DECEMBER 2019 // KISLEV 5780 // ISSUE 47
Bursting With Flavor Nutritious dishes you'll want at your Chanukah party
Beware of Burns
First aid guidance from the expert
Dispelling the Darkness The Maccabim's secret to happiness
9 Immune-Boosting Foods
Shoestring Budget Eating healthy when finances are tight
Heart to Heart
My phone keeps calling me
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8 natural ways to increase fertility
Finally , g a Dia nosis Trudging through the tunnel of the unknown. Then, the light. 4 Personal Tales
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FOOD CONTENT Food Editor Esther Frenkel Recipes, Food Styling & Photography Yossi & Malky Levine Charnie Kohn ART & PRODUCTION Creative Director Baruch Samuel Designers Rivky Schwartz • Shevy Gerdts
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The Wellspring Magazine is published monthly by Wellspring Magazine Inc. All rights are reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part or in any form without prior written permission from the publisher is prohibited. The publisher reserves the right to edit all articles for clarity, space and editorial sensitivities. The Wellspring Magazine assumes no responsibility for the content or kashrus of advertisements in the publication, nor for the content of books that are referred to or excerpted herein. The contents of The Wellspring Magazine, such as text, graphics and other material (content) are intended for educational purposes only. The content is not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your health care provider with any questions you have regarding your medical condition.
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From the Editor shiffy@wellspringmagazine.com
Not Only About the Latkes one of the copy editors wrote to me when she sent the edited file of this issue’s Chanukah recipes. (These article-based conversations make the job come alive.) She wanted to know if I go all out on Chanukah, displaying a themed array of trinkets and dishes (like the Levines), or if dinner is a plain-tablecloth, plain-food affair. My response: “I really don’t know. I’m still getting to know myself! I have nights when I go all out; other nights, simple simple.”
“Are you a tablescape type of person or not?”
I’m one of those individuals who derives much pleasure from planning a tablescape and a multicourse menu around a theme. But I also recognize that I can’t do this all the time, and that while I certainly have lots of fun in the process, I can have a great time on simple nights, too. So I usually end up designating one night for our massive Chanukah celebration and doing something simple yet fun and entertaining on the others.
Since we live miles away from most of our immediate family, we end up being home every evening, spending quality time with our own menorahs in the backdrop. “How do you do it?” friends who live near their family have asked me, and my answer to them is that although it does come along with its challenges, this is what we’ve gotten used to. “But what about your children?” Unlike for me in my own childhood, when Chanukah and Motzaei Shabbos meant spending time with the aunts, uncles, and cousins, for our children, these leisurely nights are spent in our own home. Thankfully, that’s what excites them.
Even when a situation is not ideal, it’s more about our perspective and less about the actual circumstance that determines how it goes over for us. In my years of
interviewing and writing, I’ve met so many incredible individuals who have brought this truth to life. Many of the women who have reached out to Wellspring, asking for their story to be shared in these pages, left me in awe of their strength and fortitude. In this issue’s cover feature, you’ll meet one of them — a woman who accepted her diagnosis of cancer with awe-inspiring courage and positivity.
How do they do this? How does a woman like Tammy Karmel, who lives with the devastating disease of ALS, lead such a content life, inspiring others to do the same? Her answer is the quote in this issue’s Wellbeing back page (perfect for clipping and posting on your fridge): “I have the same agenda as Hashem. My lack of battle is what gives me the serenity I wish on all of you.” (A special shout-out to our incredibly talented designer Rivky Schwartz for capturing Tammy’s appreciation for beauty on the page.)
The Maccabim, the heroes of the Chanukah story, taught us that when we give up the fight, we can experience serenity regardless of the circumstances of our life. As this issue’s Wellbeing feature explores, this is what it means to surrender to a situation as opposed to resisting it. The more I’m able to accept the reality of my life, the more at peace I become. Where or with whom we spend our Chanukah nights may not be in our hands. But how we deal with the circumstances is. In the same vein, whether I’m a “tablescape person” or not makes little difference as to how much I’ll enjoy this Yom Tov. What matters is the quality of the time we spend, the atmosphere, the good feelings that we experience. Paraphrasing what the nutritionists often share in these pages, it’s less about the latkes and more about the love.
A freilechen Chanukah, Shiffy Friedman
Well-Put! It’s amazing to discover what the Ribbono shel Olam has put into plants. Some of them contain powerful substances that are as potent as regular medicine — if not stronger. Rabbi Shea Weinstock, Cup of Tea
Kislev 5780 | Wellspring 9
Contents
DECEMBER 2019 KISLEV 5780 ISSUE 47 The next issue of Wellspring will appear iy”H on January 8th.
50
WELL INFORMED 18
SPIRITUAL EATING By Rabbi Eli Glaser, CNWC, CWMS
20 DENTAL HEALTH By Dr. Jacques Doueck, DDS 22 HEALTH UPDATES IN THE NEWS By Esther Retek 24 FIGURES By Malka Sharman 30 HEALTH ED Building an Army By Laura Shammah, MS, RDN 36 DEDICATED TO HEALTH 10 Questions for Chana Rivky Weinberger By Rifky Amsel
Torah Wellspring will return next month iyH.
93
LIVING WELL 42 IN GOOD SHAPE 7 Fitness Myths By Syma Kranz, PFC 44 ASK THE NUTRITIONIST Food, Fitness, and Financials By Shani Taub, CDC 48 HEALTH PROFILE Client: Chani M. By Rachel Esses 50 COVER FEATURE Finally, A Diagnosis By Wellspring contributors
74
60 AT THE DIETITIAN Boost Fertility By Tamar Feldman, RDN, CDE 62 CUP OF TEA With Rabbi Shea Weinstock, EMT By Penina Jacobs 66 MIDLIFE MATTERS Preparing for Changes By Miriam Liebermann, MSW & Fryde Rekant, RN, BSN 68 MEMOS FROM A KINESIOLOGIST Clear the Ears First By Miriam Schweid
WELLBEING 74
FEATURE The Ultimate Victory By Shiffy Friedman
82 CHILD DEVELOPMENT By Friedy Singer & Roizy Guttman, OTR/L
69 DIY Cough Compress By Miriam Schweid
86 EMOTIONAL EATING By Shira Savit
70 SERIAL DIARY By Rina Levy
88 HEART TO HEART By Shiffy Friedman
NEW COLUMN
70 SHIRA SAVIT
ON THE BIRTH
OF A BABY BOY
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Letters
On Exercise Habits, Cancer Treatment, Personal Issues, and More
New Face at the Gym Issue #46: Fitness
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.
Thank you so much for the informative fitness column, among all your excellent features. Last issue's column was especially eye-opening for me and made a tremendous impact. As you wrote in the article, most people, including me, view going to the gym as a strenuous activity that kills the day. Although I’ve always wanted to exercise, I never did join a gym because I just couldn't see myself committing to an hour of exercise daily, plus getting there and back. But this article made me reconsider. After reading that most of us don't need so much gym time since we engage in physical activities all day, I decided to commit to a half an hour three days a week. And it worked! It's only a week since I began and I'm already in the gym four days a week, upping my exercise time to 40 minutes! I have never done so much exercise in the past and I feel great about it. Thank you again for the excellent article and for the entire magazine.
Tilla G.
12 Wellspring | December 2019
Kale Doesn’t Cure Cancer Issue #45: Feature
I just discovered Wellspring with the mega Succos edition. Wow, it is so impressive to see so many well-written and informative articles on such important topics as healthy eating, emotional health, and child development. It is wonderful that there is a regular column on living with mental illness. Bringing awareness and reducing stigma on the topic is so important. It is exciting to see a frum publication dedicated to promoting spiritual and physical health. Cancer is also a topic that comes with a lot of stigma, so it is great that you covered it in this issue. However, I was deeply dismayed by parts of the article, "Combating the C Word: Can Natural Healing and Prevention Help With Cancer?" While much of the article seems to approach "natural" methods along with standard medical treatments, there are parts that may mislead people into attempting to treat their cancer without conventional medicine. (See p. 80, "reducing the body's
Q
Whenever my 3-year-old son gets a cold, he starts coughing and wheezing very soon thereafter. Is there anything I can do to prevent it? This child was off dairy until about the age of two due to a bad case of eczema in infancy. He often has fluid and infections in his ears and a runny nose. Half a year ago, we had tubes inserted and had his adenoids removed (against my wishes!). Since then, his colds clear up much faster, but are still accompanied by wheezing. When he was a baby, I gave him kyolic and many other vitamins, but I didn’t see major results.
toxic load ... gives the immune system the kind of shock it needs to get back into high gear and attack the cancer. Of course, there are cases in which cancer has grown and spread far too much for the body's own defense system, and a natural approach must be used only with extreme caution and strict medical guidance and/or in conjunction with a more conventional treatment protocol.”) Even more alarming is a paragraph in the interview with Dr. Joel Fuhrman (p. 83, "As an MD, would you ever recommend diet changes in place of conventional treatment? It depends on the type of cancer ... If not employed exclusively, it should certainly be used as a complementary treatment.”)
As a pediatrician, I focus a lot on nutrition and mental health. I am a big believer in wellness. But cancer is a serious group of diseases that should always be treated with evidence-based medications and therapies. "Natural" approaches can be used under careful medical supervision, but not in place of treatments that are proven to be safe and effective. While you did end the article with the standard disclaimer to speak to your medical practitioner first, chas v'shalom that someone reading this should be misled into postponing appropriate cancer treatments while trying the "natural" way first. Obviously, cancer that has spread is more difficult to treat, and it may even be too late. I plead with you to clarify the importance of early detection and evidence-based treatment of cancer. This is a matter of pikuach nefesh.
Alisa Minkin, MD.
There are several things I would recommend to help your child. First, an immune booster, such as Kiddie Boost or Immune Defense, which contain echinacea and vitamin C. Although you say you haven’t seen impressive results, nutritional supplementation targeting specific functions is generally helpful. Use essential oils, such as Thieves oil, to boost his immune system. This will help prevent colds in the first place. In addition to dairy, your child may have other food intolerances — possibly including wheat, chocolate, and corn. Do not use detergents that contain perfumes, nor cleaning agents with strong fragrances. These weaken the lungs and induce coughing in otherwise healthy people.
A
Take care, Miriam Schweid, health kinesiologist
____ This past month I was approached by several people from the community about the recent article titled “Combating the C Word,” which discussed using a natural approach to combat cancer. People turned to me with their questions because I am an oncology nurse practitioner and I see many frum people in my practice. As a cancer survivor since 2008, I also help numerous people in the community when they have questions about cancer-related symptoms, medications, or treatment options.
There were several points in the article that were inaccurate and misleading. Furthermore, the Q&A with Dr. Joel Fuhrman contained a lot of misinformation, which may lead people to erroneously believe that their body, in its natural state, is “full of toxins” and needs to be “flushed out” with massages or nutrients. He claims that medications are “carcinogenic,” which means cancer-causing.
These are very powerful statements, and they are incorrect.
Even worse, when asked if he would ever recommend dietary changes in place of conventional treatment, his response was that “it depends on the type of cancer.” This is a very dangerous statement, and I appreciate this opportunity to clarify the evidence we have on how to treat cancer.
It is true that cancer rates have risen over the last few decades. However, it is also true that these higher rates are in part due to advancements in science and technology, which have led to earlier detection and improved diagnostic capabilities. For example, we now have more screening methods to catch cancers earlier, allowing people to get treated early, and ultimately improving survival. It is also true that a good diet, in combination with healthy living, and appropriate screenings (mammograms for women, colonoscopies for adults over age 50, etc.) are the best ways to prevent or detect cancer at an early stage. Certain cancers, such as stomach
Kislev 5780 | Wellspring 13
These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent or cure any disease.
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or colon cancers, may be directly influenced by diet. For example, stomach cancers are more prevalent in people of Asian descent, and it’s thought (but not proven) that it could be due to a diet high in salted and smoked fish and meats. The American Cancer Society agrees that diets high in fruits and vegetables and low in salted and smoked items may contribute to lower cancer risks. In contrast to what is erroneously stated in the article, however, cancer is very rarely caused by a deficient immune system, and it cannot be cured by “shocking” the immune system with dietary changes. Instead, cancer is caused by changes to our DNA, which result in uncontrolled cell growth. The primary way to cure or treat cancer is to kill these cells or to surgically remove them.
Diet does not have any ability to treat or kill cancer cells. One recent cancer therapy developed over the last decade is immunotherapy, which causes the human immune system to recognize and attack the cancer cells as foreign bodies — but this requires powerful drugs, not kale. A healthy diet is beneficial for overall health and wellbeing and may also decrease the risk of some cancers in certain individuals; however, it does not mean a healthy diet can cure cancer. This is scientifically unequivocal and it is very important to make this point.
No studies to date have shown better survival rates among people with cancer who follow alternative medicine methods, such as a diet plan instead of traditional treatment, like chemotherapy. In fact, research continues to show the opposite: refusing conventional treatment, such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, or other approved options results in much lower survival rates. Consider this recent study by Johnson et al., 2017, which examined survival rates in patients with early breast, lung, and colon cancer, who chose alternative medicine alone versus patients who chose conventional medicine. Five years after their diagnosis, these are their survival rates, based on the treatments they selected:
Another study in 2006 looked at the charts of patients who refused or delayed surgery or chemotherapy for breast cancer. The researchers found that all of these women had recurrences in their cancer, and had shortened survival time as a result of delaying or refusing treatment.
A study in 2007 looked at 3,000 women with early stage breast cancer who were divided into two groups. Half of the women followed a diet high in fruits and vegetables, while the other half followed their usual diets. Their survival was measured seven years later. In both groups, 10% of the women had died, regardless of their dietary intake. Also, 16% of women in both groups had cancer recurrence or progression in those seven years. Improved diets did not change their outcomes. Once again, there are zero studies with outcomes showing that diet improves survival outcomes in people with cancer.
Many halachic experts state that unconventional therapies may only be used if they complement conventional treatment — not as an alternative to the conventional route, and even then, only if there are no negative side effects (Rabbi G.A. Rabinowitz, Halachah U’Refuah, vol. 3, 5343, p. 115; Rabbi S. Aviner, Assia, vol. 45–46, 5749, p. 69).
In a case where the opinions of the conventional doctors and naturopathic healers were in direct opposition regarding the care of a critically ill patient, the Lubavitcher Rebbe instructed the family to ask a halachic expert, and agreed that they should consult with Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach. Rabbi Auerbach ruled that they should follow the opinion of the regular doctors, since more people work in that field, and they are therefore able to invest much more in research and development (Kovetz Heichal Menachem, vol. 2, p. 191). The implications of the article are potentially dangerous to those who read it. Healthy lifestyles should be followed and are recommended, but one should never reject evidence-based medicine, which has
5-year survival rates with alternative treatment alone
5-year survival rates with conventional treatment
Breast Cancer
58%
86%
Lung Cancer
19%
51%
Colon Cancer
32%
79%
14 Wellspring | December 2019
been shown time and again to save lives. I would like to note that Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, a renowned cancer institution, has an Integrative Medicine department that offers research-based therapies such as acupuncture, mind-body classes, yoga, meditation, tai chi, aromatherapy, massage therapy, music therapy, qigong, and more. These alternative methods are combined with traditional Western medicine to improve wellness and reduce stress. They have a comprehensive online database on herbs and botanicals that can be accessed by anyone. This list includes possible side effects and interactions with cancer treatments, so be sure to check with your doctor before taking any new supplement. Blima Marcus, DNP RN ANP-BC OCN
Organic Is Not All Heart Issue #46: Cover Feature
The article on organic food quoted many evidence-based studies suggesting that GMOs, pesticides, and the like are not harmful. On the other hand, the voice for the organic side was weak. There is a lot of evidence that does indicate that pesticides and GMOs are harmful, but from the article, it appeared that those who choose to purchase organic food are simply following their feelings, not science.
I think Wellspring is a great magazine and I love that it explores interesting health topics. I just wish it would be a bit bolder and be a voice for real health information, not only mainstream medicine. J. L.
Parents Have a Responsibility, Too Issue #44: Cover Feature
First and foremost, I want to thank you for your wonderful magazine. I relish every issue, each full of pertinent information and amazing ways to remain healthy, both physically and emotionally. It fills a very important need in our frum community. Your highly professional advisory board and contributing writers ensure that we readers get only the most reliable, updated information about a plethora of topics.
Quick Question
Q
Lately, I’ve been noticing the variety of different milks on the kosher market — one for lactose intolerance, while another is lactose-free. There’s almond milk that needs refrigeration and almond milk in cartons on the shelves; there are also goat’s milk, coconut milk, rice milk, and more. If I get stomach pains when I drink regular cow’s milk and my child gets ear infections when he has dairy, which milk would you recommend for my son and me? The reason we have such a variety of milks and milk alternatives is because so many people have a hard time digesting cow’s milk. In general, children and adults who have ear infections, postnasal drip, coughs, or a runny nose should stick to almond, rice, or coconut milk. People with digestive issues like IBS and reflux can have goat’s or lactose-free milk, but in moderation. It’s always a good idea to take probiotics for GI-related issues and reflux. Of course, remember to get a good night’s sleep and eat healthy.
