you?
Being a kallah teacher is more satisfying. In what way?
No. Really not. Why not?
I’d actually be helping to build Yiddishe homes. Seeing Yiddishe homes being built is your pleasure?
I should be doing good deeds just because they’re good. So you’re not allowed to do good deeds and feel good about yourself when you’re doing them?
Yes, but when I think about it I now, realize that it’s not only about building homes. I realize now that I might have it wrong. What is it?
When I see that I’m making a difference, I feel that I’m doing something with my life. In your daily life, you don’t feel that way?
No. Why? It’s not something you feel when you’re raising your children or doing things for your husband?
I only feel it when others tell it to me. This need for recognition that you have — is it okay?
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Could it be that missing your job and the feeling of fulfillment that it gives you is related to your reluctance to recognize the need you have to feel good about yourself — and because you can’t give it to yourself, you’re dependent on others to give it to you?
Vantage View What’s wrong with taking a job to feel fulfilled? The straight-forward solution to boredom is taking a job. Can’t it just be that a person has too much time on their hands? It certainly could, and it’s healthy for an individual to want to fill their time with satisfying deeds, but as the conversation with this woman highlights, there’s a kind of boredom or feeling a lack of a job that may not only be the result of too much free time. When boredom starts becoming suffocating, it may indicate a deeper lack, one that even a 24-hour job can’t fill. And when this is the case, taking a deeper look inside and seeing what we’re really yearning for is the only true solution. We live in a time in which we want — and expect — instant answers. The reality is that while the answers do exist, they're inside
It could be that because I can’t accept that I so badly need recognition and that I’m allowed to want it, I’m not letting myself feel it from the simple things that could give it to me.
Hashem created every human being with emotional needs; the need for recognition is one of them. Just like we need air and water to exist, we have a need to be recognized. As young children, we naturally anticipate that others will fill the need for us — namely, our parents or caretakers, and we embrace their recognition comfortably. When you smile at a baby, you immediately see what that gesture of recognition does to her. It fills her need and it helps her blossom. As we mature, the need is still very much present; it never ceases to exist. Instead of relying on others to fill it, an adult who feels respected gives it to herself naturally. Of course, she appreciates a compliment — she feels good when she gets positive feedback, but she’s not dependent on others for recognition because she feels it from within. At one point in childhood, an individual may conclude that for her, this need does not exist. How does she come to this erroneous conclusion? When a child doesn’t feel respected, she doesn’t feel that her existence carries weight, the pain of this subconscious realization is too much to bear. Her way of dealing with the pain of this deep lack may be to convince herself that she doesn’t need it. As a result, she may tell herself that wanting to be recognized is silly, wimpy, or immature. It’s simply not okay. And with this association, she gets accustomed to chiding herself, “You don’t need it.” When she gets a compliment, she throws it back. When she does a good deed, she doesn’t fargin herself an internal pat on the back. Me? Recognition doesn’t speak to me. But, of course, all this time, the need is very much alive, roaring to be filled. Ironically, when we’re afraid to recognize our need for recognition, not only does that need not diminish, we become more desperate for it — and on a grander scale. The less I allow myself to acknowledge that I have this need, the hungrier I become for external validation. And so, as long as we don’t acknowledge this need, as long as we continue feeling that it’s not okay, our hunger for recognition escalates. The less I’m able to give myself recognition for just being me, for the seemingly small good deeds I do throughout my day, the more this need comes through in my yearning for more compliments, more likes, a
more extravagant life, or a more prominent career. Ironically, even if we manage to attain the job or status that gives us the illusion of recognition, such as becoming the most renowned kallah teacher in town, and others finally give us the compliments and feedback, we can’t accept it with an open heart. We’re always playing the show as if we don’t need it. It’s that same voice inside that says: Me? Recognition doesn’t speak to me. Based on this, perhaps it would be wise for you to explore your take on needing recognition. You say that your need to be recognized is “not okay.” What do you mean by that? What feelings do you associate with needing recognition? Do you see it as infantile? Acknowledge how you’ve been suffocating this need all along. Realize that a flawed perception of this important need does not make it diminish; it only makes us want it more, as your wish indicates, and to draw it indirectly. After acknowledging that you’ve been quieting this need all along, you can start giving yourself the recognition that you deserve — yes, even for changing a diaper, for making a bed, for saying a good word to your husband, for preparing a hearty meal. You say that you don’t yet feel this good feeling when you’re doing good deeds at home, but as you start giving the recognition to yourself, you will notice how the simple things in life will become so much more meaningful. The more recognition you give to yourself, the less you will rely on others to give it to you, the less you will miss your job and be able to enjoy the current season of alone time. You’ll certainly appreciate a compliment and a good word — even more than before, but you won’t depend on it to feel good about yourself. As a bonus, precisely when we give ourselves our own recognition, we’re able to give it to others in a real way, one that makes them reciprocate with respect, as the Mishnah in Avos (4:1) tells us, “Eizehu mechubad? Hamechabeid es habriyos” — Who is honorable? One who honors his fellows. I can only honor and respect others if I treat myself, the one human being who needs me most in the world, with respect. May you soon be feeling the recognition you crave in a real way, with no external validation needed!
ourselves, and it takes work to find and understand them. There’s no one thing that makes every nefesh happy. Thus, it’s important for us to pay attention to our own truth, because by avoiding it, distracting ourselves from it, or running from it, we’re increasingly distancing ourselves from what we actually want to feel: fulfillment, connection, and joy.
The more we view our situation with emes, the more we open ourselves up toward the feeling we’re yearning for. Saying something like, “My whole life I’ve been convincing myself that I don’t need recognition when in actuality it’s a really vital need for me,” is the start of a process of inner work. Only with emes can we get to the place we want to reach.
In her practice as an LMSW, Shiffy Friedman realized that her knowledge in psychology was not helpful in healing the infinitely profound nefesh. An intensive search led her to discover the Torah’s direction toward a more connected life. To sign up to receive Shiffy’s weekly message on this subject, write to emotionalwellnessthroughTorah@gmail.com. To submit a question for this column write to hearttoheart@wellspringmagazine.com. The respondent will then be in touch with you to further flesh out the issue.
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Wellbeing
Serial Diary By Zahava List
Unveiled
Life with mental illness
11
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My Last Relapse Throughout my third pregnancy, I was in mood-analysis mode, on constant alert, monitoring myself for signs of an impending relapse. Although I wished in my heart of hearts that this time it wouldn’t happen, I couldn’t help but feel anxious. If I was in a good mood, I was anxious that I was on the verge of getting high. And when I was unmotivated and not as happy, I deliberated as to whether I was getting depressed.