A
To your health, Chaya Tilla (Tina) Brachfeld, RN, health kinesiologist
I read the article on allergies, “When Danger Is Just a Morsel Away” with some reservation. I have been in the child-care provider field for many years in a professional (day care) setting and at home. Teachers, young or old, experienced or inexperienced, cannot be expected to take a more serious attitude to a child’s allergies than the parents themselves! Baruch Hashem, my own children do not have allergies; however, I do have a child with a medical condition and I know: if I impress upon the teacher or rebbi that this is serious, we can work together. I must give current information and exact directions regarding how to treat an emergency situation.
I haven’t yet come across this attitude from parents of allergic children. I was the morah in a classroom for children under age two, one of whom was allergic to peanuts. I was not sure (and the mother couldn’t tell me) if I could eat peanut butter before arriving. Did I have to launder my clothing? Brush my teeth? And is all this my responsibility? We teachers separated a high chair for her, but the cleaning crew sometimes moved things around. What were we to do then? And how can you control where food goes amongst children so young? Little did we know that every exposure to the allergen can
cause the symptoms to worsen — nobody told us that. She did have her EpiPen, and it even had instructions on it — but would I be able to administer the shot — without being trained — in an emergency situation? I was nervous about it all year! And what would happen if I was not in the classroom? How can a teacher not panic? (This child did indeed have a reaction during the year—but, baruch Hashem, it was at home. She reacted to a chocolate-covered pretzel and ended up in the hospital.)
I have had parents call me about babysitting their child. Parents have told me, “It should be easy enough to keep her away from peanuts, nuts, dairy, etc.” Easy? In a room full of crawling youngsters — where food gets thrown and picked up at random and can easily escape the teacher’s notice? Who is going to get the blame for the child’s reaction? No teacher can possibly take your child’s allergies more seriously than you do! Maybe allergic children need to have a shadow with them at all times in the classroom, on the bus, who is ensuring their safety? How can every care provider know exactly what to do (and not panic!) in an
emergency? There are different people caring for them through the day. Someone knowledgeable in medical matters is not necessarily observing them at every moment. And how much has to be the teacher’s responsibility? There is only so much one person can do. And the responsibility is huge — we are talking about lifelong ramifications!
I have much more to say, but I think the point I'm making is clear from the teachers’ perspective: teachers cannot possibly take your child’s allergy more seriously than you do. Thank you again, and hatzlachah rabba!
B. J.
Laekwood, New Jersey.
My Go-To Address For a long time, I’ve had a very personal health question that could not be addressed in a public forum. Having nowhere to turn and feeling too uncomfortable to bring this up with family or a friend, I reached out to Kislev 5780 | Wellspring 15
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Letters
the only source I could think of: Wellspring. I was highly impressed with the sensitive, prompt direction I was given. I was guided to the right experts who provided the advice I needed. In addition to thanking you publicly, I want other readers to know that, finally, this option exists within our community. Thanks for doing this tremendous chessed.
Name withheld upon request
Only One Way to Elevate Food? Issue #46: Spiritual Eating
Thank you for a phenomenal magazine.
In his column last month, Rabbi Eli Glaser wrote, quoting the Shem MiShmuel, that if we don’t eat the right foods, the food doesn’t get elevated. If I make a proper brachah on a piece of cake that I really don’t need now, does that mean the food does not achieve its proper tikkun?
to express appreciation and connection to Hashem, but then we have to concretize that expression with an action. If our subsequent behavior with food is one that instigates or prolongs illness instead of health (which is what food is meant to achieve), we have contradicted the essence of the brachah and shown that our physical indulgence is more important to us than Hashem’s will for us to be physically healthy and spiritually fulfilled.
In regard to the specific example in your question, it depends on what you mean by “on a piece of cake that I really don’t need now.” As a rule, we should always strive to maximize robust calories (foods that are full of nutrients) and minimize empty calories (foods with little or no nutritional value). If occasionally eating a piece of cake doesn’t trigger or perpetuate a problematic behavior with overeating and continued weight gain, then it wouldn’t appear to be a blatant contradiction to the brachah. However, if it does, than it would — and that’s where each person has to be willing to be unconditionally honest with themselves to answer that question. Hashem certainly knows.
S. B.
Rabbi Eli Glaser responds:
Thanks for your insightful question. Making a brachah before eating with proper kavannah certainly gives us the opportunity
16 Wellspring | December 2019
Reducing Bilirubin Counts Issue #46: Quick Question
In response to the woman who asked about
high bilirubin counts in pregnancy, I have found that taking 3000-5000 IU of vitamin D daily really helps. Thanks for an exemplary publication!
Faigy W.
How Much Honey? Issue #44: Seasoned
Thank you for the delicious and healthier recipes that you include in the magazine each month. I have really been enjoying them! The back-to-school issue, in which you featured healthier cookies, had a recipe for gluten-free almond bars. The recipe includes “cup honey” but it does not specify the exact amount. I think a full cup of honey would be too much for this recipe. Can you please share the exact quantity of honey for this recipe? I appreciate your assistance with this and look forward to making these bars soon!
Thank you,
Shoshana Berger
Due to popular request for the exact quantity, we are printing it here. We apologize for the omission. The recipe calls for ⅔ cup honey.
Well Informed
Spiritual Eating By Rabbi Eli Glaser, CNWC, CWMS
A Little Oil
T
Goes a Long Way
The lights of Chanukah remind us of the miracle Hashem performed in the Beis Hamikdash by allowing the flames of the menorah to burn for eight days from only one flask of oil.
One of the many lessons the menorah in the Beis Hamikdash teaches us is that all the knowledge that Hashem put into creating the world is solely for the sake of us improving ourselves and our avodas Hashem. The six outer flames of the menorah represent the different disciplines of worldly wisdom, but they all pointed toward the center branch to show that the application of these disciplines needs to be directed by Torah and be used for the ultimate purpose of kedushah. In addition, the menorah itself was fashioned from a single chunk of solid gold, teaching that all forms of knowledge stem from the same source: nothing is outside and independent of the Almighty and His Torah.
We try to do just that — to use the Torah’s guidelines and wisdom to help us make every single decision that will affect our lives. If something is known to be harmful, then by the Torah commanding us “v’nishmartem me’od l’nafshoseichem,” it is incumbent upon us to abstain from that substance or behavior — such as smoking, or eating unhealthy or excessive quantities of food. Using oil in our food to remember the miracle of the menorah is certainly an important custom. But in order to best commemorate the events that transpired, we need to understand exactly what kind of oil we want to emulate. It seems to be counterintuitive to celebrate the festivities of Chanukah with an endless pro-
cession of greasy fried latkes and jelly donuts.
The fuel for the menorah was “shemen zayis zach kasis,” pure, pressed olive oil. Rashi tells us that the olives were gently squeezed to extract only the first, pure drop of oil. The rest of the olive was then sent away to be crushed in the traditional manner to release the remainder of the oil, to be used for meal offerings. In order to best replicate the oil from the menorah, shouldn’t we specifically not use an abundance of oil to deep fry and saturate our foods — but rather add an appropriate amount of pure, extra virgin oil to a delicious dish or salad for remembrance of the miracle? Wouldn’t this be the ideal way to celebrate? And wouldn’t this incorporate the larger lesson of the menorah, which is to conduct ourselves according to wisdom of Hashem’s creation, and not indulge in behaviors that clearly cause us harm — such as clogging our arteries with excess fat? That’s something to think about as we try to allow the light of Chanukah to continue to burn in us even after the last candle flickers out.
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.
18 Wellspring | December 2019
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Well Informed
Dental Health By Dr. Jacques Doueck, DDS
“I THOUGHT I WAS BRUSHING TOO HARD!” THE CAUSE OF GUM RECESSION MAY NOT BE WHAT YOU THINK IT IS Up until a few years ago, dentists were taught that areas of gum recession and commonly seen “notching” were caused by a toothbrush with bristles that are too hard, as well as improper brushing techniques. Research has since shown that we were wrong. In fact, it is clenching and grinding that causes notching of the teeth.
When your bite is slightly off, it’s common for one tooth to hit sooner than the rest. This causes undue stress on the involved teeth and they begin to flex. If this continues, the enamel at the root area begins to flake off. This is what causes the familiar looking notches called abfractions.
WHAT HAPPENS IF THESE NOTCHES AND AREAS OF RECESSION ARE NOT CORRECTED? Decay, further bone loss, and even fracture. Left untreated, the damaging forces continue to stress the roots, resulting in further gum recession and erosion. This weakens teeth and may lead to decay, further bone loss, and even fracture. Loose teeth. “Interferences” in your bite are a primary cause of these “notches.” Teeth may therefore become loose due to the constant knocking of the teeth during sleep. Unsightly appearance. Cosmetically, the affected teeth will appear to grow longer. In patients with a broad smile, this can be very unseemly, giving a fang-like appearance.
WHAT CAN BE DONE TO PRESERVE YOUR TEETH? THERE ARE THREE STEPS:
Fix the bite. Check for interferences. If problems are found, adjustments can be made so the forces are evenly distributed over all the teeth.
Fix the tooth. Restore damaged teeth. This is a painless procedure. Using the same materials used for cosmetic bonding, a tooth can be restored to its original appearance. Using the latest technology such as lasers, high-energy curing lights, and the AquaCut, the procedure is performed without drilling, and is comfortable and easy for the patient. Prevent nighttime damage. In cases which the patient has many abfraction notches that appear to be getting worse, a bite guard may be required. This will protect teeth from nighttime clenching and grinding.
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.
20 Wellspring | December 2019
Photography: Yechiel Orgel
A concerto for your tastebuds.
Well Informed
Updates in the News By Esther Retek
SLEEP: A BLANKET SOLUTION?
Can Shuteye Serve as a Remedy for Anxiety? “Sleep is the bridge between despair and hope,” goes a well-known saying. For many of us, sleep is the bridge between virtually anything negative and anything positive. You go to sleep feeling weighed down by life’s challenges and (hopefully!) wake up feeling refreshed and energized, ready to tackle anything the day has to offer. Anecdotal research probably finds that there’s something magical about a good night’s sleep, but what about clinical research? Can the studies corroborate what you already know about the benefits of hitting the pillow? Now, new research conducted at the University of California in Berkeley, which was published in the nature research journal Nature Human Behaviour, suggests that a full night of slumber might be the solution to many issues, especially anxiety. The study shows that a deep slumber definitely stabilizes emotions, while a sleepless night can trigger up to a 30% rise in anxiety levels.
“Sleep can decrease anxiety overnight by reorganizing connections in the brain," says the study’s senior author and sleep expert Matthew Walker, a neuroscience and psychology professor at the University of California. "Deep sleep seems to be a natural anxiety inhibitor, so long as we get it each night." In a series of experiments using MRI, among other measures, the researchers scanned the brains of 18 young adults as they viewed emotionally stirring video clips after a full night of sleep, and again after a sleepless night. Anxiety levels were measured following each session via a questionnaire known as the state-trait anxiety inventory. After a night of no sleep, brain scans showed a shutdown of the medial prefrontal cortex, which normally helps keep our anxiety in check, while the brain's deeper emotional centers were overactive.
22 Wellspring | December 2019
"Without sleep, it's almost as if the brain is too heavy on the emotional pedal, without enough brake," says Professor Walker.
After a full night of sleep, during which participants' brain waves were measured via electrodes placed on their heads, the results showed their anxiety levels declined significantly, especially for those who experienced more slow-wave NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep. Deep sleep restored the brain's prefrontal mechanism that regulates our emotions, lowering emotional and physiological reactivity and preventing the escalation of anxiety. The researchers then replicated the study with another 30 participants. Again, the results again showed that those who got more nighttime deep sleep experienced the lowest levels of anxiety the next day.
In addition to the lab experiments, the researchers conducted another study in which they tracked 280 people of all ages, noting how both their sleep and anxiety levels changed over four consecutive days.
The results showed that the amount and quality of sleep the participants got from one night to the next predicted how anxious they would feel the next day. Even subtle nighttime changes in sleep affected their anxiety levels.
"People with anxiety disorders routinely report having disturbed sleep, but rarely is sleep improvement considered as a clinical recommendation for lowering anxiety," Dr. Eti Ben Simon, one of the researchers, says. "Our study not only establishes a causal connection between sleep and anxiety, but it identifies the kind of deep sleep we need to calm the overanxious brain."
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Updates in the News
TALK YOUR PROBLEMS
Late-Talking Toddlers Resort to Tantrums as a Means of Expression Speech delays and temper tantrums in toddlers have long been assumed to go hand in hand, but no large-scale research had successfully backed up that assumption with data — until recently.
A new 2,000-participant study from Northwestern University, published in the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, found that toddlers with fewer spoken words have more frequent and severe temper tantrums than their peers with typical language skills. It’s the first study to link toddlers' delayed vocabulary with severe temper tantrums, including children as young as 12 months old, which is much younger than many clinicians typically believe problematic behavior can be identified.
"We totally expect toddlers to have temper tantrums if they're tired or frustrated, and most parents know a tantrum when they see it," says co-principal investigator, Elizabeth Norton. "But not many parents know that certain kinds of frequent or severe tantrums can indicate risk for later mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, and behavior problems." The study surveyed more than 2,000 nationally representative parents who had a toddler between the ages of 12 and 38 months. Parents answered questions about their children's number of spoken words and their tantrum behaviors, such as how often their child has a tantrum when they are tired versus when they are having fun.
In the study, a toddler is considered to be a "late talker" if they have fewer than 50 words or aren't putting words together by age two. Late talkers are predisposed to have severe and/or frequent temper tantrums at nearly double the rate of their peers with typical language skills, the study found. The scientists categorize tantrums as "severe" if the toddler is regularly doing things like holding their breath, hitting, or kicking during a tantrum. Toddlers who have these kinds of tantrums on a daily 24 Wellspring | December 2019
basis or more may need help promoting their self-control skills later on.
Don’t forget, though, that all these behaviors must be understood within developmental context. Although we want our children to talk early (it definitely sounds precocious), there’s no need to worry if your child is not imitating songs at the age of two.
"Parents should not overreact just because the child next door has more words or because their child had a rough day with many out-of-control tantrums," the study advises. "The key indicators of concern in both these domains are a persistent pattern of problems and/or delays. When these go hand in hand, they exacerbate each other and increase risk, partly because these problems interfere with healthy interactions with those around them."
The survey is the first phase of a bigger ongoing research project called “When to Worry,” which is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. The next phase, currently in progress, includes a follow-up study of approximately 500 toddlers who are developing typically and also those who are exhibiting irritable behavior and/or speech delays. The study will examine brain and behavioral development to pinpoint those indicators that will help distinguish transient delays from the onset of problems.
"We want to take all the pieces of information we get about development and put them together to form a toolkit that pediatricians or even parents can use to understand when to worry about a given child, and know what is developmentally expected versus not, so that children can get intervention early, when it is most effective," says Norton. There’s the balance here. No need to worry when there’s nothing to worry about, but it’s important to get the right help as soon as you notice serious childhood developmental delays.
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Updates in the News
TIME TO TOSS
Six household items that require replacement more often than you’d think As the nights are getting longer, colder, and undoubtedly cozier, it’s a good idea to take advantage of the extra time you are spending home. It might be just the perfect time to take a good look around your house to check out which objects are in need of a tossing. In a study published in The Hartford, researchers note that even the cleanest, most fastidious among us often fail to get rid of household items that may be causing health problems. Here are six of the most prominent troublemakers that may be lying around your house way past their expiration date.
Sponges A study published in Scientific Reports claims that sponges are quick to become a home for bacteria. They then spread germs to your hands, dishes, and ultimately to your food. If you have a cut on your hand, bacteria can easily enter your body during sponge use. Even if you boil or microwave your sponge after each use to disinfect it, scientists say it’s best to replace it once a week.
Cosmetic Products While the expiration date of makeup differs based on different variables, a good general rule is to restock cosmetics after six months of use to keep bacteria at bay — not just on Erev Pesach. Take special care to replace makeup after you’ve used it on infected skin or eyes. Wash applicators regularly with warm water and a mild soap to keep them clean enough to use for a good while. Cleveland Clinic suggests the following schedule with regard to washing brushes: once a week for tools that apply wet makeup; twice a week for eye makeup applicators; and brushes for dry makeup can go a month between cleanings. Toss any applicator once it looks frayed.
Medications Manufacturers are required to put expiration dates on all medications. Some studies recently published by the FDA 26 Wellspring | December 2019
show they work much longer than their stamped shelf life, but the best option is to keep your medicine cabinet contents current. Most expired medications lose strength over time, in either case. When you toss drugs, be responsible: The FDA recommends dropping off these medications at a special drop-off location as the best option. If that is not feasible, the FDA has a flush list, posted on their website, which outlines medicines that must be flushed as soon as they expire, to avoid danger. As a last resort, simply dispose of the medication in a responsible, safe manner, so that no one gets their hands on them.