As the pregnancy progressed, I noticed that I wanted to sleep a lot. I only felt comfortable conversing with one friend who had a family member who was going through a situation similar to what I was experiencing. I also noticed a lot of what I normally enjoyed doing didn’t appeal to me. Throughout the pregnancy, the dosage of my maintenance medication (none of which were emergency drugs), stayed the same, although I was planning, according to my doctor’s advice, to increase the dosage following the birth, which is the time that I’m most prone for a relapse.
After I finally gave birth to my third son, I was excited — a normal reaction for every new mother. I didn’t sleep that well in the hospital, but there was nothing manic or high about the way I was acting. Since my baby was born right before Pesach, we moved in to my in-laws to spend Yom Tov with them, and
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that certainly reduced my stress levels, since I didn’t have the responsibilities of running a home. However, I gradually noticed my loss of independence. I simply could not do basic tasks on my own. I remember asking my husband to come back from work so he could help me get the car seat into the car. And then it got to a point that I couldn’t choose what to wear in the morning, to the extent that I called a friend over to help me decide.
While after the other two births it took only about ten to eleven days before I turned psychotic, this time, the psychosis crept in more slowly, reaching its peak at three weeks. Because the other two episodes happened at a much faster pace, these kind of subtle symptoms paled in comparison to the other behaviors that I’d exhibited in the past, so I didn’t notice their onset. Soon after I started paying attention to the subtle signs, however, I started staying up all night, calling people and obsessing about Moshiach again.
When I took my new baby for his three-week checkup, the pediatrician, who knows my history, asked me how I was doing. She gave me the standard self-rating postpartum depression test, which I answered as honestly as possible. After she reviewed my responses, she said to me, “You scored high; you should probably take care of it.” Once I got to the psychiatrist, I had already realized that things were not as they should be. With each hour, my mania was getting worse and worse. I remember telling my husband, “If I can’t take care of myself, I can’t take care of our family. I need to be hospitalized again so that I could get better.” And so, when our third child was three weeks old, I was back in the psychiatric ward. While this relapse was the most gradual, the extent of my psychosis and my body’s resistance to treatment topped my charts this time. This ended up being the most chaotic hospital experience of my lifetime.
In Hindsight
To Share or Not to Share?
“How do I know when I’m ready to open up about my mental illness?” That’s a question I get often.
As someone who’s living with bipolar disorder, I recognize that I speak more openly about my condition than many others who are experiencing the same or similar illnesses. Especially as the director of Chazkeinu, where I get to meet incredible women from around the world who are living with mental illnesses, I’ve noticed, time and again, that for everyone, the extent of the benefits of health transparency varies. While sharing is therapeutic and helpful for most people, for others, that may not be the case. From my experience, the extent to how helpful sharing is, depends on the place from which it is done. When you get to the point that you feel so comfortable about your condition that you honestly feel that you have nothing to be ashamed of, being open about your condition is a balm. Reaching this place and thus opening up to others has been a gift not only to myself, but also to those who derive chizuk from my story. Before I share, I look inside myself and see why I’m doing so. Is it because I found someone who could really listen? Is it because I really feel that the person I’m talking to could get chizuk from hearing about my experiences? If the answer that comes up for me is “because I should be comfortable doing so,” I know that it’s not the time. Pushing ourselves to share because it feels right and courageous won’t do us, or others, any good. In my experience, I found that the final impetus that got me to start sharing, after truly coming to a place of accepting that
my mental illness does not define me, was knowing that my story could give inspiration to others and help them get through their own struggles. The more I become comfortable and confident that everything I went through is a test — just like any other nisayon in life — the better I feel about opening up. From this perspective, I understand that what happened does not mean that there is something wrong with me.
I have found that one of the reasons that inhibit people from sharing is their strong urge for no one to know what they’re going through. While I understand that fear, realize that often, as a result, these individuals unfortunately don’t get the right help when it’s most critical. For example, teenagers going through more extreme mood changes may think, “None of my friends are going through this and I’m embarrassed to talk to anyone about it.” This may make them end up with exacerbated issues because they keep it all in for too long. Thus, the first step in being able to open up to others is coming to the realization that mental illness does not define us.
How does an individual become comfortable with their mental illness? How do they use their knowledge to help them with their healing? For me, just saying the words, “I have a mental illness,” worked as a great coping mechanism. Simply repeating it out loud was good for me. If, let’s say, I get a large stain on my shirt before entering a meeting, I could either spend all my time and energy on trying to cover it up, or I could come in and say, “Hi, I just spilled grape juice on my shirt.” Choosing to say these words, putting my story out there, has allowed me and those around me to feel comfortable. To be continued...
Zahava List is the founder and director of Chazkeinu, a peer-led support organization for Jewish women who struggle with mental illness and their female family members.
Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 85
חלב שראל י
Real Dairy. Real Cream. Really Irresistible.
ROVED B PP
Y:
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I N TROD UCIN G t h e f irst Da i r y C h o l ov , Y i sroel W hip p e d Crea m n o w av a i l a r e h s o b s u perma l e a t k yw h e r e . r ke t s e v e r
- rav tzadok hakohen of lublin, zt"l
ISSUE 42
JULY ‘19 TAMMUZ 5779
COOK IN SEASON Enjoy savory summer fruit dishes like Oven-Roasted Chicken With Balsamic Cherry Sauce
Next stop: Vietnam
How to prepare a hearty bowl of Pho This Summer's Barbecue Hit Chavi's sweet and savory chicken that works for kids and adults
Index Page
95
The Sun on Your Plate SAVORY SUMMER FRUIT DISHES
Page
Page 120 107 129
Page
Have it
Homemade
My Table SUMMER TREATS
Boost
SUNBLOCK SMOOTHIE
APRICOT BBQ SAUCE
THYME FOR DINNER
FAMILY FAVORITES
TASTE + TRAVEL
TIDBITS
PORTABELLA PULLED-CHICKEN SLIDERS
SAVORING SUMMER
THIS MONTH: VIETNAM
GRILLING DONE RIGHT
P. 109
P. 110
P. 114
P. 123
Legendary make any meal
Dear Cooks, Being true to our name, our contributors pride themselves in bringing
you their best recipes using food, especially produce, that is in season.
Eating produce that is purchased and consumed around the time it was harvested is a win-win for all. First, these foods are fresher and more
nutritious, which results in tastier, more healthful dishes. In addition, seasonal produce fosters an atmosphere of freshness and excitement, bringing the joy of the season right to your plate. Best of all, when
farmers harvest an abundance of a certain fruit or vegetable because it is in season, the cost of the produce decreases. Foods that are in season are less expensive than at other times of the year.
In the following pages, the Levines bring you fabulous recipes that call
for seasonal fruits. Their dishes boast a variety of tastes, hues, and flavors that will appeal to everyone’s palate. In these recipes, the Levines show
us how to incorporate the freshest, most wholesome foods of our season into every course, from chicken to fish to dessert.
In Family Favorites, Chavy, who combines her cooking expertise with
motherhood in a unique, skilled fashion, reminds us of the wonderful opportunities we are presented with at this time of year. The two full
months of summer provide us the opportunity to create precious, lasting memories for our families. Picnics and barbecues are just some of the ways to do so, but be creative with what works for you. It could be an
old-fashioned game of Scrabble, an ongoing competition of badminton, or a walk to the nearby lake.
And to make that barbecue or picnic both memorable and wholesome,
be sure to check out the tips for healthy grilling in this issue’s Tidbits
and whisk together the all-natural barbecue sauce featured in Have It Homemade.
Hearty appetite! Wishing you a wonderful, memorable month,
Est her Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 93
The Sun on Your Plate Savory Summer Fruit Dishes Fruit obviously lends itself to desserts: pies, crumbles, crisps, compote, fruit in ice cream, fruit on its own. However, there's a savory side to summer fruit, too. Too many people forget or simply wouldn't think to put fruit in savory dishes. But fresh fruit — summer fruit in particular — can really add something special to your recipes. When combined with the right ingredients, summer fruit can take on a savory flavor that's far from dessert territory, yet divine in taste. So, when summer serves up beautiful fresh fruit, pick your favorites, and start looking for creative ways to serve them with dinner, and not just with dessert. Once you try it, you'll see what you've been missing all this time. I tried keeping these recipes simple, so you can enjoy the outdoors and still manage to serve a delicious, fresh meal to family and guests. Happy cooking!
Recipes, styling, and photography by Yossi & Malky Levine
Grilled Chicken With Summer Salsa Celebrate the summer and make something special, like this restaurant-quality dish that you can make and enjoy in the comfort of your own home. I absolutely love the combination of the slightly charred chicken with the sweet, summery mango salsa. It’s packed with fresh, irresistible flavors, and the key is that it’s so simple to put together. You can prepare the salsa in the morning and keep it refrigerated until serving. Serves 6
6 boneless chicken breasts salt and black pepper, for seasoning olive oil Summer Salsa 10 cherry tomatoes (variety of colors), finely chopped 1 mango, peeled and finely chopped 1 peach, peeled and finely chopped 2 tsp finely diced purple onion juice of half a lime 1 tsp red wine 2 tsp olive oil salt and black pepper, to taste 1 tsp fresh cilantro, chopped
Season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. (You can add your favorite spice rub as well, if desired, and for a deeper flavor, cover chicken and refrigerate overnight.) Preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat until it’s very hot. Spray or brush chicken with olive oil. Place chicken on the pan and grill for 4–5 minutes on each side. For the salsa, mix all ingredients together and chill until ready to serve. Top chicken with salsa before serving.
Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 97
Oven-Roasted Chicken With Balsamic Cherry Sauce Chicken breasts can be incredibly versatile, yet also incredibly finicky to work with, especially when baked in the oven. Cook them the wrong way, and you’ll end up with a dry, rubbery, flavorless disaster. But cooked the right way? We’re talkin’ juicy, tender, flavorful … To make perfectly baked chicken breasts, follow this four-step acronym: BRRR — Brine, Rub, Roast, Rest. See recipe instructions for details. Although cherries can be tedious to pit, don’t let that stop you from making this balsamic cherry sauce. Here’s a simple trick that gets the job done — no cherry-pitter required! You’ll need a round piping tip with an opening slightly smaller than a cherry pit. Remove the stem from your cherry. Place the cherry on the small end of the tip (stem-side down) and gently press down on the cherry. Cover the cherry with your hand to minimize the juice spraying everywhere. The tip will push the cherry pit right out. Serves 6
Oven-Roasted Chicken 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast fillets olive oil for brushing 1½ Tbsp brown sugar 1 tsp paprika ½ tsp garlic powder ½ tsp salt ¼ tsp black pepper
Balsamic Cherry Sauce 1 Tbsp olive oil 1 small shallot, diced 1 clove garlic, minced 1½ Tbsp balsamic vinegar 2 cups fresh cherries, pitted 1 Tbsp agave syrup fresh parsley, for garnish
Brine — Brining makes chicken extra juicy, and can be effectively done in just 15 minutes. Simply fill a big bowl with lukewarm water, stir in a handful of salt until it's mostly dissolved, then add your chicken breasts. Let them sit in the saltwater to brine for at least 15 minutes. Rub — Chicken will pick up the flavor of whatever seasoning you add. Brush/spray the chicken with olive oil. Combine brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper, and rub onto the chicken. Roast — Cooking at high heat quickly develops a nice crispy “crust” on the outside of the breasts, which also helps lock in those juices and keep the oven-roasted chicken perfectly tender on the inside. It’s the best of both worlds. Roasting chicken at 450°F should require about 15–18 minutes, depending on the thickness of your chicken. Rest — Giving your baked chicken a brief rest lets it finish cooking and locks in all those delicious juices, resulting in the most tender, juiciest baked chicken. (This tip applies to cooking any meat.) If you cut in right away, you will lose all the amazing juices and some of the tenderness that we’re going for. For the cherry sauce, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a medium-sized skillet. Add the shallot and garlic and cook until softened, about 4–5 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and cherries, and cook until cherries are softened and balsamic is slightly reduced, about 8–10 minutes. Slice the chicken and serve with balsamic cherry sauce, topped with fresh parsley.
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Summer Salad With PeachPoppy Dressing While you may give your winter salads a boost with dried fruit like dried cranberries or raisins, summer fruit adds freshness and texture, not to mention vitamins, minerals, and, of course, flavor. This delicious, light, and refreshing salad is bursting with taste and takes minutes to put together. It makes a perfect side for a summer meal. Feel free to swap the peaches or nectarines with strawberries or blueberries. Serves 4–6 1 bag spinach leaves 2 large peaches or nectarines, sliced 1 avocado, diced ½ small red onion, thinly sliced ½ cup feta/goat cheese crumbles ½ cup slivered almonds, toasted Dressing 2 ripe yellow peaches, peeled and sliced 2 tsp lemon juice 1 Tbsp water 1 Tbsp olive oil 1–2 tsp honey, according to taste 1 tsp poppy seeds For the dressing, blend peaches, lemon juice, and water in blender until smooth. While blending, slowly drizzle in olive oil. Add honey, if desired, and poppy seeds, and blend until just combined. To assemble, place spinach leaves in a bowl, drizzle on some dressing, and toss to combine. Then add the rest of the salad ingredients and toss gently. Dress to your liking.