Contact Lens Cases To keep your contact case clean, rinse it with fresh saline solution, not water, after each use. The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends replacing it every three months. Cracked or damaged cases make a hotbed of bacteria, so certainly replace them right away.
Pillows In an article titled “When Should You Replace Your Pillow?” the National Sleep Foundation explains that the pillow absorbs the sweat, oil, and skin cells we shed while we sleep. Additionally, it loses its firmness and shape, diminishing its support for the head and neck. Replace old pillows for new ones every two years — sooner if they’re flat, lumpy, or stay folded after they’re bent in half.
Toothbrushes Twice-a-day scrubbing really wears out the toothbrush’s bristles. For best cleaning results, the American Dental Association suggests switching to a new one at least every three to four months. If you apply more pressure while brushing, which is not a recommended practice as it wears down the tooth’s protective enamel, you may want to change your toothbrush even more often.
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Well Informed
Figures By Malka Sharman
POWER UP STATS ON IMMUNE HEALTH IN THE WINTER
COLDS AND THE FLU
More than
200
different viruses can cause the common cold
Adults get an average of
Children get an average of
colds a year
colds a year
2-4
5-10
200,000
americans
are hospitalized annually due to flu complications
It typically takes
28 Wellspring | December 2019
of people in the US contract an annual case of the flu
1-4
days
5–20%
2
The highest rate of hospitalization for the flu are in children under the age of
It takes
to recover from a cold
After a flu, the patient may have a cough for up to
weeks
days
7-10
5
for flu symptoms to appear
WHITE BLOOD CELLS (WBC)
White blood cells, which fight disease, is
1%
of our blood’s composition
WBC outnumber red blood cells in bone marrow by
The body can produce up to
Every microliter of blood contains an average of
WBC daily
On average, we come into contact with
To properly remove germs, wash your hands for
surfaces every
minutes,
which exposes us to about
seconds
Proper hand washing can reduce respiratory infections by
germs
of the population does not wash their hands at all after sneezing or coughing
only
ON DEFENSE
300 20 30 840,000 20% 5% 39%
(Sources: CDC, NPS MedicineWise)
WBC
billion
100 2:1 7,000
of the population washes their hands properly
Kislev 5780 | Wellspring 29
Well Informed
Health Ed By Laura Shammah, MS, RDN
Building an Army What Can You Do to Boost Fighter Cells? You don’t need Wellspring to tell you that an efficient immune system is essential all year round, and especially during this time of year. Having a powered-up internal protection system can make the difference between a chaotic sitting-in-the-doctor’s-waiting-room winter and a cozy, calm, baking-at-home season. In addition to the repercussions and discomfort of illness, a compromised immune system in children means too many absences from school as they languish in bed, bored and miserable. For adults, it means missed work or a reduced ability to fulfill basic obligations. Although immunity can also be attributed to an individual’s genetic composition, the good news is that there are many things we can do to boost our immune system, or even restore its strength after it’s already been weakened by a cold, flu, or stomach virus. How much do you know about the steps you can take to boost your immune system?
1
True or False: Eating the right foods can boost the immune system. Answer: True.
Although eating the right foods is not the only thing you can do to boost your immune system, a diet that contains some of the known super foods will provide your immunity with a good boost. There are some points to consider, though. Make sure you are eating different types of those foods, since variety is the key to proper nutrition, and eating just one of the super foods won’t be enough to help boost immunity even if you eat plenty of it. Additionally, pay attention to serving sizes and recommended daily intake so that you don’t get too much of a single vitamin and too little of others. Eating right (see sidebar) is a great start to protection against the flu, cold, and other illnesses.
30 Wellspring | December 2019
Lifestyle Matters When it comes to protecting your body, the first line of defense is to lead a healthy lifestyle. Following general good-health guidelines is one wise step you can take toward naturally keeping your immune system strong and healthy. Every part of your body, especially your immune system, functions better when it’s protected from environmental assaults, as well as bolstered by healthy-living strategies, such as:
2
True or False: Covering your mouth when you cough may help keep germs at bay. Answer: True.
Coughing, sneezing, or even talking near someone who has the flu can make you sick when droplets of the virus get into the air. And you can inhale these droplets even if you are two or three feet away. If you’re the person who’s sick, stay home. If you must be around others, cover your mouth and nose when you cough, or sneeze into your shoulder or the inside of your elbow. If you’re healthy and suspect others around you are sick, stand at least four feet away from them. Also, since germs can live on hard surfaces like doorknobs for hours, wash hands frequently, and keep them away from your face.
No smoking. Eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables. Exercising regularly. Maintaining a healthy weight. If you drink alcohol, drinking only in moderation. Getting adequate sleep. Taking steps to avoid infection, such as washing your hands frequently and cooking meats thoroughly. Trying to minimize stress. Making sure you’re eating well. It’s harder for a malnourished body to fight off an illness or infection. Malnutrition doesn’t only occur in the tribes in Africa; it results when the body does not receive enough calories and/or nutrients to promote good health and sustain healthy functioning of the body’s systems.
Kislev 5780 | Wellspring 31
Well Informed
Health Ed
3
True or False: A positive attitude can boost immunity. Answer: True.
One study of law students showed that their immune systems had a correlation to their thoughts about how tough school would be. When they felt better about school, they had a better immune system; and when they were worried, their immune system slowed. The upshot: looking at the bright side might better equip your body to fight illness.
Does early exposure to colds help build immunity? Being exposed to a particular virus helps the body build immunity toward it later on. If that’s the case, one can think that contracting a cold in youth should practically build our immunity against it for life. However, there are actually hundreds of different cold viruses. For example, adenovirus — one of many viruses that causes cough, congestion, pink eye, and diarrhea — has 54 different types.
So, while children may build up immunity to the viruses they’ve been exposed to, there are still hundreds more that their immune systems have not yet encountered. Therefore, that child may get sick from the new viruses just like everyone else.
Immunity in a Nutshell The body’s warrior system White blood cells, also called leukocytes, are in charge of fighting off pathogens — bacteria, viruses, or other microorganisms that can cause disease. They circulate in the body in blood vessels and the lymphatic vessels that parallel the veins and arteries.
White blood cells are on constant patrol, looking for pathogens. When they find a target, they begin to multiply and send signals out to other cell types to do the same. Our white blood cells are stored in different places in the body, which are referred to as lymphoid organs. These include the following: • Thymus — a gland between the lungs and just below the neck.
• Spleen — an organ that filters the blood. It sits in the upper left of the abdomen.
• Bone marrow — found in the center of the bones, it also produces red blood cells.
• Lymph nodes — small glands positioned throughout the body, linked by lymphatic vessels. Everyone's immune system is different but, as a general rule, it becomes stronger during adulthood as, by this time, we have been exposed to more pathogens and have developed more immunity — which is why teens and adults tend to get sick less often than children. Once an antibody has been produced, a copy remains in the body so that if the same antigen (the foreign substance that sets off an immune response) appears again, it can be dealt with efficiently.
32 Wellspring | December 2019
4
True or False: Not getting enough sleep has no effect on the immune system. Answer: False.
There's a strong link between sleep and a healthy immune system, but not just any sleep will do. Restorative sleep, which means enough sleep to get the body back into fighting shape, is the key.
Sleep needs vary by person, but most adults need 7–8 hours a night. Teens need 9–10 hours, school-aged kids need at least 10 hours, preschoolers need 11–12 hours, and newborns need 16–18 hours. Over the past few decades, though, the average time people sleep has dropped to less than 7 hours a night for adults. If you sleep less than your body needs, you’ll build up a sleep debt. And you can't make that up with naps or by sleeping in on weekends. Bottom line: get to bed at a time when you know you’ll have at least 7 hours to sleep.
5
6
Answer: False.
Answer: True.
True or False:
True or False:
Exercise has no affect on the immune system. While there’s no direct link between moderate exercise and keeping the average person’s immune system humming, working out has positive implications on the body’s defense team. Among other things, it lowers blood pressure, keeps body weight under control, and can protect you from certain diseases.
Sucking your baby’s pacifier can make him less likely to develop allergies. Do you cringe when you see a parent pick up a baby’s pacifier and suck it before returning it to the baby’s mouth? Don't. A recent Henry Ford Health System study found that parents who suck their infant’s pacifier may lower the baby’s risk of having allergies. The thought is that germs transferred to the infant from the parent’s saliva will kick-start the baby's immune system.
Mushrooms What is their power? While alternative and Eastern medicine practitioners have relied on mushrooms to help fight illness for centuries, modern-day researchers are now starting to uncover how key fungi phytonutrients — particularly beta-glucans — work to support the immune system. Beta-glucans are complex polysaccharides or sugars that live in the cell walls of mushrooms, and they seem to act on immune receptors and activate various immune cells, according to a report in the Journal of Hematology and Oncology. You’ll find many types of mushrooms at the grocery store or farmer’s market. “Any will do,” says Dr. Bill Rawls, an advocate of mushroom consumption for healing. “But shiitake, maitake, oyster, lion’s mane, and turkey tail mushrooms have the highest immune benefits.” Another powerful one in the bunch is the reishi mushroom. Preliminary studies suggest that reishi mushrooms help modulate the immune system by increasing the activity of immune cells and the production of communication-enhancing cytokines, according to a research review in Integrative Medicine: A Clinician’s Journal. However, you won’t find this mushroom in your supermarket’s produce aisle, only in a supplement form. Aim for 350 mg daily. Therefore, instead of using antacids to treat reflux, patients would be far better served in the long run if the root causes for the reflux are identified and handled accordingly.
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. Kislev 5780 | Wellspring 33
Well Informed
Health Ed
Super Foods for Immunity One great way to prevent winter colds and the flu is to incorporate these 9 powerful, natural immune boosters into your diet. 1. Citrus fruits Many people turn to vitamin C after they've caught a cold as it is known to increase the production of white blood cells, leukocytes, which are the body’s fighter cells. How about stocking up on this nutrient proactively? Because the body doesn't produce or store vitamin C, we need to pump it daily for continued health. A serving of citrus fruit contains a whopping average of 50 mg of vitamin C, about 80% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of the nutrient. Popular citrus fruits include: • grapefruit • oranges
• tangerines • lemons • limes
With such a variety to choose from, it's easy to add a generous serving of this vitamin to any meal.
2. Red bell peppers While citrus fruits are famous for their dense vitamin C content, the award actually goes to the red bell pepper. Ounce for ounce, red bell peppers contain twice as much vitamin C as citrus fruits. They’re also a rich source of beta carotene. In addition to boosting the immune system, vitamin C may help maintain healthy skin, and beta carotene helps support healthy eyes and skin.
3. Broccoli Broccoli is supercharged with vitamins and minerals. Packed with vitamins A, C, and E, as well as many other antioxidants and fiber, broccoli is one of the healthiest vegetables you can put on your table. The key to keeping its power intact is to cook it as little as possible — or better yet, not at all.
4. Ginger Ginger is another ingredient many turn to after getting sick, as it may help decrease inflammation, which can help reduce a sore throat and other inflammatory illness-
34 Wellspring | December 2019
es. Ginger may also help decrease nausea, as well as help decrease chronic pain.
5. Spinach In addition to being rich in vitamin C, spinach is also packed with numerous antioxidants and beta carotene, which may increase the infection-fighting ability of the immune system. Similar to broccoli, spinach is healthiest when cooked as little as possible so that it retains its nutrients. However, light cooking enhances its vitamin A and allows other nutrients to be released from oxalic acid.
6. Almonds In regards to preventing and fighting off colds, vitamin E tends to take a backseat to vitamin C. However, vitamin E is key to healthy immunity as well. It’s a fat-soluble vitamin, requiring the presence of fat to be absorbed properly. Nuts like almonds are packed both with the vitamins and healthy fats. A half-cup serving, which is about 46 whole, shelled almonds, provides nearly 100% of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin E.
7. Turmeric You may recognize turmeric as a key ingredient in many curries, but this bright yellow, bitter spice is not only renowned for its signature flavor. Turmeric has been used for centuries as an anti-inflammatory aid in treating both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Studies also indicate that high concentrations of curcumin, which gives turmeric its distinctive color, can help decrease exercise-induced muscle damage.
8. Green tea Green tea has a high level of epigallocatechin gallate, EGCG, a powerful antioxidant that has been shown to enhance immune function. While the fermentation process black tea undergoes destroys the majority of its EGCG, green tea, on the other hand, is steamed — not fermented — which preserves its EGCG content. Green tea is also a good source of the amino acid L-theanine, which may aid in the production of germ-fighting compounds in T-cells, a type of white blood cell that actively participates in the immune response.
9. Papaya Papaya is another fruit loaded with vitamin C — with one single papaya containing 224% of the daily recommended allowance of the vitamin. Papain, the digestive enzyme in the fruit, has anti-inflammatory effects, as well.
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Well Informed
Dedicated to Health By Rifky Amsel
1
What motivated you to launch your organization? My daughter was born prematurely over five years ago. After navigating the difficult NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) journey, I realized that although there are many wonderful Jewish organizations serving families facing medical hardships, there were no resources to specifically help families of premature newborns. My entire family felt an amazing sense of gratitude to Hashem that my daughter had survived this ordeal and has no long-term effects as a result of her prematurity. With the support and encouragement of my husband and children, WeeCare, a non-profit organization, was founded. All of the co-founders of WeeCare had experienced similar situations and were motivated by their own personal journeys with a micropreemie (see sidebar).
36 Wellspring | December 2019
Many people think it's merely a waiting game until the baby weighs enough to come home, or they'll assume that the baby must be "so cute and tiny."
10 Questions for:
Chana Rivky Weinberger Founder of WeeCare
WeeCare, which was established in the fall of 2017 to support families of premature babies in a myriad of ways, has had the zechus of assisting over one hundred families before reaching its two-year anniversary.
2
What is your current role at WeeCare? WeeCare’s amazing group of co-founders — Rifky Amsel, Shaindy Felder, Chanie Greenspan, Chanie Groner, Toby Tabak, and I — have each invested much time, talent, and resources in our organization. Each one of us is a mother or grandmother of a preemie (or preemies!) and genuinely understands the need for practical and emotional support, as well as the variety of services essential for families of preemies. Each family of a premature baby that would like to accept our services is assigned a WeeCare representative, each of whom has had their own preemie. Based on their preference, we may be in touch with the parents by text, phone, or email; daily, on a weekly basis, or only when they reach out to us. Some families are hap-
py to take any services offered, while others refuse multiple times before they accept. Some would prefer to deal with the challenge without accepting help or they just don’t have the headspace for outside involvement, and we respect that. Each personal rep will work with the family based on their specific comfort level. Of course, we respect the privacy of the families and do not divulge information to anyone, including a client’s own family members who may reach out to us. People are well-meaning, but WeeCare waits for the mother of the baby to initiate contact and only provides the services she requests, not those that a family member thinks she needs.
WeeCare’s co-founders were trained in several areas by a highly regarded social worker, including guidance on how to sense what the family needs, without prying. Kislev 5780 | Wellspring 37
Well Informed
Dedicated to Health
3
What is one great challenge you face in running the organization? Our greatest challenge is assisting each family in a way that works for them. In general, families tend to handle medical situations differently. While prematurity is usually not a secret, the specifics of a baby’s condition may be something the parents choose to share or prefer to keep quiet. According to the preferences of the family, we offer support in a way that works best for them. Another challenge is regularly hearing about members of Klal Yisrael dealing with pain, difficulties, and struggles. It’s a balancing act to be encouraging and supportive but understanding that we cannot assure a positive outcome, since each child has a different experience destined for him, and Hashem is the One who runs the world. I try to keep this perspective and I take encouragement from the many happy conclusions, baruch Hashem.
4
Can you highlight the different aspects of the work you do?
With each situation, we continue to learn about new avenues for helping families of preemies.
A key goal of WeeCare is peer to peer support. There are countless questions and concerns that are addressed. After so many conversations, relationships are developed; it’s no wonder we call it our WeeCare family! We are available to speak to preemies’ parents and more importantly, to listen. We understand the challenges; we understand the victories. For instance, when a preemie is allowed to wear an undershirt for the first time, it is a huge milestone. (This usually means that the medical staff no longer has to watch his chest to ascertain whether the baby is breathing properly and that the baby can maintain his own temperature.) We try to address different aspects of each situation. Therefore, a rabbinical board which understands the nature of the preemie community was set up to guide us whenever needed; and the organization has recruited an amazing team of medical professionals who have made themselves available to speak to the WeeCare founders or parents of preemies, as required. As far as services we provide, our list is constantly growing. Door-to-door rides for mothers of preemies are provided by our wonderful volunteers, because we understand that a Bikur Cholim shuttle or public transportation may not be the best mode of transportation for a new preemie’s mother. (She is often post C-section, carrying expressed milk, and is certainly very stressed. Testing and urgent issues that arise also complicate schedules.) Delicious homemade suppers are cooked and delivered in many neighborhoods. This is sometimes done in larger quantities so one merely needs to rewarm the meals upon returning from the hospital. Clothing, books, and other various other items are available. Prepared with care, a sweet welcome package as well as a discharge package, are sent to the families of these babies. The packages contain both practical and feel-good items. Recognizing that siblings of preemies also need extra care as well, we give them extra attention and often send gifts with a letter from other siblings of preemies to "welcome them to the club" and help them feel understood. WeeCare even printed special stickers that read, “I am a proud sister/brother of a preemie!” It can be so challenging when parents are busy with a baby in the hospital and the children of all ages can be worried, lacking routine, and/or dealing with additional responsibilities.
We’re also are available to speak to grandparents or other family members to guide them on how to help the preemie’s parents they love. We've had much siyatta diShmaya in establishing a weekly phone support group moderated by a Lakewood-based therapist, Goldie Schechter, which provides valuable support to mothers of preemies. Some mothers are active participants in our phone group, and others prefer to listen in and remain silent. In recent months, a text group was started for WeeCare mothers exclusively about prematurity, and already, so many have made connections or provided key information for another mom experiencing similar circumstances. These groups, as well as the biannual brunch we host for mothers of preemies, allow for engagement and camaraderie with other preemie families.
Our website includes resources such as medical information, chizuk, questions for preemies’ parents to ask a Rabbi, and advice on how to advocate for a preemie baby. Lists of minyanim and kosher food available near hospitals are provided as well. Additionally, we’re looking forward to a fresh update for our website in the near future. Most importantly, there is a tehillim list that we send out to our text group every Erev Shabbos with the names of our preemies, many of them still going by just tinok.
Each preemie situation is so unique; each set of circumstances warrants differing services. So in fact, with each new call, we consider novel ways to assist these families.
38 Wellspring | December 2019
5
Can you share a positive story that you’ve recently experienced? WeeCare has been involved in many miraculous prematurity journeys. We were privileged to have helped the family of the earliest surviving preemie in a major NJ hospital, born at a very early gestational age and at a very low birth weight — she was considered to have a 1% chance of survival! She is now a delightful 1½-year-old, baruch Hashem. It gave us great joy when this baby was discharged, breathing on her own, having reached regular milestones.
6
What do you wish people would know about prematurity? Many people have not and will never be exposed to prematurity. When a friend or family member delivers prematurely, they want to be supportive, but often have no idea what the parents are dealing with. Many people think it’s merely a waiting game until the baby weighs enough to come home, or they’ll assume that the baby must be “so cute and tiny.” Preemies are not just “mini babies.” They may spend weeks or months on a respirator and in an incubator, limiting contact between parents and their precious baby. Mothers will likely find it difficult to imagine a scenario where they’re home without their newborn and cannot hold their baby for an extended period of time.
A premature baby may be born with translucent skin and need breathing or feeding assistance, as well as being at risk for brain bleeds, bowel perforations, lung disease, cardiac conditions, and many other issues. Concerns arise with vision and all aspects of development. Functions and skills that normally develop in utero must be learned in the NICU. Most people don’t realize the extent of the issues that accompany a premature birth; the list is beyond the scope of this article. The care needed, the technicalities and decisions involved are all-encompassing. Medical and developmental concerns need to be addressed post-NICU as well.
Certain situations are more “typical preemie” while others are not. I never know what we’ll be dealing with on any given day! But WeeCare is open to helping all, and if for any reason we are not equipped to assist, we’ve established connections with many others who can.
7
How do the services you provide today compare with your vision when you first launched the organization? While we recognized the need for an organization serving families of premature babies, there are a few things that were not anticipated.
Originally, we’d considered an advertising budget but word spread fast and the number of preemie families we’ve been privileged to help quickly grew without even one ad. Also, the response to our text group and weekly conference was overwhelming. We understood that families of preemies would benefit from our new organization and its services, but we did not anticipate the need for continued emotional and technical support for parents of NICU graduates. Having a premature baby often results in long-term health issues, as well as dealing with the ramifications of the trauma experienced by the family. WeeCare clearly fills a need in the community, but we were somewhat surprised by the encouragement we received from other national Jewish organizations who recognized that the needs of preemie families were not being met sufficiently.
In preparation for the launch of WeeCare, we focused was on what we’d need to do to support mothers of preemies. What we hadn’t realized was how their strength and fortitude would never cease to amaze us. Personally, a side benefit for me is getting to know all of these incredible mothers.
8
What’s the best part of your work? The toughest? The best part of our work is sharing in the joy families experience at every milestone. It is also very rewarding to see how WeeCare has evolved into not only an organization, but a warm community where individuals support one another and develop relationships.
Another perk is that while WeeCare was established to help others, all of the founders are constantly inspired by the families we encounter! Attending brissim and seudos hoda’ah for premature babies gives us immense pleasure. We rejoice with WeeCare families, since we truly understand what they’ve been through and the miracles they’ve experienced. On the other hand, it’s challenging when these precious babies have to face long-term challenges. The toughest is when, unfortunately, a premature baby does not survive. WeeCare tries to help the parents to navigate the heartbreaking nisayon of losing a child.
Kislev 5780 | Wellspring 39
Well Informed
Dedicated to Health
9
How do you manage the stress that comes along with your taxing work? It’s true that it can get stressful, but I try to focus on the needs at hand and the privilege of helping others after what I’ve been through. Truthfully, it can become especially stressful to "hold the hand" of a mother of a preemie when her baby is critically ill. Occasionally, I find my heart racing with hers as we await the results of a test or the outcome of a surgery. Sometimes, I will hear that a family was told to stay close to the hospital because their baby’s condition is so critical. As the founding team, we support each other and are always employing different strategies for coping. I do try to remind myself that I can be more supportive while in a calm, relaxed state. Additionally, while we try to make ourselves available whenever possible, particularly because these situations are so delicate, sometimes it’s necessary for us to push off dealing with a matter until we’re able to take care of it. Boundaries are important because they enable us to keep on with our work. Really, we could never have accomplished all this alone. Currently, we have a volunteer base in each of the following locations: Brooklyn, Lakewood, Monsey, Queens, and the Five Towns. These devoted volunteers freely give of their valuable time, are supportive of the mothers we work with, and often form long-term relationships with preemie families. We also share chizuk messages with each other, whether from Torah sources, or a preemie news story with a happy ending.
10
What was the best feedback you’ve ever received? We always appreciate feedback! It helps us grow and continue to help others. While we’ve been involved in all types of scenarios, one oft-repeated comment is, “All of the little things you do make a huge difference!”
Along with that, we are privy to incredible Hashgachah stories, which, on a number of occasions, were connected to WeeCare. For example, one Wednesday night, one of our preemie moms was so frazzled because her baby was coming home the following morning. Although she’s a regular participant in our conference call, she wasn’t sure she had the time or the wherewithal for it, but called in anyway. That night, the prepared topic was all about the emotions that might be experienced when a preemie is finally ready for homecoming. Interestingly, volunteers often thank us for the opportunity to help others, allowing them to participate in such an organization. They share how they’ve been inspired and have grown through their connections with our preemies’ mothers.
If you would like to avail yourself of WeeCare’s services, volunteer, donate, or make an inquiry, please call 732-813-3299 or email weecarepreemies@gmail.com.
40 Wellspring | December 2019
Ten percent of babies in the United States are born prematurely every year. A premature baby is defined as any baby born before the 37th week of pregnancy. A small percentage of preemies are considered micro-preemies, usually babies born at less than 26 weeks gestation or 800 grams (1 pound, 12 ounces). While any premature birth is stressful for the family, the birth of a micro-preemie is incredibly daunting. Under 50% of babies born under 25 weeks survive. The survival rate increases with gestational age, and the survival rate for babies born at 27 weeks is 80–90%.
Unfortunately, prematurity is the leading cause of neonatal death. In the last few decades, technological advances have much improved the outcome for premature babies. As recently as the 1970s, when a baby needed breathing support, which is now given by a respirator, the nurses needed to manual bag him, only stopping when they had another nurse to relieve them.
Incubators, temperature-controlled enclosed cribs are only about 50 years old. The first incubators were built by Dr. Couney, a French physician who used them as a freak show in Coney Island, NY. He had nurses caring for very small babies and would charge 25 cents to view the tiny babies. He paid for his research with the cost of admission and was mocked by most of the medical community. However, by the 1940s, he had many surviving preemies to his credit and had earned respect among doctors. It was only then that incubators were introduced in mainstream hospitals. Since then, there have been many medical advances that have greatly improved the chance of survival for preemies. In many cases, if there is any reason to expect an early delivery, the mother will receive steroid shots beforehand in an attempt to strengthen the lungs of a preemie prior to their arrival.
In the 1990s, surfactant was approved by the FDA. Surfactant is a medication administered to help prevent lung collapse, and has helped increase a premature baby’s chance of survival.
Mrs. Rifky Amsel is a veteran mechaneches and former principal, and is currently an educational consultant and writer in Lakewood, NJ.
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Living Well
In Good Shape By By Syma Kranz, PFC
I HEARD THAT7 Fitness Myths While there is lots of evidence-based research regarding exercise and fitness, much of it is muddled with misconceptions. This misinformation spreads quickly from gym-goer to gym-goer, from one friend to another. So, what’s true and what isn't? Busting some of the most common exercise myths may help you create a plan that meets your needs.
1
Exercise burns many calories. If you're walking at a brisk pace for 15 minutes, you use about the number of calories found in a banana. That's not very many. Running at around 5 mph for 30 minutes will only burn off a bagel — or the number of calories in one. So, no, exercising does not give one a free pass to eat whatever one wants, thinking, “I’ll burn it off anyway.” Combining a healthy, balanced diet with regular, moderate to vigorous exercise is what helps burn fat.
42 Wellspring | December 2019
2 3
Do lots of sit-ups to get a flat stomach. Sit-ups do help tone and firm up that area, and these exercises may help people lose some inches, but crunches alone won’t torch that abdominal fat. Even if you are burning calories, you can't guarantee that they'll come from that one area you're targeting. Instead, the exercises result in overall weight loss. Besides, I've found that planks are much more effective for achieving abdominal strength.
Exercising in the morning helps keep the calories burning all day long. The reality is that your body quickly returns to its pre-workout metabolic rate, so you may only burn an extra 10–25 calories after your workout is over. Exercising in the morning, however, may be helpful in setting and maintaining to a good fitness routine.
5 6
Stretch before you exercise. The most efficient time to stretch is after you workout, when your muscles are warm. This is especially important if you're working on flexibility.
You have to join a gym or hire a trainer to achieve physical fitness. Some people find it very motivating to go workout at a health center or to work with someone on a one-on-one basis. But gyms, trainers, and equipment are not necessary for achieving fitness. What you need is motivation from within.
4
Exercising 15 minutes a day, 3 days a week is enough for good health Think again. We need a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise at least 3 days a week. That means working up a sweat. But don't despair. Every opportunity you have for exercise is an opportunity nonetheless. Go for it, and take the time you have available, even if you won’t meet the quota this week.
7
Aerobic training is more important than strength training. Many people think that if they don't jump up and down, they won't lose weight. But the fact is that muscular fitness is just as important as aerobic fitness, even in terms of weight loss. Strength training helps prevent osteoporosis and aids in weight management because it helps maintain lean muscle mass. When you have more muscle, you burn more calories at rest.
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.
Kislev 5780 | Wellspring 43
Living Well
Ask the Nutritionist By Shani Taub, CDC
Food, Fitness, and Financials How can I invest in my health while on a tight budget?
Question: Being passionate about health and eating nutritious foods has always been a very important factor in my life. In the past, I’ve enjoyed a variety of healthy foods and always felt that it really made a difference. Now, however, I am finding it difficult to maintain my healthy eating because of my budget. My financial situation is rather strained right now, and I find it nearly impossible to keep to healthy foods when most healthier options are much more expensive than the unhealthy ones. Going to the gym or attending exercise classes are significant expenses. I’ve heard many people in my situation express similar concerns. Although my question is general, and I have not provided specific details, I was wondering if you can give me some ideas to implement that will allow me to enjoy a healthy lifestyle despite being on a tight budget.
Shani’s response: I commend you for wanting to lead a healthy lifestyle despite your circumstances. While some may use financial difficulties as a copout, you’re choosing to make it work. I agree with you that, as a general rule, leading a healthy lifestyle may be more difficult on a tighter budget. Still, I would like to offer my advice as to how you can make it doable. There is no denying that a more comfortable budget allows for more conveniences. This would include having the ability to buy readymade salads, fruit platters, prepared chopped vegetables for soup, etc. All of this becomes either an infrequent treat or a complete non-entity when finances are tight. In regards to spending more for convenience, priorities play a
44 Wellspring | December 2019
big role. The more important healthy eating is to us, the more we’ll be ready to sacrifice in order to maintain it. This is the answer I also give to those who say, “How can I eat healthy if I don’t have time to prepare healthy meals?” Budgeting our time is also influenced by our priorities. If it’s important to me that something should happen, I’ll do my best to make it happen. People who find vacation important enough will find a way to fit it into their budget, people who find cleaning help crucial will fit that in — and this holds true for all financial choices. From your question, it seems that healthy eating is already a priority for you. However, leading a healthy lifestyle can still be expensive even when you may be willing to take the time and effort to prepare your own foods as much as possible. That’s because healthier foods may and often do cost more than their not-so-healthy alternatives. Take a side dish as an example. A
bag of cauliflower, for instance, is way pricier than a bag of pasta. Broccoli costs a lot more than potatoes. In that case, you may have to spend more to get these products, but perhaps you can cut other expenses in order to balance your budget. Additionally, sometimes there are more economical ways to buy healthy foods. For example, you can buy a bulk package of chicken cutlets, an excellent low-fat protein choice, instead of the pre-trimmed variety — saving a significant amount of money. As a bonus, you can divide the package according to the recipes you’d like to use them for, such as cutlets to grill and nuggets for stir fry. Another smart way to save is to buy seasonal fruit and freeze them. Also, check the prices on the vegetables in the produce aisle and freezer — instead of spending on frozen stir fry mix or broccoli, you can make your stir fry with snap peas. While it is true that the health food stores (and even local groceries) nowadays are bursting with hundreds of healthy, expensive prepared products, and that more than ever, eating healthily has become so easily accessible, most of these items are not necessary in leading a healthy lifestyle. A decade or so
ago, when these products were not yet available, many people still managed to maintain a satisfying, healthy lifestyle. Of course, if your budget allows you to, enjoy the conveniences and take advantage of the health market, but if you can’t, it may be worthwhile to focus on the foods you do have. Additionally, have in mind that you can count your savings when you avoid the foods that should be eliminated from your diet. The same is true in terms of fitness. While it’s nice to have a membership at the local gym or attend classes according to your liking, and it may help out with staying committed, if you care enough about having a fitness regimen, you can do so even on a shoestring budget. Enjoying a daily run is free, refreshing, and available to all. A one-time investment in an exercise DVD with varied programs can provide you with a solid fitness schedule for the year. You may want to make a one-time purchase for an exercise machine so you can do your daily exercise at home. While there’s no denying that being comfortable financially certainly makes it easier to lead a healthy lifestyle, a lack of it does not have to result in consequences to your diet or exercise. With your full commitment, a strong will to do it right, and some time investment on your part, you can pull it off.
Budgeting of a different sort While leading a healthy lifestyle does not have to strain your financial budget, it may require budgeting of a different sort: making the time to prepare the right meals. Instead of investing financially, it may involve an investment of your time. In place of the roasted veggie salad at your local eatery that runs in the range of $20, find a way to fit roasting a large batch of vegetables early on in the week so you can enjoy them in your salads all week long. Cook a large pan of
quinoa or roast lots of sweet potatoes so you can have healthy food accessible and not be tempted to buy something. Of course, you can eat healthfully just by cutting up a few fresh vegetables and pairing them with a protein on the spur of the moment, but why not make your meals tasteful and delicious? If you budget your time wisely, you’ll find that you aren’t compromising that much by not buying readymade health foods.
Kislev 5780 | Wellspring 45
Living Well
Ask the Nutritionist By Shani Taub, CDC
Start Smart
Tips for healthy eating on a tighter budget: Choose smartly. When figuring out your weekly food plan, take your budget into consideration and work out your plan accordingly. Most diet plans don’t restrict you to a specific food, but rather to a food group. Each of these groups consists of cheaper and more expensive options. Zucchini is cheaper than broccoli and apples are cheaper than mango. Although variety is important, there are many different combinations you can concoct using the cheaper options.