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Cinnamon BakedPears With Granola This a prime example of how simple, healthy, good-for-you ingredients can come together to produce a dessert that can stand up to any chocolate-frosting-caramel-something. After you bake the pears, you’ll probably have a small pool of syrup in the bottom of the dish. That’s fine; I like to spoon a bit of the warm syrup over the finished baked pears right before serving. If you serve the pears with a scoop of ice cream, drizzle a bit of the syrup over the ice cream, too. Serves 8 4 pears, washed, halved, and cored 2 tsp cinnamon 2 tsp maple syrup vanilla ice cream, optional Granola 1 cup old-fashioned oats 1/3 cup pecans, roughly chopped ¼ cup green pepitas pinch of salt dash of cinnamon 2 Tbsp melted coconut oil 3 Tbsp maple syrup or honey ¼ cup coconut flakes Preheat oven to 350°F. Stand cored pears on a baking sheet. If they aren't even, cut off a bit of the bottom of the pear so that it stands up straight. Sprinkle evenly with cinnamon, and then with maple syrup. Bake for 25–30 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly. For the granola, preheat oven to 350°F. Line a small pan with parchment paper. Combine oats, nuts, seeds, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Pour in the melted coconut oil and maple syrup or honey and mix well, until everything is lightly coated. Pour the granola onto prepared pan, spreading in an even layer. Bake until lightly golden, about 20 minutes. Halfway through baking, add coconut flakes and stir the granola. (For extra-clumpy granola, press the stirred granola down with spatula to create a more even layer). The granola will crisp up more as it cools. Let cool completely (at least 45 minutes). Break the granola into pieces with your hands. Store granola in an airtight container at room temperature for 1–2 weeks, or in a sealed freezer bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let granola warm to room temperature for 5–10 minutes before serving. Serve pears warm and top with granola and vanilla ice cream (optional). 102 Wellspring | July 2019
104 Wellspring | July 2019
Seared Salmon With Cantaloupe Reduction June is the official beginning of the U.S. melon season, and fragrant, ripe cantaloupe is often the first type of melon to arrive at the grocer or farmer's market. The combination of sweet and tangy in this simple cantaloupe reduction creates a perfect balance for this crispy pan-seared salmon. You can make and refrigerate the reduction any time you find yourself with some extra melon. Then, all you've got to do is sear some salmon, and dinner is made! Serves 4
4 salmon fillets 2 Tbsp olive oil coarse salt and black pepper, for seasoning cantaloupe, for garnish fresh mint leaves, for garnish Cantaloupe Reduction 2 cups cubed cantaloupe juice of 1 freshly squeezed lemon For the reduction, add cantaloupe and lemon juice to a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, simmering for 15– 20 minutes until soft. Use an immersion blender to blend until smooth. Heat olive oil in a skillet over high heat. Sprinkle salmon fillets with salt and pepper. Sear the salmon for 3-4 minutes per side. Serve the seared salmon with warm cantaloupe reduction. Top with scooped melon and mint leaves
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Simply
Softer Creamy Mushroom Chicken Marsala
1 onion, sliced 1 package Tarnegol dark chicken 8 oz. variety of fresh mushrooms 5 garlic cloves 1 cup water 1/2 cup marsala wine 2 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp corn starch, diluted 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp black pepper Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread onion slices on the bottom of the 9x13 pan. Add chicken, mushrooms and garlic on top. In a separate bowl, combine water, wine, soy sauce, corn starch, salt and pepper. Mix well and pour over the chicken. Cover the pan tightly and bake for 1 ½ hours. Yields: 6 servings
7184088022 info@tarnegolfarms.com
Williamsburg Ungar's Butcher 205 Wilson St 718.384.1061
Boro Park Cohen's 467 Flushing Ave 718.625.3311
Weber's 5114 12th Ave. 718.435.1046
Goldberg's 5025 18th Ave. 718.435.7177
Montreal Continental Meat & Deli // 5619 Park Ave. // 514.274.5491
Flatbush
Monsey
Mountain Fruit 1523 Avenue M 718.998.3333
Monsey Glatt 190 Route 59 845.425.6328
Upstate Taanug Distribution
Dee Best Market 176 Maple Ave. 845.352.2021
tannugorders@gmail.com // 845.203.4040
By Yossi and Malky Levine
Apricot BBQ Sauce It’s hard to not love a good, homemade barbecue sauce. You just can’t find this kind of thing in the store. Most store-bought BBQ sauces contain high-fructose corn syrup (often the first ingredient) or some other form of processed sugar. They’re also packed with sodium and preservatives. Skip the sugary store-bought BBQ sauce and make this delicious homemade version with fresh, ripe apricots. It has the same bold, sweet, and spicy flavor that you enjoy in purchased BBQ sauce, just made healthier — and with that delicious apricot flavor. Although making BBQ sauce is easy, it does require an hour or so of simmering. It's important not to rush it, so the flavors can deepen and the sauce can thicken. It's worth the wait. Yields 4 cups 1 Tbsp olive oil 1 medium onion, diced 3 cloves garlic, minced 1-2 serrano peppers, minced (they're hotter if the seeds are left in) 2-inch knob fresh ginger, minced 2-3 cups fresh apricots, halved ½ tsp cayenne pepper dash of salt and black pepper ¼ cup honey ½ cup tomato paste 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar 2 Tbsp olive oil 2 cups water Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Once hot, add onions, garlic, serrano peppers, and ginger. Season with a pinch of salt. Sauté for a few minutes until onion is translucent. Add the rest of the ingredients, adding the water last, and stir well to distribute evenly. Bring to a simmer and cook 10–15 minutes. Let cool slightly and then blend in food processor or blender until mostly smooth, but still a bit chunky. Return to pot and bring back to a simmer. Cook for another 25 minutes until the mixture is thick. Use immediately or store in the fridge for up to a week.