Shop smartly.
it’s within the parameters of our plan. Keep in mind, though, that these purchases, which could amount to a considerable expense, are not important, considering that we were perfectly fine without them until they made their debut. Also, many products that we’re accustomed to buy can easily be made at home, which saves a pretty penny. Wellspring features many healthy recipes that fall into this category. Take almond flour as an example. The past Pesach issue featured a recipe of how to make almond flour from scratch. Doing so — and it’s not that time consuming — reduces the price of the flour dramatically.
Being a smart shopper is a crucial variable when it comes Plan smartly. to saving money on food. Some ideas are comparing different store’s prices, looking out for specials, or buying in bulk. Chain An effective savings tip is to plan your purchases ahead stores offer many healthy products for a very cheap price (if of time and stick to your lists. Try writing your food plan you eat their products). Frozen fruits, fresh produce, or meats earlier in the week, and then shop all your groceries for the can be much cheaper there than at any local grocery. week using the list you created earlier (preferably at a big supermarket to get some better savings). If you can manage to do so, you will avoid last minute, spontaneous decisions Buy smartly. that often translate into more spending. Undoubtedly, you When a new health product appears on the market, we will also avoid buying more than what you actually need and may be tempted to try it, feeling a certain excitement that mistakenly buying foods that you already have at home.
Do the Math Interestingly, eating healthily does not always necessitate greater spending. First, healthy eating is not only about eating the right foods — it’s also about avoiding the wrong ones. Eliminating the unhealthy options may provide more spending ability to accommodate healthier ones. People tend to think that unhealthy foods are that much cheaper than healthier ones. However, if you check prices as you shop, you may have noticed that unhealthy options nowadays are not as cheap as they used to be. Danishes easily cost $2.50 and many of us can’t even recall when a slice of pizza was merely $1.75. Additionally, when you are on a proper diet plan, you don’t spontaneously buy an iced coffee
while you wait for a bus, or a tray of sushi on the way home from work. All these small “treats” add a significant amount to a monthly budget. For many, eating out, another significant expense, generally happens less often when they’re focusing on leading a healthy lifestyle, since they’d prefer prepping it in their own kitchens and knowing what’s in their food . Besides for spending less on unhealthy foods, many people happily report that as a result of being mindful of their food choices, they see their doctors and dentists less frequently. So when making your calculations, take these copays and other medical expenses off from the total costs list.
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.
46 Wellspring | December 2019
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CHANI M.
Living Well
Health Profile By Rachel Esses
Age: 39
Gender: Female
Location: Lakewood
Weight: 192 pounds Height: 5’7” Marital Status: Married
Special Circumstances: I did the lap band two years ago.
Favorite health food: Bananas. It’s one of the foods I used to eat a lot of, but now with my lap band, I get full really quickly. Bananas are rich in potassium, good for your heart health and blood pressure. Because of their high carb content, however, it’s a good idea to limit yourself with this fruit. Aim for half a banana per day. Favorite exercise: I don’t exercise. I walk a little but that’s all. Not only does exercise help with weight loss, but it’s healthy too. Aim for making exercise a part of your lifestyle. Favorite nutritious dish: Chicken and broccoli. However, I find that such types of foods are especially hard to eat due to my lap band. That makes sense. I suggest eating small portions and taking your time while eating. That should help the food go down much easier. Also, don’t force yourself if you feel like you can’t eat anymore. My usual bedtime: 10:30 p.m. My usual wake-up time: 7:00 a.m. That’s great. Most people have a hard time getting even 6 hours of sleep. Getting at least 7 hours of sleep is important for clear decision making and alertness. My usual dinner menu: A small piece of fish and a sweet potato. Ideally, every meal should include a vegetable, even if it’s just a little bit due to your circumstances. Greatest weight loss challenge: Some would say their greatest weight loss challenge is cakes and cookies, but mine is simply that I can’t keep my weight off because of my lap band. I find it super hard to eat certain proteins and vegetables like chicken, broccoli, and cauliflower. So, many times I end up going for the unhealthy food that is easier for me to eat. One square of chocolate, which is easy to consume, gives me way more empty calories than a large healthy meal. I also feel that I’m not eating as much as I should be or drinking enough water. That is a challenge indeed. First, avoid eating hard foods like nuts, popcorn, celery, and corn, which would make it uncomfortable for you to eat. Rather eat soft foods, such as eggs, beans, tuna, yogurt, and cooked vegetables, which are easier for the body to digest. In addition, the key is to eat in small increments and not to force the food down. With regards to your water intake, split it up. Have a half to one cup of water in between meals and have two cups per meal. Why go for the unhealthy food when you can simply just eat the chicken at a much slower pace, with smaller meals? My weight/lifestyle goal: To lose 35 pounds. I already lost close to 50 pounds, but because I haven’t been eating the right foods, I gained back some and would like to lose that, plus 20 more. Now that your stomach has decreased in size, you have an opportunity to lose weight more easily. However, as you mentioned, filling it with one small square of chocolate does not provide the nutrition and satiety that a nice small, healthy meal does, and, if consumed consistently, also inhibits weight loss and leads to weight gain. Fill any room you do have with foods that are healthy choices. How I would treat myself if I get to my goal: I would love to buy a new wig. 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.
48 Wellspring | December 2019
Living Well
Cover Feature
50 Wellspring | December 2019
Finally,
A DIAGN DIAGNOSIS In honor of the Festival of Lights, Wellspring presents four personal tales of medical mystery. In each, a winding journey shrouded in darkness and fear of the unknown finally ended in a moment of light, of diagnosis and hope.
Kislev 5780 | Wellspring 51
Living Well
Cover Feature
When Knowing is the Relief I NEVER THOUGHT I’D PINE FOR SCHOOL.
BY ASHIRA BECKER It started with a lump in my throat. I was your average teenager, battling awkwardness and social pressures. My life's difficulties consisted of the few pounds I’d gained and wouldn’t come off, my battles with my (almost non-existent, but still threatening to my self-image) acne. I was a normal tenth grader, doing what all other normal tenth graders do, until I was not that normal anymore. One particularly beautiful day in May, when the sky was incredibly blue, the trees alive with color, I was daydreaming my way through math class, gazing at the beauty outside and counting the minutes until I could be part of it. That’s when I randomly touched my neck — and felt a protrusion. Suddenly, the colors melted away as I shifted my attention from the beauty outside to the strangeness I felt. I poked and prodded a bit, and yes, there was no denying the presence of a bump, perched right beneath my ear. No, it was not my imagination. That recess break, I did not head outdoors to the clear air. I went straight to the bathroom to inspect the area. In my teenage state of apprehension, I was afraid my life was over. As soon as I arrived home, I showed the bump to my mother, who did not see anything. I had her feel it, but she claimed there was nothing unusual about my neck. At my pre-camp well visit that week, I showed the doctor my bump. She felt it, but dismissed my concerns, unperturbed. I knew it was there, but the doctor said I was fine — who was I to question the knowledge she’d gotten from years of medical school and experience? School ended, camp arrived. Life was good, and the bump was mostly forgotten, save the few times I felt it, wondered, and then was drawn back into the happening-every-moment life that is camp. With the start of the new school year, my migraine bouts, which I 52 Wellspring | December 2019
had been occasionally suffering from for years, intensified in regularity. I was getting mind-crushing aches four or five times a week. As a teenager with a life packed with schoolwork, friends, and partying, the headaches were starting to become unbearable. This time, the doctor diagnosed me with stress. Her treatment plan included plenty of sleep, healthy food, and avoidance of noisy crowds — all of which are virtually impossible for a high school student.
I tried. I went to sleep on time and avoided anything with artificial coloring or preservatives. The headaches kept on hammering. They were so crippling, my mother eventually took me to a neurologist who gave me a list of things to avoid, like chocolate, dairy, and anything else that tasted good.
I followed the plan faithfully, determined to rid myself of the incredible pain I was experiencing; still, the headaches did not abate.
When we returned to the neurologist, he performed an EEG, placing gooey nodes in my hair and following my brain waves. It was almost violating, having someone watching my thought processes and asking me to think less. The test yielded nothing, though I did need a very long shower to get rid of the gook. Unable to find a cause, I was sent for a whole slew of testing — MRIs, blood tests, CT scans. Science-loving geek that I was, blood tests did not scare me; I was actually fascinated. Choosing a vein, watching the blood drip from my arms into a tube; watching the blood spin in the centrifuges, layering its elements, precisely as we had learned in biology class — I found it captivating until there were so many bruises from the various tests, my arms were covered in them; they needed to puncture my palms to find blood. It hurt. The MRI, however, was the one test that managed to strip me of my cheerfulness and youthful innocence. For one, it was done in the hospital. While I had taken the blood tests in the local outpatient phlebotomy clinics, this time, I was walking through the long hospital corridors, surrounded by sickness and the sickly.
For another, I was an active, claustrophobic teen. Being put into a small round hole of a giant, mysterious machine in a sterile room,
being told not to move in the slightest for the next 45 minutes under threat of another scan, was another definition of gehinom. Add weird metallic sounds clanging around, with occasional crashing and scratching, and I felt like jumping out of my skin.
results and it was, indeed, malignant, would we not want to know about it sooner, to treat it before it progressed? My doctor had the same worry, and prescribed another round of blood tests over the next few weeks to keep my levels under observation.
The diagnostician was insistent — there was nothing wrong in the brain, nothing to enlighten him regarding the frequent migraine attacks. However, parts of my neck invariably were imaged as well, and he noticed an abnormality near the glands: a tumor appeared to be growing there.
The surgery date finally did arrive. Starving — I was instructed to fast — I roamed the hospital halls, hyper-aware of my surroundings. I cringed at the sight of the wheelchairs, the many patients with IV lines dragging behind them, walking unsteadily. I could only hope and pray I would not join their ranks with the outcome of this procedure.
That was when it all came crashing down. Migraines forgotten (though still experienced), we embarked on the journey to brand the bump. We started with endocrinology. There were, to my chagrin, more tests — another MRI, this time with contrast — burning liquid cascading through my veins during the imaging. More blood tests. CT scans. The results were inconclusive; it seemed like a tumor but they were not sure — maybe it was a disfigured gland or a simple cyst. The next destination was a surgeon for a biopsy. This was in the fall of eleventh grade. While my friends were busy attending classes, studying, and participating in G.O. events, I was being dragged through doctors' offices and hospital hallways. My classmates were envious of my missed classes; they thought my mother was nonchalant and allowed me to stay home whenever it so pleased me. I did not enlighten them — the ordeals I was going through would be too much for them to handle. Actually, it was too much for me to handle. I was scared to death with the knowledge that cancer was a very real possibility, fear and hope and normal teenage angst brewing inside. There were the times that I stood by the mirror, brushing my hair lovingly, knowing that one day, I might have to part with my locks. There were times, late at night, that I huddled in bed, paralyzed with fear of the future. There was anger and confusion and the incredible tumult of simply not knowing. I was tired of traveling, tired of meeting yet another doctor, having yet another pair of hands touch my throat, poking and prodding until I could not breathe. The surgeon at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx examined me, yet another set of fingers jabbing the lump that had changed my life. He considered, and then filled us in on his plan of action. As the mystery bulge was directly beneath my ear, he was reluctant to do a standard cut; it could sever my audio capacities. Instead, he mapped a route from my cheek, where he would insert a small needle and thread it to the area of concern. He would then collect a small amount of tissue for testing and remove the needle in the same fashion. A surgery date was set for another few weeks, as there was no available appointment before that. And that made me wonder — was I not being tested for a cancerous growth? If I was to get the
Waiting for the doctor to return from an emergency, the nurse, trying to distract me from my hunger, explained the details of the laparoscopic surgery, how needles are threaded, and using precise technology and cameras, guided to the particular area. Eventually I was dressed in the completely unflattering hospital gown and wheeled to the surgical theater. I tried protesting the wheelchair — I was healthy (still!). But protocol is not to be messed with, even by an eleventh grader with a complex. Bevies of interns were waiting in the room, watching curiously; I was a mouse in their lab, the ones used for experimentation and research. The procedure was to be done with local anesthesia. However, I was fidgeting, asking too many questions, and making a nuisance of myself. The nurse was annoyed at the disturbances, and they must have fully sedated me, because the next thing I knew, I was in the recovery room, rather groggy. The procedure was outpatient, and so, as soon as I proved to the nurses that I could walk straight and steady, I was released to await the results. When I arrived home and glanced in a mirror I was passing, I noticed a large x on my left cheek, with the intersection of the two lines bright red; the doctors had used it as their guide. Trying to wash it off was useless; they obviously believed in permanent markers at Montefiore. It took two days for the marks to disappear, which meant two more long, distraction-free days of being cooped up at home — there was no way I was going to school looking like a surgical statue — anxiously awaiting the results. They were in by the end of the week: a tumor, non-malignant. The doctors debated if removal was necessary. It was in a sensitive spot and could cause a loss of hearing. On the other hand, there existed the possibility of it turning malignant. I was told to monitor my situation carefully, going for imaging every six months to ensure it was not metastasizing. And that’s what I’ve been doing ever since. When I tell people I have a tumor inside me, they ask me if I am not scared that one day it will metastasize and develop into cancer. I tell them that the chances of it becoming malignant are the same as them developing cancer. They never like to hear that. And yes, I do still suffer from migraines. No, I never did find its cause. Kislev 5780 | Wellspring 53
Living Well
Cover Feature
Virus Vicissitudes WAS OUR DAUGHTER’S LIFE CHANGED FOREVER?
BY LINDA LEVIN “Mordechai, come quick!” I shouted to my husband from the bedroom where our baby had been napping. We were staying with our family in New York for our yearly Shabbos Chanukah break, on a visit from our hometown of Montreal. Hearing my toddler crying, I had just gone into the bedroom to take her out of her crib. Reaching over the side rail, I stopped short. My toddler was covered with brownish-reddish marks all over her body — her arms, legs, and torso — but not on her face. The best way to describe what I saw is to say that it looked like a cat had climbed into her crib and scratched her all over. It was nothing like your typical rash. There seemed to be no other symptoms besides these unusual spots. She was not warm to the touch and she didn’t seem to be itchy either. When my husband came to see what had happened, he was as horrified as I was. We looked at each other, at our baby, and then at each other again. What was this? Had an insect gotten into the crib and this was an allergic reaction to a bite? Searching her crib, however, we did not see any insects or anything else that could have accounted for the strange marks. We immediately called the local pediatrician. After describing the situation, we were told to come quickly. Apparently, the doctor didn’t like the way this sounded. After examining our baby, the doctor ordered us to take her to NYU in Manhattan to see a specialist in blood disorders. The doctor, who had his secretary make the arrangements with NYU, expressed concern that the scratch-like marks on our child could be symptomatic of a platelet disorder and that time was of the essence. Off we went, praying that this was all a bad dream. That we were go-
54 Wellspring | December 2019
ing to see the chief of hematology on a moment’s notice indicated the seriousness of the situation. Platelet disorder? I had never even heard of that. We all are aware of the regular childhood diseases — measles, chicken pox, even pneumonia — but platelet disease? Now I know that platelets are cells that circulate in the blood stream and help the blood to clot. When a child has a platelet function disorder, their blood may not be able to clot normally, which results in an increased risk of bleeding. Platelet function disorders may be acquired as a result of an external factor like another illness or a medication. They can also be caused by a genetic mutation, which would mean that a child was born with the disorder. Treatment for the disorder consists of platelet transfusions, if necessary, and in the most severe case, a bone marrow transplant may be an option — and that’s not a diagnosis any parents would want to get. A very common symptom of platelet function disorders is the appearance of petechiae, tiny red dots under the skin that are a result of very small bleeds into the skin. This is what scared the pediatrician; our baby had strange reddish-brown marks. Could they be symptomatic of a breakdown of her platelets? My heart hammered away in my chest and my hands felt clammy. As we drove to the city, my husband and I were both silent, each of us wrapped up in our own thoughts. Somehow, we made it to the hospital. Exiting the elevator in the hematology department, we could see children and adolescents being given infusions, with some children looking really sick; the overall atmosphere was depressing and frightening. Seeing young children who were bald frightened me
most. “Please, please let this not be anything serious,” I davened silently. Meanwhile, our toddler was running around without a care in the world, oblivious to the drama surrounding her.
Eventually, our daughter was taken in for blood work. Then, we had to wait until the tests were analyzed. In order to diagnose platelet disorders, the blood must be examined under the microscope by an expert pediatric hematologist. The wait for the doctor and the results could have been five minutes or five hours. It made no difference to me — in either case, the wait felt interminable. Panic and uncertainty were playing havoc with my nerves. I could not settle until I knew what was going on. When the chief of hematology finally emerged to see us, my heart skipped a beat. As my husband held our daughter tightly in his arms, the doctor delivered the good news. “The bloodwork showed no signs of platelet disorder,” she told us. What a relief ! But there was still a weird set of symptoms to explain. “So, what then is the cause of those strange spots?” I asked. What had caused our daughter to break out in this peculiar rash? What was going on inside her body that we weren’t privy to?
“It may be a viral infection,” was the doctor’s reply. Often, he explained, viruses can mimic other more serious illnesses. Her guess was that this was one such virus. As we were planning on returning to Montreal the next day, she did make it perfectly clear that if the spots did not start fading within 48 hours, we were to immediately go the Montreal Children’s Hospital. Although we were relieved that the blood tests did not indicate platelet disorder, we still were not “out of the woods” quite yet. Driving home the next day from New York to Montreal, a seven-hour drive, my husband and I closely watched the strange marks on our baby. Were they beginning to fade? “They do look a bit lighter, don’t they?” I asked my husband. He thought so too, but was it just our wishful thinking?
By the time we reached home, there was no doubt about it: The brownish-reddish marks were definitely more brown in color than red. The next morning, 48 hours after they had first appeared, there was no question that the marks were almost gone, as predicted by the hematologist at NYU. What we were afraid may have been a serious disorder turned out to be nothing more than a virus. A strange one, yes, but only a virus after all.
It was only then that we breathed a great sigh of relief, thanking the Rofei chol basar for His kindness and care of our child. Until this day, we do not know what kind of virus wreaked havoc on our baby’s body and we will probably will never know. Baruch Hashem, it never made a reappearance. Today, this baby is Rebbetzin Nechama Taub, an active mother and wife of Rabbi Moshe Taub shlita, Ami columnist and rav of the Young Israel of Holliswood in Queens, New York. Although our ride in the bumpy, frightening tunnel of uncertainty and illness lasted only a few hours, it was enough to leave us feeling grateful for the light at the end for a long, long time.
THAT WE WERE GOING TO SEE THE CHIEF OF HEMATOLOGY ON A MOMENT’S NOTICE INDICATED THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE SITUATION.
IS IT A SERIOUS RASH OR NOT?
While we’re all familiar with a host of infectious diseases caused by viruses, such as the common cold, flu and warts, there are hundreds of other viruses for which we have no names. Viruses are like hijackers. They invade living, normal cells and use those cells to multiply and produce other viruses like themselves. This can kill, damage, or change the cells and cause illness. Different viruses attack certain cells in the body such as those in the liver, respiratory system, or blood. The appearance of a rash is quite common as a result of a viral infection. Unlike an allergic reaction, viral rashes usually do not cause itching or pain and they usually disappear after a few days, but may last up to two weeks.
One way to tell apart a serious rash from one that will usually disappear on its own is through the blanching test: Pull the skin apart and see what happens. If the rash disappears or turns white it's a blanching rash, usually an indication that it isn’t serious. Most rashes are blanching rashes, including virus rashes and allergic reactions.
Kislev 5780 | Wellspring 55
Living Well
Cover Feature
Too Many Alarm Bells to Count NO ONE EVER MENTIONED THE CANCER CONNECTION.
BY YAFFA TOVA The shelves of the canned goods aisle blurred and appeared to be moving. Tamar’s feet felt too heavy to budge, and her legs were refusing to support her bloated body. Tamar knew she needed to get home fast, she just wasn’t sure how. Grabbing onto a shelf, she shuffled her way to the front of the store, all the while keeping up a silent monologue with Hashem to help support her, in more ways than one. For decades, my sister Tamar had suffered from kidney stones. After numerous attacks which laid her up, with a hot water bottle as a constant companion and after drinking enough chamomile tea to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool, her general practitioner suggested that she check out the cause of these painful onslaughts. The verdict was conclusive — her tubes were too narrow to allow urine to drain properly, and that fostered the formation of cholesterol deposits. Many years of repeated urinary tract infections produced fertile ground to grow stones. Other than avoiding certain foods and drinking gallons of water and chamomile tea, there was nothing that modern medicine had to offer Tamar in the way of prevention. Years went by, with Tamar and her family accepting these bouts of pain and restriction as normal. Since there was no way to predict the timing, duration, and severity of these attacks, Tamar could not think of taking a job. All of her friends and family were accustomed to Tamar’s absence at various events due to a sudden invasion of kidney stones. In April of 2011, Tamar was suffering from muscle aches in her legs and feet, along with constant fatigue and weight gain. She was tested for and then diagnosed with hyperparathyroidism. This causes the calcium in the blood to rise, only exacerbating her kidney issue. The doctor prescribed medication which did nothing to help 56 Wellspring | December 2019
the problem. In September of 2013, Tamar noticed a bump in her neck. The CT scan results showed that she had a two-centimeter growth which turned out to be an adenoma, a benign tumor of glandular tissue. The intake doctor noted that she needed an expert’s opinion for further treatment and that she should be under medical surveillance. The hospital doctor recommended surgery. When she was released, Tamar went to see an expert who told her, “It’s not the first thing you want to do. The tumor is right near the vocal chords, and if something goes wrong you could lose your voice. Even if the procedure is successful, you’ll need thyroid treatments for the rest of your life.” That same month, Tamar was sent to the hospital for nephrolithiasis (stones in the kidney or urinary tract) cholelithiasis (gallstones), and hypercalcemia. Why was she constantly getting sick, she and her family wanted to know? And was there anything she could do or take to help herself ? Constantly on the lookout for a real solution to her medical enigma, Tamar investigated various alternative techniques to squelch the formation of stones. There was a naturopath who prescribed NLP; a woman whose energy treatments seemed to help for a period of time; another naturopath who instructed her to stop taking the Losec which had been prescribed for reflux; a conventional doctor who had a background in alternative medicine who suggested she see a endocrinologist; a nephrologist who suggested she go back to her cardiologist. Between the not-infrequent formations of kidney stones, Tamar continued exploring and seeking relief from these excruciatingly painful phenomena. In early 2018, the severity of Tamar’s weakness increased. Her body was swelling like a cotton ball soaking up liquid. Upon seeing her swollen legs, the GP sent her to a vascular doctor, who ordered
a Doppler to ascertain the blood flow in her arteries and veins. It indicated results mostly within the normal range.
The GP then sent Tamar to her cardiologist to check that her heart was not the cause of her swollen body and fatigue. The cardiologist examined her and ordered tests for which the waiting list was two weeks plus more time to attain results. Upon seeing the results, the he said there were some issues that needed to be attended to, but they were not the cause of her swelling and fatigue. He strongly urged her to return to her nephrologist. An appointment was set for two weeks’ time. All the while Tamar’s weakness, as well as the swelling of her body, intensified. It was no longer confined to her lower body, but had crept up to her upper extremities. Standing was a monumental task. Even sitting on a chair was difficult.
In May of 2018, our family gathered for a siyum in honor of our mother’s yahrzeit. In the past, Tamar had always prepared something for the seudah, but this year it was beyond her capabilities. She showed up, supported by one of her children, looking like a caricature of herself. Leaning backward to support a bloated stomach, but holding on to her throbbing back and rubbing it for comfort, Tamar collapsed into a chair. We, her siblings, were shocked to see her. Tamar was scheduled to go back to her doctor with all the test results and find out what was behind all the misery and disfigurement. As soon as the results were in, the nephrologist sent Tamar to the emergency room. “Had I known what the test results would show,” he said to her, “I would have sent you straight to the ER at your initial visit.”
In the ER, an ultrasound was ordered which showed a bilateral blockage of Tamar’s kidneys. She was admitted to the hospital and more tests were ordered. In preparation for testing, Tamar was not allowed any nourishment or liquids. Then, the doctors informed her that she would need to have stents inserted in both kidneys to enable them to function. After numerous hours in the emergency room, Tamar was transferred to a holding area where she awaited a bed in the urology ward.
The doctor assigned to Tamar was a resident. He informed her of the meeting that was taking place, where all the cases were being discussed and treatment plans were being proposed and decided upon by the senior staff.
Tamar, thirsty, in pain, with trepidation about her kidneys and what treatment they would require, felt the fullness of every excruciating moment. The minute hand made its rounds of the clock, eventually joined by the hour hand. Ultimately, the resident returned, looking serious and business-like. The first question Tamar posed was, “Am I able to eat and drink and get something to relieve the pain?”
“I’m sorry,” was his reply, “but the doctors are still reviewing your case and haven’t, yet decided if you will have surgery today or not, so you can’t ingest anything. They haven’t decided whether to begin treatment for the cancer first or to place the stents in the kidneys.” “Treatment for what?” Tamar squealed.
“For the cancer,” was his concise reply. Shock reverberating in her every fiber, Tamar shouted, “What are you talking about? I don’t have cancer. My kidneys are blocked. I need to have stents put in!” The resident looked confused for a moment and then, realization dawned. In a sympathetic voice, he asked, “They didn’t tell you that they found a mass wrapped around the aorta that was blocking the opening of your kidney? This is causing your kidney problems. It needs to be operated on immediately.” As it turned out, a mass of 8x14x 20 centimeters had taken root right near Tamar’s kidney. This, the doctors posited, was the cause of the pain, the extended abdomen, the kidney dysfunction, the swelling, and the fatigue. Days later, the results of the biopsy showed that it was non-Hodgkins large cell B lymphoma Stage IV. Tamar’s future was dangling precariously. How it could be that a growth so enormous could have escaped detection by so many different doctors for so long a time? The Mayo Clinic website indicates that hypercalcemia can be caused by cancer, but this was never mentioned to Tamar, nor considered by any of the previous doctors she’d seen. Tamar underwent months of invasive, difficult, painful procedures. Nausea was her new normal, and she lost about 45 pounds in a short time. When the stents were inserted in her kidneys, two holes were left open with syringes attached for the kidneys to drain. Fungus infections flourished, which added to Tamar’s distress and misery. Finding a comfortable spot for her tortured body was not even a possibility. Proper sleep was a thing of the past, and each morning she awoke to the prospect of a new round of chemotherapy or its dreaded side effects. At one point during the treatment phase, Tamar’s veins collapsed. A port was placed in her arm to eliminate the need to find viable veins each day. Then, the port detached. Another port was installed. Within weeks, she had picked up a staph infection, MRSA, at the hospital. The nurses informed Tamar that for six months beginning from the time she would test negative to MRSA, any visit for treatment or hospitalization would be in isolation. Whenever Tamar had any energy, she tried to daven or recite Tehillim. That, and a sense of humor kept her hanging on. When Elul came around, no one needed to tell her that introspection was the call of the day. And through it all, Tamar thanked Hashem for her family and friends’ unwavering support. On Rosh Hashanah, when Tamar said the words “Mi yichyeh u’mi yamus, who will live and who will die” in the cancer ward, they reverberated with an immediacy that she tasted in each word. With her life in the balance, Tamar couldn’t fathom what the year would bring, just as she hadn’t fathomed what the root of her issues had been all along. After five months of treatments, hospitalizations, infections, fevers, and injections, five months of ups and downs, reprieves and regressions, hopes dashed and hopes raised, Tamar was declared cancer-free. Now, a year later, she is home, grateful to Hashem for His kindness, for giving her renewed strength and the ability to see the guiding hand behind it all. Kislev 5780 | Wellspring 57
Living Well
Cover Feature
A Simple Culprit WHY WAS I FEELING SO SICK?
BY ADINA WEBER As a teen, camp was my favorite place, and it’s during my favorite time of year. No matter what’s going on in the rest of the world, in camp we’re in a bubble. As we exit the city and enter the spacious campgrounds located in the airy mountains, we’re transported into a world of laughter, free-spirited joy, and constant growth and fun. Not only is camp its own universe, it has multiple time zones as well. When the younger staff members are going to sleep for the night, the older ones are just starting to rise for the start of their day. That was me, up until the wee hours of the morning and hanging out with friends. The year following seminary, I returned to camp. I was determined to go back and have the best summer possible. I couldn’t have known that this was summer when everything would change. The beginning of camp is always a bit rough, an adjustment for new staff members and new campers. But a week into camp, that I noticed I still wasn’t feeling like my usual camp self — cheering on chairs and tables, wearing tutus and mismatched socks, high energy pumping through my blood, and partying late at night. One night, after a particularly lively night activity, I felt dizzy and not well. I skipped night canteen and went straight to bed. The next morning found me doubled over in pain on my rickety bunk bed. The stomach pains continued throughout the day. I tried ignoring them, justifying my pain to myself. Probably the oily camp food, or the late-night hours, or the stress of work — or really, anything else I could think of except trying to figure out what was really going on. As the summer crawled by, my stomach pains persisted. Every morning, I would wake up with a massive headache. No matter how early I went to sleep the night before, I woke up feeling unrested, wanting to crawl back into bed. It took all my energy to drag myself out of bed and start my day. I could not remember ever having felt this way, and I found myself counting down the days for camp to end. “Maybe I’m getting ‘too old’ for camp,” I laughed. I kept reassur58 Wellspring | December 2019
ing myself that once I got back home I would feel better. As soon as I finally returned home, the first thing I heard from everyone was, “Oh, my goodness, you look amazing. You lost so much weight!” “How did you do it? Wow, look at you!” “Did you leave the rest of you in camp?” I went home, took a good look in the mirror, and for the first time noticed how much weight I had lost. I looked emaciated. My clothes were hanging off my frame, and I had no idea how I had lost so much weight. It was frightening. It didn’t make sense. In camp, I ate a lot. Lots of carbs. Pancakes for breakfast, grilled cheese for lunch, and pasta bar for dinner. I started school and work. The year went on and so did my stomach pains, headaches, and constant fatigue. One doctor told me. “Eat well. Sleep well. Relax well.” I wasn’t getting any diagnoses, just recommendations. The next summer, having almost forgotten what I’d gone through the year before, I returned to camp, only to have the experience repeat itself. I felt much worse than I did at home. After that summer, my mother insisted we consult with specialists. No one had answers. My symptoms were not matching up. It was a mystery. Determined to do what I could to help myself, I went off dairy. Although I didn’t see any improvement, I continued to monitor what I was eating in my desperate quest to get to the bottom of my issue. Chronic pain became my new normal. I accepted that this was how it was going to be. I learned to just deal with unexplained and unexpected stomach pains. “Stress,” I was told. “That’s the cause. It’s all in your head.” At that time, most of my friends were either married or engaged and I was ready for the same. Hashem had other plans for me. I kept dating, but time and again, it wasn’t the right one. Four years passed. Between work, chronic pain, school, chronic pain, family life, chronic pain, and fatigue, I still managed to socialize, date, and vacation. When my friend called me up, excited about cheap tickets to Israel for our winter break, I immediately
booked round trip tickets. The day we landed in Israel, I felt really sick. We hadn’t even gone anywhere and I was already drained. When my sister-in-law, who was living in Israel at the time, noticed my unwell state, she was adamant to get to the bottom of my issue. She suggested I go off gluten. My immediate response was, “No!” My weak spot is for baked goods. Growing up, I would make frequent trips to the bakery around the corner from our house, taking full advantage of their free sprinkle cookies. The bakery was my candy store. As a teen, I was constantly baking. Israel was especially challenging, as every street corner boasts another bakery, its aromas wafting through the streets. But after some convincing, I decided to give the gluten-free route a try. For a few months, I was off gluten. At first, I saw no improvement, but after sticking through it for a while, I did notice that my stomach pains lessened and I wasn't feeling as lethargic. My headaches, however, increased. What was going on with me? Whenever I went to see yet another doctor, I found it so frustrating that none of them tried figuring out the underlying cause of all my symptoms. Each doctor just kept putting band-aids on the ache or pain. No one bothered taking a step back and looking at the whole picture. While the pain I experienced as a single was intense, nothing prepared me for what happened immediately after I finally got married. A few weeks after sheva brachos, after we had moved to Eretz Yisrael to start off our married life there, I felt so sick that I could not get out of bed. My new husband had no choice but to come home from yeshiva to take me to the doctor. When I described my symptoms to the doctor, she prescribed some medication and sent me on my way. Again, I felt she was not getting to the source and just treating the symptoms. A few months later, I had additional symptoms like nausea, and more fatigue. When I found out that I was expecting, I was ecstatic. I was almost in my second trimester when I woke up one morning and found that something did not feel right. I was experiencing extreme pain shooting all over my body. We rushed to the hospital and were admitted immediately. I was whisked in through the emergency room, where the staff hooked me up to IVs and began to monitor me. A nurse came in to do an ultrasound. “I’m sorry, dear. There is no heartbeat,” she said softly. “No heartbeat? What do you mean? Try a different machine. Try it again!” I cried out, tears streaming down my face. “I’m sorry,” she said, and turned to walk out of the room. The rest of the night was a blur. I was in the hospital for two days. I left broken, leaving behind me a trail of shattered dreams. My husband and sister-in-law were there for me while I tried to heal physically and emotionally. One day, when I was feeling particularly under the weather, my sister-in-law came over to have a talk with me. “Remember last
year when I told you to go off gluten and you felt some improvement? I really think you should go to the doctor and get tested for celiac disease.”
I cracked a cynical smile at her. “Really? Celiac? Do you really think that’s what it is?” “If you don’t make an appointment by Monday to get the blood test, I am literally going to drag you there.” I knew she was right. I had to find out what this was all about.