By Yossi and Malky Levine
PORTABELLA PULLED-CHICKEN SLIDERS For most of us, summer connotes grilling, barbeques, and picnic parties with family. It’s easy to stick a frank into a bun to feed your kids, but think about what you’re giving them, and you may very quickly change your mind. How about a healthy alternative to white-bread buns? I love the idea of roasting or grilling large portabella mushrooms and using those as "burger buns." Mushrooms are low in calories and sodium, and are fat-free, cholesterol-free, and gluten-free, yet they provide important nutrients like selenium, potassium, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin D, and more. Prepare the chicken ahead of time so you can bring it along to your next barbeque. These chicken sliders will keep your kids satisfied and make a beautiful presentation for your adult guests. Serves 6 2 lbs of chicken breast 4 cups water 1 tsp salt 1 cup apricot BBQ sauce (see "Have It Homemade") 12 portabella mushrooms 1 Tbsp olive oil salt and pepper for seasoning fresh herbs, if desired Place chicken, water, and salt in a pot over low heat. Simmer 25 minutes. Remove from heat and let the chicken cool in the covered pot for 10 minutes. Remove the liquid, leaving approximately ½ cup in the pot. Use two forks to pull the chicken. Add BBQ sauce, stir to combine, and heat over a low flame until it reaches a gentle simmer. Cook for 2–3 more minutes and remove from heat. Clean portabella mushrooms by scraping out the gills. Brush the mushrooms with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add fresh herbs, if desired. Grill mushrooms for 5 minutes on each side. Assemble the sliders by placing pulled chicken onto the grilled portabella mushroom "buns" and topping with another grilled mushroom. Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 109
Savoring Summer
Summer's upon us, school is out, the weather is beautiful, and what better time for a spontaneous picnic? This time of year brings with it new schedules and more relaxed routines. It’s the perfect time to create everlasting memories by turning a simple weeknight dinner into a fun outdoor activity. You see, for me, picnics are another way of saying, let's take our food “to go” and eat dinner outdoors. It doesn’t need to be anything elaborate to be enjoyable. Just prepare lunch or dinner as you normally would, and simply take it outside of your house. You can make a picnic anywhere, in your backyard or local park, on a picnic blanket or on a table.
Sweet and Savory Chicken
There’s nothing like watching your kids enjoying their newfound freedom, running around and loving the great outdoors. It's the perfect outlet to develop their creativity, and it doesn’t involve anything from today's technological world. And as for the adults, we can all use the break too, so just to sit back and enjoy the view. And as a bonus, most kids eat so much better while playing outdoors.
1½ lbs chicken breast, cut into ½- inch pieces
Whatever you choose to do, the most important thing to remember is that you're creating beautiful memories.
This is one of those winner chicken recipes that you can never get bored of. It’s so versatile — you can serve it on or alongside so many types of side dishes. In honor of our picnic, I'm serving it as salad for the healthconscious adults, and sandwiched in bread for the kids.
1 tsp salt 1 tsp paprika 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp onion powder 1 tsp dried basil ½ tsp nutmeg
Oh — and don’t forget the napkins.
¼ tsp black pepper
Happy cooking,
1 Tbsp avocado oil
Chavi
1 onion, sliced 1 Tbsp avocado oil (or any other neutral oil)
Sweet and Savory Chicken Sandwich
Sauce 2 Tbsp sugar-free apricot jam 1 Tbsp honey 1 Tbsp tomato paste 1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
4 whole wheat baguettes 2 Tbsp garlic aioli (recipe featured here) 8 romaine lettuce leaves 2 plum tomatoes, sliced 1 avocado, sliced 1 cup Apple Cabbage Slaw (recipe featured here) 1 recipe of Sweet and Savory Chicken (recipe featured here) Slice open baguettes. Spread some garlic aioli onto the cut sides of the baguettes. Fill the sandwich with lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, slaw, and chicken. Yields: 4 servings
In a medium bowl, combine the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, basil, nutmeg, black pepper, and 1 Tbsp oil. Add chicken pieces and stir until chicken is well coated. Marinate for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté for 10–15 minutes until soft and golden brown. While the onions are sautéing, combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Once onions have caramelized, remove from pan and set aside. Add chicken to the same skillet and cook for 5–6 minutes, stirring constantly till the chicken is no longer pink. Add the sauce to the skillet and add the caramelized onions. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 minutes. Yields: 4 servings Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 111
Easy Garlic Aioli 2 garlic cloves, crushed Ÿ cup mayonnaise 1 tsp lemon juice 1 tsp honey 1 tsp parsley flakes ½ tsp salt In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients until smooth.
112 Wellspring | July 2019
Sweet and Savory Chicken Salad 2 heads romaine lettuce, shredded 1 cup grape tomatoes 1 medium watermelon radish, sliced 1½ cups Apple Cabbage slaw (recipe featured here) 1 avocado, pitted and cubed 1 recipe of Sweet and Savory Chicken (recipe featured here) 1 Tbsp black and white sesame seeds 3 scallions, chopped ¼ cup garlic aioli Make the salad by tossing the lettuce, tomatoes, radish, cabbage slaw, and avocado in a large bowl. Top with chicken, sesame seeds, and scallions. Drizzle with garlic aioli. If you prefer a layered salad, place the lettuce on the bottom of a salad bowl, then arrange the vegetables on top, and drizzle with garlic aioli. Yields: 4 servings
Apple Cabbage Slaw 1 apple, julienned
1 tsp lemon juice
10 oz purple cabbage, shredded 1 tsp honey 3 scallions, sliced
1 tsp mustard
2 Tbsp oil
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
¼ tsp black pepper
Combine the apples, purple cabbage, and scallions in a medium bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, lemon juice, honey, mustard, salt, and pepper. Pour onto the slaw and stir to combine.
Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 113
By Charni e
114 Wellspring | July 2019
Kohn
Chao from Vietnam! I did not know much about the amazing country of Vietnam before doing research for this article (except for thinking of it in terms of the Vietnam War). But the more I explored, the more fascinated I became with the land, its people, and its cuisine. Vietnamese food is considered to be one of the healthiest cuisines in the world. They incorporate lots of fresh vegetables and herbs into all their dishes. Processed food is almost never used in a Vietnamese kitchen, and oil is used minimally. In Vietnam, a lot of thought is invested into making every meal an experience. Vietnamese cooks make sure that all five senses are activated when eating a meal. Every dish is visually stimulating, usually consisting of at least five colors. Fresh and crunchy ingredients are used to cause sound. Herbs, spices, and fragrant aromatics are incorporated for flavor and a pleasant smell. Lastly, most meals have at least one food that can be eaten by hand. A typical day in Vietnam starts with breakfast. Thinking scrambled eggs and pancakes? Try again. I’m quite certain that the last thing that comes to mind when you think of breakfast is soup and meat, but that’s what traditional Vietnamese people tend to start their day with. Pho (pronounced “fu” with a short u sound), a Vietnamese soup, is the most common breakfast option. With fish and meat being other popular breakfast dishes, dairy is rarely used. One exception is the common use of sweetened condensed milk. This sweetened dairy product is often added to coffee, making it an incredibly strong and sweet drink. When it comes to lunch and dinner, do not expect to eat alone. Vietnamese meals are family affairs, where families unite and spend some time together. Food is usually served buffet style. On the menu, you will most likely find banh mi, a baguette typically stuffed with meat, fish, and pickled vegetables. Essential to every family dinner is a large pot filled with home-cooked rice, and rice bowls are the only food that will be served in individual portions. The matriarch usually sits near the pot of rice and hands out bowls to each person individually.
Travel Tidbits Ironically, although Vietnam is the world’s second-largest exporter of black pepper, you rarely find black pepper in a Vietnamese recipe. Avocado is very popular in Vietnamese cuisine, but you’ll be surprised to find out that they are used mostly in desserts. Goi Cuon, summer rolls, are considered to be the most popular food in Vietnam. They’re typically served at larger dinners like weddings and holidays. The Vietnamese use almost every part of an animal in their cooking. That includes meat, bones, skin, and organs. Even the blood is used in specific dishes. The French occupation during the colonial period is largely rumored to be responsible for the popularity of pho, of one of Vietnam's staple soups. It is rumored to have been created thanks to the French thirst for meat and steak, because this way the frugal Vietnamese were able to avoid waste and use the scraps and leftover meats in a broth with noodles and sometimes vegetables. This soup has become popular world-wide.
Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 115
Vegetarian Goi Cuon and Peanut Dipping Sauce It is summer and all you want to do is have something appetizing to eat, while still keeping your oven off. The Vietnamese have solved this problem for all of us. Making goi cuon, which are fresh Vietnamese summer rolls, is the perfect way to transport you to another country without renewing your passport — and you don’t have to turn on your oven! The peanut dipping sauce deserves an extra mention — try it and see for yourself. Yield:12 servings
Total prep time: 20 minutes
Summer Rolls 12 rice paper sheets 2 carrots, julienned 2 cucumbers, julienned 1 red and 1 orange pepper, cut in to thin matchsticks avocado, thinly sliced Enoki mushrooms radishes, thinly sliced rice noodles, cooked according to package instructions parsley Peanut Dipping Sauce ¼ cup creamy peanut butter 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1 Tbsp honey 2 tsp soy sauce 2 tsp rice vinegar ¼ tsp sesame oil ¼ tsp cayenne pepper ½ tsp salt ½ tsp freshly grated ginger 2 Tbsp water Place each component for the rice paper filling onto separate plates. Prepare your rice paper as per package instructions (dip in water for twenty seconds) and fill it with the prepared vegetables and some rice noodles. Do not overstuff, because rice paper tears easily. Once full, roll each summer roll like you would an egg roll. Combine all the ingredients for the dipping sauce and mix well. Add more water if necessary.
Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 117
Faux Pho If you know anything about Vietnamese cuisine, then you have definitely heard of their arguably most popular dish, pho. Pho can be found at almost every street vendor in Vietnam. It usually takes hours to make, but with some experimenting I was able to cut down the cooking time to a mere two and a half hours, so that you can dig in to your bowl of Vietnamese goodness that much sooner! Yield: 6 servings
Total prep time: 2½ hours
oil, for sautéing 6 thinly-cut (less than ¼-inch thick) slices sandwich steak 5 oz shiitake mushrooms, sliced 2 oz fresh ginger, peeled 1 onion, quartered 4 cups chicken broth (I use the brand Imagine) 4 cups water 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 Tbsp soy sauce 1 Tbsp fish-free Worcestershire sauce 2 tsp salt rice noodles, cooked according to pkg instructions cabbage, optional bean sprouts, optional lime wedges, optional chives, optional Place a few tablespoons oil in a large pot and heat over medium heat. Add the sandwich steak slices to the pot. Sear for two minutes each side, slice them into thinner strips and set aside. Pour in some more oil if necessary, and sauté the shiitake mushrooms until mostly softened. Remove and set aside. Use a good pair of tongs to hold the ginger over an open flame for about five minutes a side until nicely charred. Run under cold water to remove any overly charred bits. Repeat with the quartered onion. Place the charred onion and garlic into the pot used for sautéing the steaks and mushrooms. Add the broth, water, garlic, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and salt, and bring to a rolling boil. Cover and simmer on a medium-low flame for an hour and a half. Remove the pho from the heat and strain using a fine-mesh sieve. Place a ladle of soup in a bowl and top it with the sandwich steak, mushrooms, rice noodles, cabbage, bean sprouts, lime wedges, and chives. In regards to the toppings, this is your chance to be creative, as there are no rules. The sky is the limit! One fun idea is to have a large plate with toppings in the center of the table and have each person pick the topping for their Vietnamese pho.
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In the pages of Wellspring, we get to read expert advice from the community’s most popular and competent dietitians and nutritionists. In this column, we get to see how they practice what they preach in their own kitchen. Pull up a chair at My Table and join the chat!
This Month:
Summer Treats Do you find that your food choices shift in the summer? If yes, in what way? What do you enjoy more of on these hot, sunny days?
Health Coach Jacqui Kimmel, PT: I definitely up my intake of fresh fruit and salads during this season. When the body is in summer mode, it craves easy-to-digest and water-filled foods such as fruit. Fresh salads are also easy to prepare and go very well with grilled proteins. They’re great to eat outdoors when it’s hot. Also, I really increase my focus on hydration, and I make sure to have iced herbal tea prepared in the fridge. My favorite drink to brew is Tazo passion iced tea. It comes in ready pitcher-sized bags and tastes delicious over ice!
Shani Taub, CDC: In the summertime, I stick to my basic meal plan, as always, and enjoy preparing zerocalorie refreshing treats for myself. I like having cold drinks for an afternoon treat, such as blended ice, lemon, and stevia. On other days, I enjoy my own version of iced coffee: I add a bit of hot water to a mixture of tablespoon of coffee, a tablespoon of cocoa, and some stevia. Then, I add ice and almond milk and blend it.
120 Wellspring | July 2019
Dr. Rachael Schindler:
I love to eat ice-cold juicy fruits like watermelon; cold, creamy ice creamlike foods; and gorgeous filling salads (meal-in-a-bowl or barbecue style) in the summer.
Nutritionist Tanya Rosen: I find that in the summer, I want anything cold — whether it’s ice-cold water, fruit smoothie, ices, or even frozen fruit. An iced coffee is a great option, as well. I also enjoy freezing fresh fruit, such as grapes, for a really guilt-free frozen treat. Here’s one of my favorite summer recipes. Refreshing Nectarine Pops 3 large ripe nectarines ¼ cup orange juice Peel nectarines and cut into chunks. Place in a food processor with orange juice and blend until just smooth. Freeze in ice pop molds.
Laura Shammah, MS, RDN: Most of my clients’ menus do shift with the weather change, but mine doesn’t. However, I definitely go through many stages of becoming obsessed with a certain food and then moving on. I love my Greek yogurt all year long, as well as my favorite Ezekiel bread. Right now, I’m on an avocado toast kick. I’ve been loving making branzino as well. Ask me in two weeks and I may be on to something else.