Early Monday morning, I walked into the office and sat in the waiting room. “This is a waste of time,” I kept thinking. Two days later, my phone rang.
“Hello, this is Mayan from Dr. Kaufman’s office. We received your blood test results. The doctor would like you to come in.” Once again, I was in the waiting room, this time a bit more anxious. My name was called, and a minute later I was sitting across from the doctor. “Your blood test shows you have celiac,” said the doctor matter-of-factly. I was stunned, frozen in my seat. “Celiac?” I managed to whisper.
“Oh yes, very positive. You may want to do an endoscopy to be a hundred sure, but from these results,” he said, waving the papers in the air, “I am 99.9 percent sure.”
“Celiac?” I uttered again. “As in no cakes or cookies or bread? No gluten?” I started tearing up. I saw that little girl of my youth sitting on a bench outside the bakery. I smelled the aroma of the fresh bread. My world was turning upside down. But at the same time, I saw the camper writhing in agony. The young married woman who couldn’t fathom why she was feeling so sick all the time.
The relief was bittersweet. I walked out of the office with a heavy heart and strict instructions for my new diet. The following weeks, I did extensive research on celiac to learn what was going on in my body. All my symptoms were beginning to make sense. I now understood why my worst moments were in camp: the hordes of carbs I’d consumed had wrecked my intestines. My eating style took a 180 degree turn, though I’ve had days when I sat on my kitchen floor and cried. The more I speak about it, though, the more I meet people with the same diagnosis. We share, we talk, we exchange recipes, and we support one another. My husband has been a huge support, going so far as to taste my not-particularly-appetizing gluten-free pasta. Since celiac presents with an array of different symptoms, it’s difficult to diagnose. Celiac, an autoimmune disease, is a serious condition that has no cure. But, fortunately, it’s easily treated with a gluten-free diet. Finally getting a diagnosis was a huge relief, I felt that I got my life back. Although this is not what I would have chosen for myself, living with celiac has enabled me to help others in similar situations and be there for them with true empathy. The author can be contacted through Wellspring for celiac support, recipes, and tips.
Kislev 5780 | Wellspring 59
Living Well
At the Dietitian By Tamar Feldman, RDN, CDE
Eight Natural Ways to Boost Fertility There have been tremendous medical advancements in the field of fertility, with interventions becoming more effective and tremendous progress realized each year. While this is a wonderful achievement, the financial, physical, and emotional toll such treatments engender is not insignificant. Before exploring more invasive treatment options, I always like to ascertain that the nutritional aspect of infertility is addressed first, as some fertility issues may have their root in hormone imbalances caused by poor diet and lifestyle. Here are eight simple lifestyle changes that may naturally improve fertility.
Eat Breakfast A study published in Clinical Science found that eating a larger breakfast may reduce the hormonal effects of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a major cause of infertility. For normal-weight women with PCOS, eating most of their calories at breakfast showed insulin levels reduced by 8% and testosterone levels by 50%. High levels of either of these hormones can contribute to infertility. In addition, these women ovulated 30% more often than women who ate a smaller breakfast and larger dinner, suggesting improved fertility. However, it’s important to note that increasing the size of your breakfast without reducing the size of your evening meal is likely to lead to weight gain.
Eat Plant-Based Foods Replacing some animal proteins (such as meat, poultry, and eggs) with vegetable protein sources (such as beans, nuts, and seeds) is linked to reduced chances of having fertility issues. The Nurses’ Health Study-II (NHS-II), the largest prospective cohort for women's health research, found that a higher protein intake from meat was linked to a 32% higher chance of developing ovulatory infertility. When 5% of total calories came from vegetable protein instead of animal protein, the risk of ovulatory infertility decreased by more than 50%. 60 Wellspring | December 2019
Eat the Right Fats Eating healthy fats every day is crucial for boosting fertility. On the other hand, studies have noted that consuming unhealthy fats, namely trans-fats, is associated with an increased risk of ovulatory infertility, due to their negative effects on insulin sensitivity. Transfats are commonly found in hydrogenated vegetable oils and are usually present in margarine, fried foods, processed products, and baked goods. Removing all forms of processed fats from your diet and increasing your intake of plant-based fats from nuts, seeds, avocado, and cold-pressed oils will help maintain sufficient levels of the hormones needed for fertility.
Exercise Exercise has many health benefits, including increased fertility, and a sedentary lifestyle has been associated with a higher risk of infertility. The NHS-II found that each hour of exercise per week was associated with a 5% lower risk of infertility. The study found that for obese women, both moderate and intense physical activity combined with weight loss had a positive effect on fertility. However, moderation is key. Excessive high-intensity exercise has actually been associated with decreased fertility in certain women.
Eat Fewer Refined Carbs
Take Supplements
One large observational study published in Nutrients found that as carbohydrate intake increased, the risk of infertility also increased. In the study involving 18,555 women, subjects who ate more carbs had a 78% greater risk of ovulatory infertility than those who followed a lower-carb diet. Another small study among overweight and obese women with PCOS reported that eating a low-carb diet reduced certain hormone levels, such as insulin and testosterone — both of which can contribute to infertility when present in excess amounts. Note that it’s not just the amount of carbs that should be measured, but also the type. Refined carbs are absorbed very quickly by the bloodstream and will cause spikes in blood sugar and insulin levels. Given that PCOS is associated with high insulin levels, refined carbs can make the condition even worse.
Take Time to Relax As I always tell my clients, there are receptors for cortisol (the stress hormone) on almost every cell in our body! Just as chronic stress is damaging to our body in many ways, it also negatively affects hormone balance and chances for conception. In fact, according to research, anxiety and depression affect around 30% of women who attend fertility clinics. Take the time to decrease stress levels with mediation, yoga, deep breathing, music, nature, and pleasurable activities.
The NHS-II also found that women who took multivitamins had up to a 41% lower risk of infertility. A multivitamin containing folate may be especially beneficial. Research in IVF clinics on supplements that improve chances of conception include: prenatal vitamins, vitex (chasteberry), NAC, and in PCOS cases, inositol.
Achieve a Healthy Weight Weight is one of the most influential factors in regard to fertility. Being either underweight or overweight is associated with infertility. A large observational study published in Epidemiology suggests that in the US, 12% of ovulatory infertility is due to being underweight, while 25% is due to being overweight. This is because the amount of body fat influences estrogen and progesterone hormone levels, and subsequently, menstrual function. Achieving a healthy body weight is one of the best ways to naturally boost fertility.
While implementing changes in all of the above areas may seem overwhelming, I have seen cases where even moderate positive changes based on the above recommendations have resulted in a good outcome. Even in cases where an individual has not seen success from first-line commonly prescribed medications for fertility, adding in lifestyle changes in combination with the medical approach may make all the difference. Take small steps, but be consistent, and try to address one small goal from each recommendation. Remember that just as in any area of health, improving fertility naturally is a process, which will hopefully yield positive results. 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.
Kislev 5780 | Wellspring 61
Living Well
Health Personality By Penina Jacobs
Cup of Tea With:
Rabbi Shea Weinstock, EMT
W
When it comes to burns, Rabbi Shea Weinstock has seen it all. “They come to me with burns from hot rollers and irons and candles,” he says. The very worst burns, by far? “Instant soup burns. Children have come to me with second-degree burns that occurred from instant soup. There are strong chemicals in there that burn very deep, very fast.”
But burn treatment isn’t Rabbi Weinstock’s full-time job: He spends a large portion of his day as a primary school rebbi, an occupation that he loves. How did he come to learn about natural treatment for wounds? “My father, a diabetic, suffered from many diabetic wounds,” explains Rabbi Weinstock. “The hospital’s method of treatment involved scraping away at the wounds and constantly changing the wound dressing. This method is excruciatingly painful and causes scarring. Additionally, there is no proactive healing when using this method, as their main concern is to prevent infection.” In his quest to help his father, Rabbi Weinstock, who is also trained as an EMT 62 Wellspring | December 2019
OCCUPATION: Founder of HPA, Herbal Power Alternative — natural treatment for burns and wounds; health coach
SINCE: 2000 LOCATION: Office in Brooklyn, New York; trained practitioners in Monsey, Lakewood, Miami, and Canada.
PASSION: learning about alternative healing methods.
WISHES PEOPLE WOULD KNOW: Don’t play doctor! When you have a burn, get medical treatment immediately.
Living Well
Health Personality
and works for the local Hatzolah, began learning about burn treatment under the tutelage of Mrs. Miriam Rosenfeld a”h, who founded the MR Wound Gemach and created the MR line of creams. “Mrs. Rosenfeld’s main method of treating burns involves immediately covering the burn site with grated potatoes, which draw out the sting of the burn. I worked as a practitioner for her, and after encountering stubborn wounds that wouldn’t heal, I began to study, read, and do research about treatments that would help.”
Rabbi Weinstock’s research led him to discover powerful Chinese and Oriental healing techniques. “I learned about the healing power of herbs and plants and I began to experiment with them, creating formulas that I use today in my oils, creams, and powders.” Although Rabbi Weinstock’s approach deviates from the conventional, he works hand in hand with doctors. “As a Hatzolah member, I know the importance of not playing doctor. I encourage burn victims to seek out the help of a medical professional who understands our methods. The doctor assesses the burn and prescribes antibiotics if need be. Afterward, the patient comes to see us and we place them on a regimen of our oils, creams, and powders.” Most often, conventional medicine and alternative healing are at odds with one other. How then, has Rabbi Weinstock earned doctors’ trust, to the extent that he often works together with them to help patients? “With results,” he answers simply. “And with showing them that we are there to work alongside them, not instead of them, complementing their expertise in medicine with our alternative healing.”
What are the ingredients that make Rabbi Weinstock’s remedies so potent? “It’s amazing to discover what the Ribbono shel Olam has put into plants,” he says. “Our healing cream contains 56 herbs and essential oils which help regenerate skin tissue, prevent infection, and inhibit microbes from growing. The healing oil blends consist of 16 oils sourced from a variety of plants and trees from around the globe. Zinc and lanolin are prominently featured in our healing potions.”
Every batch of cream, oil, and powder is handmade by soaking the herbs and extracting the power of the plants. These methods have been used for hundreds of years by the Chinese and Oriental healers. “These plants are powerful substances that are as potent as regular medicine — if not stronger,” Rabbi Weinstock explains. “The herbs contain proactive agents that accelerate the healing 64 Wellspring | December 2019
process.” In contrast, ointments such as Silvadene, a prescription cream widely used for treating burns, are excellent for preventing infection, but they do not heal the burn site.
With Chanukah on the horizon, candles blazing from the doors and windows of every home, there’s the prospect of more home burns happening than we’d like to believe. What, I ask Rabbi Weinstock, is the best treatment for a home burn?
“Mrs. Rosenfeld implemented the use of potatoes,” he says. “It’s like making a kugel; peel the potatoes, wash, and grate them.” However, there are caveats to using that method, namely that it works best for large areas. “It’s not feasible to use potatoes for areas like the faces, ears, and hands. Additionally, it must be reapplied every 15 to 20 minutes.” Rabbi Weinstock’s intensive research led him to find a different salve that is more convenient to use. His discovery? A simple kitchen ingredient. “We recently found that honey has incredible healing powers. It has powerful antibacterial properties. The honey sticks to the burn, relieving the pain, and keeping infection away.” Once the honey is applied, it should be wrapped with saran wrap and left alone. Sometimes, ice is used as additional pain relief.
“A mother brought her infant to us with a second-degree burn from chicken soup,” Rabbi Weinstock remembers. “We applied honey and left it on overnight. They came back the next day to remove the dressing. Incredibly, there was no sign of the burn.”
What happens if a burn is not treated right away? “With some burns, if honey is not applied right away, the burn will seep deeper into the skin and escalate from a first-degree burn to a second-degree burn. Then, more work is required for the burn to heal without scars. This is when we start with our burn treatment.”
As Rabbi Weinstock explains, the average healing time for a burn varies. “It takes three weeks to regenerate new skin. If the burn is deeper, it takes longer. Babies and children can heal in a week or 10 days.” After most of the burn is healed, the site of the wound is left with discolored skin. To return the skin to its regular color, Rabbi Weinstock instructs his patients to apply his healing oil several times a day. The skin absorbs the oil and gradually resumes its natural color. The ointments must be used in a specific way, which is why Rabbi Weinstock encourages people to see a trained practitioner before using his products. “People have called me, complaining
Rabbi Weinstock’s intensive research led him to find a different salve that is more convenient to use. His discovery? A simple kitchen ingredient. that the treatment wasn’t working,” he says. “Their neighbor or family member told them how to use it, they admit. The formulas are specific and must be applied a certain way.” It’s good to know that effective, natural burn treatment options exist, but how can burns be prevented in the first place? “Well, one must use common sense!” is Rabbi Weinstock’s plea. “An ounce of prevention will take you a long way. We see a spike in burns before Pesach because people are using chemical products and hot water for kashering. On Chanukah, we see many cases with burns from menorahs. Accidents can happen, but make sure you did your proper due diligence for prevention. Make sure not to stand too close to the fire, and please, make sure not to leave children unattended when the menorah is lit.”
After a burn occurs, one should see a doctor immediately. The sooner a burn is treated, the better it will heal. “A parent once brought their child to me weeks after the child’s burn first occurred. They tried being their own doctor for a while and the burn became infected. This,” he states emphatically, “is not the way. Aside from the danger it can cause to a person’s wellbeing, there is also the legal aspect. Accusations of child abuse can be leveled toward parents who do not take their children to be treated.”
Over his years of work in the field, Rabbi Weinstock has cultivated relationships with burn doctors all over. These doctors understand his methods and work along with his healing regimen. “In a few cases, the doctor will prescribe an antibiotic,” he says. “This is generally not the case since our creams have lots of natural antimicrobial agents that prevent infection, curbing the need for medicine.”
For faster healing, Rabbi Weinstock suggests ingesting vitamins A, C, and E. Another way to help the wound heal is by consuming protein-rich foods.
Rabbi Weinstock does not only use his products to treat burns. “We treat people who suffer from a variety of wounds, be it diaper rash, postpartum wounds, ulcers, bedsores, MRSA, surgery wounds, and grafting, to name a few.” With grafting, there is a double wound, Rabbi Weinstock explains: the burn site and the grafting site, both of which require treatment. Can the creams really heal all of this? “Yes,” Rabbi Weinstock states. “The cream doesn’t know which kind of wound it’s being applied to. It just heals. Hashem created the human body with incredible regenerating power. It’s like a construction site, always building. Our natural remedies help it along.”
What does the healing process entail? “We let the body do its job,” Rabbi Weinstock reiterates. “Once we have applied the creams, we leave it for up to 48 hours. The body knows when to shed the dead skin and when to generate new skin tissue.” Patients tell him that they can afford to buy more cream — “let’s change the creams more often.” But Rabbi Weinstock advises otherwise. “Frequent changing of the dressing interrupts the healing process and causes the wound to heal with scar tissue. With conventional medicine, the dressing is changed often and the dead skin is peeled off. This causes scarring. Doctors are astonished by our unorthodox method, but they see that it works.” When I ask Rabbi Weinstock to share an interesting anecdote from his work files, he says, “I’ve been doing this for 20 years now and I’ve seen so many burn cases that not much fazes me anymore. I’m gratified that I’m able to help people find instant relief from their pain. A young boy came to the doctor’s office the other day. He was crying, shaking from the pain. I was called over and applied the healing oil. Within moments, the child was calm. The nurses watching the procedure were openmouthed in surprise.”
People have come to Rabbi Weinstock post-surgery with wounds that wouldn’t heal for months. After three days of his treatment, their wounds closed up beautifully. “I am still blown away,” he admits. “After all the years of dealing with healing wounds, I’m still amazed at the mysterious power of these leaves. That I am able to help people find instant relief from their pain — that’s what excites me.” Please consult with a medical professional in case of any burns or wounds.
Kislev 5780 | Wellspring 65
Living Well
Midlife Matters By Miriam Liebermann, MSW, and Fryde Rekant, RN, BSN
Preparing for Changes Perimenopause and Menopause Menopause and perimenopause are naturally occurring changes in our bodies, as ordained by Hashem. Our physical systems work in exquisite ways; the interchange and balance of our bodies’ functioning is fascinating. As young women, our bodies are primed to encourage fertility. Infants grow within our womb miraculously. Nursing mothers produce the most perfect nourishment for their babes. As we age, and our birthing years come to a close, our bodies undergo major changes. While most medical texts focus on the physical and chemical that changes occur in the body during this time, there are emotional and spiritual dynamics at work as well.