Beth Warren, MS, RDN, CDN: I become more obsessed with seasonal fruit during the summer because they’re extra delicious! Because of its combination of naturally-enhanced sweetness and juiciness, as well as minerals like potassium, fruit will help satisfy a sweet tooth, combat heat-induced fluid retention, and keep you hydrated. It’s also a time that I start to incorporate fruits into green salads — they give the salads a tasty twist that keeps them fresh and exciting.
Health Coach Sarah Wohl: Rabbi Eli Glaser, CNWC: My exercise increases during the summer, and I make sure to fuel prior to a long run. I like to drink a smoothie about an hour before starting. This is my favorite: 1 extra-ripe frozen banana 3 large frozen Medjool dates (pitted and checked for bugs before freezing) 4 oz plain Greek yogurt 4 oz unsweetened vanilla soy milk Blend until a thick and smooth consistency is achieved.
For me, summer time is chill time, which means taking a break from the kitchen. I like to keep my breakfast simple and refreshing. Smoothies and smoothie bowls are my go-to breakfast fuel! Here’s my favorite recipe: 1 medium frozen banana (previously peeled, frozen and quartered) ½ cup mixed frozen berries 1 Tbsp flaxseed meal 1 heaping Tbsp natural peanut butter (no sugar added) ½–¾ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk 2 cups fresh spinach Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until creamy, adding more almond milk or frozen berries to thin or thicken as desired.
Compiled by Shiffy Friedman
Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 121
Eat Well
Nutrition Tidbits in the News By Malka Sharman
Grilling Done Right Eight Tips for a Wholesome Barbecue When the weather heats up, grilling outdoors could be a great alternative to slaving over a kitchen stove. However, barbecues often equal an array of overcooked, over-processed foods that don’t do much good to the body.
While we tend to think of grilled foods as a healthier option — and that’s because grilling is certainly a better choice than frying — if your barbecue menus are comprised of very high-fat meats and sausages, then you’ll be pumping unnecessary calories into your system. An additional known downside of grilling is its potential of carcinogens, which are cancer-causing compounds. These substances are formed when the fat from the meat drips onto the hot coals. They are then deposited onto the food, and you are left to consume them. But backyard cooking doesn’t have to be hazardous to your health. In fact, it can even enhance your nutritious diet if you keep these tips in mind.
1
Marinate, Marinate, Marinate The simple act of marinating before grilling has been proven, in some studies, to reduce the formation of carcinogens by as much as 88 percent. Adding herbs such as thyme, rosemary, or garlic would cut down the formation of carcinogens even more effectively. Find your favorite marinade recipe and have fun the healthy way.
Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 123
Eat Well
Nutrition Tidbits in the News
2 4
Grill more vegetables Vegetables are also great for grilling since they don’t contain the amino acids that form the carcinogens in grilled meat. Being that they’re naturally high in fiber and low in calories, vegetables are a good way to balance a meatheavy barbeque. And, there’s no need to remind you all of the many other health benefits of vegetables.
3
Substitute with grilled fish
Some heart-healthy options include salmon, trout, and herring, which are all packed with omega-3s.
Cut down on grilling time Grill smaller pieces of meat, poultry, and fish, so they cook faster and spend less time on the grill. Another trick is to par-cook your protein in the oven or microwave, and then finish the cooking on the grill. A fun (and pretty) way to cut down on the grilling time is to grill small pieces of meat or fish threaded on a skewer. Best part: no more “When is it done?” nudging!
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5
Flip food frequently This tip definitely requires more work, but is surely beneficial. The Journal of Food Protection found that flipping the food every 30 seconds reduced carcinogens most effectively, since it prevents the fat from dripping too much. To turn meat without piercing it (which releases the juices that drip onto the coals) use tongs or a spatula instead of a fork.
6
Grill lean You can limit the amount of fat that drips on the coals by starting with lean cuts trimmed of any visible fat and skin. You get some additional benefits, too: The lean cut is healthier, and grilling can help make most lean cuts be more tender.
7
Use Alcohol Allowing beef to sit in red wine for around six hours before grilling decreases the amount of carcinogens by 40%.
8
Simple last course
Keep the barbecue mood aflame by grilling fruit for dessert. Pineapples and stone fruit like peaches or plums make a simple, sweet dessert and keep the menu healthy.
Get Away!
Research reveals the existence of an insect-repellent food Summer means longer days and warmer nights, and that adds up to lots of extra time outdoors. Yet nothing ruins a glorious day outside, an outdoor trip, or a backyard evening quite like having mosquitoes buzzing around you. Not only do mosquito bites itch annoyingly, these little vampires can transmit serious diseases like the Zika virus. Some of us have a really hard time with these creatures buzzing around, since we seem to have “sweet blood” — a term for those with blood that’s more attractive to these insects. Since insect repellents are chock-full of chemicals, you might be searching for a natural alternative. There are a host of foods you can consume to help repel the little guys, from garlic and apple cider vinegar to chili pepper and beyond. However, until recently, not much solid evidence could be had to prove the abilities of these so-called
mosquito-repelling foods. Stacy Rodrigues, a lab manager at New Mexico State University, has conducted extensive research over the last few months.
“Based on my research, we have established the active ingredient that works extremely well: oil of lemon eucalyptus,” she says. “It is imperative that people check the active ingredients before they purchase any repellent to make sure that it includes this oil.” Research published in the Journal of Insect Science also indicates that a plant-based spray containing oil of lemon eucalyptus is the only natural formula to deliver strong and long-lasting results. Keep this in mind when purchasing a mosquito repellent spray. Or better yet, go directly to the source by purchasing a bottle of lemon eucalyptus essential oil.
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Eat Well
Nutrition Facts in a Shell By Esther Frenkel
Here’s the place to check out nutrition labels for the nutrient-dense produce that come in their natural peels-- just so you know what wholesome goodness you’re feeding your family and yourself !
THIS MONTH:
NECTARINES Principle
Nutrition Value
Percentage of RDA
Energy
44 Kcal
2%
Carbohydrates
10.55 g
8%
Protein
1.06 g
2%
Total Fat
0.32 g
1%
Cholesterol
0 mg
0%
Dietary Fiber
1.7 g
5%
Folates
5 µg
1%
Niacin
1.125 mg
7%
Pantothetic Acid
0.185 mg
4%
Pyridoxine
0.025 mg
2%
Riboflavin
0.027 mg
2%
Thiamin
0.034 mg
3%
Vitamin A
332 IU
11%
Vitamin C
5.4 mg
9%
Vitamin E
0.77 mg
5%
Vitamin K
2.2 µg
2%
Sodium
0 mg
0%
Potassium
201 mg
4%
Calcium
6 mg
0.6%
Copper
0.086 mg
9%
Iron
0.28 mg
3.5%
Magnesium
9 mg
2%
Manganese
0.54 mg
2.5%
Phosphorus
26 mg
4%
Zinc
0.17 mg
1.5%
Vitamins
Electrolytes
Minerals
126 Wellspring | July 2019
Sitting outside in the summer breeze with a large, rockhard nectarine (that’s my preference!) is just what the doctor ordered for summertime health. This summer fruit is not only delicious, it’s a neat treat for when you’re out, and is also full of nutrients and antioxidants that boost your health with every bite.
Nearly genetically identical to peaches, nectarines are set apart by just one different allele (form of a gene) that results in the peach’s thin layer of fuzz — that is absent in this writer’s fruit of choice. Nectarines hail from the Rosaceae family of plants, related to raspberries, pears, apricots, and plums. No matter which color you go for — be in white, a vibrant yellow, or red — they all boast similar health benefits. Thanks to their impressive nutrient profile, nectarines can strengthen eye, immune, heart, and digestive health; may help with weight loss; can lower blood sugar levels; and may even help kill cancer cells.
Nectarines are packed with beneficial plant compounds that act as antioxidants in the body, thanks in part to their high vitamin C content. Including a few servings of nectarines in your diet each week can help provide you with plenty of antioxidants to improve your health and fight against these dangerous free radicals.
Nectarines provide a good amount of fiber, which is incredibly important for digestive health. Dietary fiber moves through the gastrointestinal tract undigested, supporting regularity by adding bulk to the stool and helping to get things moving. Fiber also acts as a prebiotic, providing food for the beneficial bacteria found in the gut, which can help enhance both digestion and nutrient absorption. The most recent dietary guidelines for Americans recommend at least 25 grams of fiber per day for women and 38 grams for men. Eating just one nectarine per day can knock out up to 8 percent of your daily fiber needs. Since nectarines are low in calories but high in fiber, if you’re looking to lose weight, they make for an excellent addition to your diet. Fiber travels slowly through the digestive tract, helping you stay fuller for longer to decrease appetite, curb cravings and promote weight loss.
IN YOUR PLATE Although nectarines are delicious when eaten in their original state, they’re more versatile than you might think. • Semi-frozen nectarine slices make for a great summer treat. • Add diced nectarines to your Shalosh Seudos fruit salad for great added flavor. • Use nectarines instead of apples when preparing your fruit pie for Shabbos. • In the mood of a light, hearty summer dinner that gives you everything in just one bowl? This one’s for you. Dice and toss some fresh nectarines into your chicken salad (with lettuce, tomatoes, sour pickles, and a light mayonnaise dressing). • Start your day with a power-packed shake. Blend one cup of baby kale leaves, ½ cup frozen pineapple, ½ cup frozen strawberries, ½ cup diced fresh nectarines, and 1 cup water for a delicious start to your summer day. • How about baking your nectarines for a change? It’s the summer twist on the classic baked apple — and oh, so good. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Place pitted nectarine halves, cutside up, in a baking dish, and sprinkle each half with a bit of (organic) brown sugar, nuts, and cinnamon. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the flesh has softened and the tops are browned. Serve warm.
IN THE KITCHEN Nectarine Salsa
This fruity side dish with its tangy lime dressing is delicious with crisp tortilla chips or over grilled meat, chicken. or fish. Make a huge batch for your next barbecue and don’t be surprised if it’s gone in seconds! 4 nectarines, pitted and diced
1 small red onion, peeled and diced
2 jalapeno peppers, peeled and diced
½ bunch cilantro, stemmed and chopped Dressing
2 limes, juiced
1 Tbsp olive oil 1 tsp salt
¼ tsp cayenne pepper ¼ tsp pepper
Mix all dressing ingredients. Place all other ingredients in a medium bowl, then toss with the dressing until combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 20 to 30 minutes to allow flavors to meld.
"SUNBLOCK" SMOOTHIE BY YOSSI & MALKY LEVINE
Summer is the easiest time of year to get sun — and produce natural vitamin D, but it's also the easiest time to get sunburned. Apart from wearing sunscreen, limiting exposure, and wearing hats and sunglasses to protect your eyes and skin from the sun, it's also important to eat the right foods to gain an extra dose of UV-radiation protection. Key nutrients in your diet can actually boost your skin’s natural sun protection and protect your skin from sun damage. The foods you eat can seriously reduce your risk for sunburn, sun damage, and skin cancer by supporting your skin’s ability to remain healthy and defend itself against too much sun exposure. This is not meant to make you fear the sun. We need it: Sunshine and vitamin D production are critical cornerstones for long-term health. Sunshine only becomes unhealthy when you're exposed to 128 Wellspring | July 2019
excessive UV rays, which can lead to skin damage, or worse, skin cancer. You just have to be smart with sun exposure. You can’t eat your sunscreen. But what you can eat may help protect against sun damage and some of our favorite summer fruits are also the ones that help protect us. 1 cup fresh spinach leaves 1 cup sliced plums ½ cup fresh/frozen blueberries 2 oranges, peeled 2 Tbsp flaxseed handful of ice cubes
Why these foods for skin protection?
Spinach
Plums
is a wonderful source of iron, folate, chlorophyll, vitamin E, magnesium, vitamin A, fiber, plant protein, and vitamin C. Thanks to their antioxidant abilities, vitamins C, E, and A are especially beneficial for your skin. Spinach contains antioxidants that protect us against sun damage and fight against all types of skin problems. By eating spinach, you’re cleaning your skin from the inside out.
are high in vitamin C, which improves the firmness of our skin, as well as skin tone. Vitamin C is a strong antioxidant that boosts production of collagen (a type of protein that plays a vital role in skin and hair growth and texture). Collagen deficiency can lead to dull, saggy, and lifeless skin.
Blueberries are rich in powerful antioxidants that fight off free radicals that can damage skin due to sun exposure and stress. Blueberries are even more powerful if they’re a wild variety. They’re also a very good source of vitamin C, which helps prevent wrinkles.
Oranges are high in vitamin C, which reduces the potential for sunburn. They also contain limonene, which lowers the risk of skin cancer, and antioxidants, which work to protect your cells from free-radical damage (which happens during sunburn) that can lead to skin cancer.
Flaxseed contains omega-3, an essential fatty acid that's a great source of skin-loving fat. Our bodies can’t make omega3s, so it’s essential that we get them from our diet. Omega-3s help maintain skin’s health, and are also antiinflammatory. Omega-3s also help your body naturally cope with the effects of spending too much time in the sun.
Tammuz 5779 | Wellspring 129
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Farewell
Dictionary
Tether Definition: noun
to tie with a rope or chain, so as to restrict movement
“ � Tethered scars can lead to a loss
of mobility and strength and be a source of chronic pain.
- Dr. Chayala Englard cover feature
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