Menopause, the total cessation of the menstrual period, generally occurs by the age of 50. The stage leading up to it, known as perimenopause, can begin a decade earlier, lasting 10–14 years. During these stages, our total functioning changes on every plane. If we are mindful and aware, and are proactive in greeting this new chapter in life, we can get to feel good and enjoy it. No longer intimately involved in creating new life, we can now 66 Wellspring | December 2019
learn to nurture ourselves. As our children no longer need our attention 24/7, we realize that perhaps now is the time to focus on our own growth. If we have more free time, perhaps we can devote more of it to prayer, to Torah learning, and to involvement in communal affairs. We can also become more dedicated to self care, proper nutrition, exercise, and having sufficient sleep, which are all essential as we age.
Dr. Christiane Northrup, in her classic work, The Wisdom of Menopause, reports that brain changes occur during perimenopause. “Differences in relative levels of estrogen and progesterone affect the temporal lobe and limbic areas of our brains,” she writes. As a result, some may go through a period of ‘fuzzy’ thinking and lack of concentration. Some may find themselves with less patience and less tolerance, with more of a need to focus on priorities and essentials rather than the extraneous. In this stage leading up to full menopause, progesterone levels begin to decrease and estrogen and testosterone levels begin to fluctuate, causing the ovaries to slow down — but not completely. As a result, periods may become erratic and hot flashes may occur.
While research has shown that the body still manufactures these hormones, the effectiveness, quantity, and quality of that production depends on other variables in a woman’s life: Is she under stress? Getting enough sleep? Consuming adequate nutrients?
While there are medications and hormone replacement therapies to help deal with the symptoms that accompany this stage, perhaps we should initially explore a more holistic approach, such as nutritional supplements, proper diet, exercise, sufficient sleep, and a healthy emotional state. We stand to benefit from a practical, positive approach, hopefully viewing this chapter in our lives as an adventure. While in more primitive cultures women rarely report any
symptoms from perimenopause, perhaps due to their mostly raw-foods, healthy diet, most women do experience at least a few. The list includes notorious hot flashes; disturbed sleep, due to night sweats; headaches; irregular or erratic periods; mood swings; anxiety and depression; fuzzy thinking or brain fog; and possible bone loss. Taking herbs such as ginkgo and St. John’s wort can help maintain mental clarity. Following a diet that stabilizes blood sugar levels, engaging in a daily exercise routine, getting 7-8 hours of sleep, along with cultivating a positive attitude are all helpful, too.
Mrs. Chani Juravel, a noted Torah teacher and therapist, shared that, on occasion, her clients have even engaged in therapy, thinking that they are emotionally off-balance, not realizing that they are beginning perimenopause. While consulting with a wise counselor to clarify one’s issues can help reduce stress levels, knowing that menopause in itself may be a cause of emotional upheaval helps reduce stress, as well. If you’re turning 40 or getting closer to 50, it’s certainly time to start your own research. You want to enter (or be) in this stage with peace of mind, knowing what to expect and embracing it with a proper perspective. Recommended reading:
-The Wisdom of Menopause, by Dr. Christiane Northrup, is very comprehensive. Please be advised, though, that her approach to relationships is not aligned with the Torah view. -Menopause for Dummies, by Marcia Jones, PhD, and Theresa Eichenwald, MD, is a great reference and is easy to review.
-The Best Is Yet to Be, an anthology for women edited by Miriam Liebermann, (Menucha), has several fabulous essays on the Torah perspective on perimenopause and menopause.
Miriam Liebermann is the editor of The Best Is Yet to Be and To Fill the Sky With Stars (Menucha Press), anthologies for women in the transitional years. Together with Dr. Neal Goldberg, she authored, Saying Goodbye (Targum Publishing). Miriam recently joined Rebbetzin Faigie Horowitz and Sara Brejt in creating JWOW! Jewish Women of Wisdom, tending to the needs of women in their midlife years.
WWW.AZURELCS.COM
Fryde Rekant was a stay-at-home mom for 25 years, raising a sizable family, bli ayin hara. Fryde returned to school relatively late in life, and became an RN, starting out as an OB RN, transitioning to home care, and for the last four years, working in hospice home care.
Living Well
Memos from a Kinesiologist By Miriam Schweid
Clear the Ears First Preliminary steps toward correcting auditory issues
M
y kids get to hear many an interesting, nameless tale from their mother who works as a health kinesiologist. And then there are times when they actually get to benefit from her career choice, too, such as when my daughter called to tell me that her own preschool-aged daughter had failed her hearing test at school. She wanted to get my take on the issue.
First, I was glad to learn that preschools now routinely conduct hearing tests. Then I wanted to help my daughter and granddaughter. Of course, hearing plays a vital role in a child’s success — especially at school in the formative years. For reasons that may be easily resolved, reduced hearing can inhibit a child’s ability to absorb basic knowledge in phonics, math, and language, and can hinder social success. That, it appears, was the case with my very own granddaughter. Before researching tubes and going down that avenue, my daughter was curious if there was any less complicated intervention she could try first to ensure that her daughter’s hearing was as good as it could be. Since I had noticed that this grandchild was congested, pronouncing M as B more often than not, I suspected that an excess of fluid in her ears might very well be the culprit responsible for her
dismal hearing-test results.
The first route I suggest to reduce congestion is abstaining from dairy, chocolate, nuts, and corn. In some cases, I advice against consuming wheat, too, but with my granddaughter we first tried the other four, without adding wheat to the list. This was not easy for my daughter nor her child, who downed several bottles of chocolate milk on a daily basis. These bottles served as her pacifier morning and night, helping her soothe herself and fall asleep. Thankfully, my daughter was able to explain to her daughter, on a very simple level, how avoiding these foods would help her hear better and speak more clearly. I also suggested that my daughter apply PanAway oil behind her child’s ears to help drain the fluid, and to give her vitamin C, as well. Her traditional after-school milk and chocolate-chip cookies were replaced with a snack of lemonade and oatmeal bars.
Now, just four weeks later, we’re already seeing some improvement in the child’s hearing. Her congestion, too, is gradually clearing up. It's too early to take another hearing test, but we are hopeful that she will pass, with the help of Hashem.
Miriam Schweid is a Brooklyn-based kinesiologist. She can be reached through Wellspring. 68 Wellspring | December 2019
Living Well
Home Lab By Miriam Schweid
DIY
recipes for natural living
Cough Compress
With the cold season in full swing, now is the time to have natural remedies on hand. Since many winter ailments are viral and do not respond to antibiotics, relieving them through a compress may be especially helpful. This essential oil blend is particularly instrumental in clearing the airway and relieving respiratory distress. You will need: 1 soft cotton cloth of approximately 4x4 inches (slightly smaller for infants, and slightly larger for adults) Combine: 1/4 cup olive or castor oil 5 drops lavender oil 5 drops peppermint oil 5 drops eucalyptus oil
Soak the cloth with 1/4 oz of oil (use a dropper that is designated for this purpose as the odor is very strong and hard to rinse off) and place on upper chest. For infants and children, soak in approximately 10 ml per compress. Make sure the cloth is damp, not very wet. Place the cloth on the chest and then cover with plastic or saran wrap (this helps the process work quicker and protects the clothing from oil stains). Leave on overnight, for 6-8 hours and then remove. Remaining oil can be used for massaging or reuse for another compress. Note: If your baby or child has sensitive skin, dilute the blend with a carrier such as olive oil, or apply baby oil to the chest area before applying the compress.
Kislev 5780 | Wellspring 69
Living Well
Diary Serial By Rina Levy
New Column!
s s e l e p a Sh e c n Da Chapter 1
Mismatched
For you and me, strep is a nuisance. For my daughter Yaffi, it’s a fiendish puppeteer, wreaking havoc in her brain.
How can we protect her? 70 Wellspring | December 2019
“Yaffi! What is wrong with you?” That was Kayla, rushing down the stairs in an effort to get ready for her cousin Dina’s bas mitzvah. Apparently, Yaffi hadn’t noticed her older sister, and Kayla thumped to the landing. She took a long look up and down at Yaffi, and in her typical, high-pitched, adolescent, “snobby” voice, she whined, “Mommy, I am not taking Yaffi with me to the bas mitzvah dressed like a homeless woman! I don’t care that Dina and her are best friends. Did she even brush her hair? Yaffi, tuck in your shirt or tuck it out, but look normal. I just can’t go anywhere with you!”
her pony holder. Her shirt and skirt were definitely not coordinated, and she was wearing two different shoes! How could she not notice that?
Poor Yaffi had no idea what Kayla was talking about. She thought she was dressed right, that she looked cute. “I tried my best and doesn’t that even matter?” she meekly defended herself, but her plea was unheard, falling on deaf ears.
With superhuman strength, I calmly redirected Yaffi to the mirror and showed her how she looked. She stared at her messy reflection and burst into her trademark waterworks. She offered some explanation that she thought she had grabbed her new, silver pleated Zara skirt instead of her navy uniform one, and that she hadn’t noticed her mismatched shoes. And when she spun around to face me, I noticed it: her left hand was twisted inward towards her body. Her mouth had contorted into some sideways slanted grimace that instantly reminded me of the special needs day care center I had visited in camp as a kid. I flashed my eyes at my husband and I could see that he noticed it too.
Unfortunately, I saw what Kayla saw. At eleven years old, my poor Yaffi really did look like pathetic, her straight, mousy hair fighting against
I tried pushing the vision out of my mind in an effort to restore Yaffi to the normal, put-together girl I was hoping she still was. Really, she has lots of
friends and she’s the favorite dancer of her ballet teacher — who is actually quite picky. But something about this incident was nagging at me, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. I didn’t want to think about it, so I promptly tried to forget about it.
Three weeks later, we were on our way to our annual Pesach hotel getaway with my mother. We arrived at lunchtime on Erev Pesach to a quiet dining room with a stocked salad bar and hot food station. Just perfect. As everyone loaded up their plates, a most contented Bubby chose her eldest granddaughter, Leah, to sit next to her. I watched as Yaffi walked from the buffet station, where she’d loaded her plate with fries and salad, towards the drinks. One by one, I noticed, bits of cucumbers, pickles, and fries were sliding off her plate to the floor. “Yaffi, hold your plate straight, bubbeleh,” my mother called out. Yaffi nearly toppled the whole thing but I thought nothing of it. I’d gotten used to her dropping things. She got to the soft drinks station and brought herself some Sprite, and as she came to sit next to her little sister Chaya, she dropped the glass and it shattered loudly on the marble tiled floor.
“Yaffi! Why can’t you do anything without falling, dropping, or spilling?” My mother’s harsh criticism singed my heart. But I felt the same way. I would have been more defensive of my daughter if she would have shown some remorse, but she didn’t. Yaffi just went on obliviously, popping fries into her mouth, covering her whole face in ketchup, down to her chin and her new Yom Tov top and all over her hands. Which 11-year-old still eats like a 2-year-old? Then I watched her carefully. She couldn’t get the fries into her mouth without catching them in her mouth. She couldn’t control her hand. It was as if her hand was a crane and she was the crane operator with no remote. I was mortified that she couldn’t help herself. She was bobbing up and down in her seat, throwing her arm into her mouth in an attempt to eat. It was clear that she wasn’t making a game of it; she simply couldn’t eat. Oh my goodness. My poor Yaffi. What had taken over her? To be continued...
Kislev 5780 | Wellspring 71
nk i h t u ... o When y bout mornings a
Dispelling The Darkness
Is there a secret to happiness?
One Issue, Three Roots Freidy and Roizy Guttman on childhood anxiety
The Stress-Metabolism Connection How emotions affect our weight
Wellbeing
Feature
Can surrender be the secret to happiness? by Shiffy Friedman
Dating back to the times of the Maccabim and even before, we Yidden have maintained our status as seasoned warriors. Ironically, though, it’s our ability to surrender that enables us to emerge from battle victorious — both from the external and the internal wars. In this feature, we explore how surrendering is vital to happiness and success in every area of life. Writing this article under the influence of jet lag is significant in two ways: one, it’s a great occupier during these dark, quiet hours when everyone on this side of the ocean is fast asleep. And, second, I get to put my words into practice immediately. Surrendering is not only a vital component in emotional health, as this article will discuss. It’s a key to success in all aspects of life, including giving up the jet-lag fight. Instead of forcing sleep to come, which makes us look like a frightened little kid with eyelids squeezed shut tight in pretense when the scary parent enters the room past bedtime, we can just go along with the mess in our circadian rhythm. That might mean being awake when the body feels alert, and falling asleep when it feels depleted, even if that reminds us of being a teenager all over again (which might not be such a bad thing after all).
Having just returned to Eretz Yisrael after a family wedding in the States, I’m basically up at night and asleep during the morning. “I won’t stay on American timing forever,” I said to someone who suggested that I “fight” my jet lag. Rather, by letting it take its course, the rhythm will eventually be restored, with the help of Hashem, and I won’t have wasted away all these precious hours forcing my body to do what it couldn’t. Not resisting jet lag as a means of not languishing through it is one thing, but how can surrender be conducive to emotional health and happiness? And how can surrendering, which conjures up an image of hands lifted in the air, a look of defeat in the eyes of the white-flag bearer, actually be the ultimate victory? Here’s how.
Kislev 5780 | Wellspring 75
Wellbeing
Feature
i give up Every living creature is born with a powerful will to survive. From the tiny ants scurrying on the ground, gathering their food, to us humans, of course, and even plants — all living things were created with this instinct. In order to enable our survival through all kinds of circumstances, Hashem implanted the “data” within us to deal with any provocation that we perceive as a threat to our survival.
When a human being encounters or even suspects the approach of pain — ranging from the physical to emotional — the alarm bells go off in his body, triggering the survival mechanism, the instinct to fight. For example, imagine something as basic as a headache. We’re so accustomed to running to the medicine cabinet and reaching for the nearest pain reliever. (This may not be a bad thing, but taking a moment to stop and realize what’s going on, without thinking of a solution, can work wonders. Just saying, “I have a headache right now. It hurts,” can be essential to the healing process.) While this mechanism is instrumental in helping us maintain our existence, the trouble occurs when we don’t differentiate between a real risk and a perceived one. Analogous to an immune system that, instead of only attacking pathogens like viruses and bacteria, starts to see its own cells as a threat, thus wreaking havoc in the body, when a survival mechanism is used to fight what is not really a threat to continued existence, it becomes destructive.
In general, all of this happens so subconsciously that we may not even be aware of what's going on beneath the surface — that is, until we consciously choose to see it. We could find ourselves wondering why we’re doing what we’re doing, and all of it may actually be a result of us being in survival mode, of us perceiving something as a threat to our existence. For some, the siren sounds even at the slightest sensation of pain; for others, it rings only when the pain is more intense. For all of us, though, our reaction to pain is identical to what it is when our survival is indeed threatened, as if they are one and the same. Why is that a problem? 76 Wellspring | December 2019
When someone does something that doesn’t feel good to us, a popular line we may use, which conveys resistance, is: “It doesn’t bother me, but …”
Just as this is a wondrous mechanism that enables us to survive when used to fight a real and significant threat, such as an intruder in our home, using it to wrestle pain that is not life-threatening, especially raw emotions, can destroy us. Like the compromised immune system that attacks its own body, when we react to every discomfort as a threat, we’re essentially fighting with our own selves. When we resist, we take a step away from ourselves, such as through denial or rationalization, choosing not to really see what’s going on inside. Our inner self is feeling the pain, and that’s what it’s meant to do now. Ironically, emotional pain in itself can never be a threat to our survival; but intensely resisting it could. No damage has ever resulted from a person experiencing a feeling of failure, for example, but much harm has resulted through people who resisted those feelings of failure, thus turning to revenge or blame or self-numbing and so on.
flex those muscles Throughout life, we will continually encounter circumstances that may not be as pleasant as we would have liked them to be. Indeed, not a day passes by in which we don’t experience disappointment on some level: whether it’s something seemingly minor, like a missed bus, or more frustrating, like a lost wallet, or upsetting, like a run-in with a spouse or a child, or, truly devastating, lo aleinu. In each of these circumstances, we can either resist the pain or surrender to it. The reason we turn to resistance is because we’re subconsciously accustomed to doing so, erroneously hoping it will help us, since wanting to get rid of and escape pain is so ingrained in our being. We may even resort to reactions like anger and blame, which we inherently know are not helpful, just to assuage the pain for a few brief moments.
What is surrendering? Simply put, it’s not to fight with the pain. This involves seeing our reality for what it is — without trying to interpret it. For example, if someone cuts in the line ahead of us, fighting the pain might translate into, “I don’t care or It doesn’t bother me, but she sure is inconsiderate.” Surrendering would be accepting that this bothers me. If we lose a sum of money, fighting the pain might translate into, “I’ll make more or I’ll find it or It wasn’t so much money,” all of which deny that it hurts. Surrendering would be accepting that it does. Simply put, surrendering is having the courage to admit, “This hurts.” If we’re in pain, and we can’t surrender to it, we’re fighting our own reality. If we’ve been resisting throughout all, or most, of our lives, how would we even know what it looks like? It encompasses anything we do in order not to face an uncomfortable emotion, to deny its existence. It's a reaction that says to the feeling, “I don’t want you.” One way to notice it is by coming to understand that any time we don’t feel content, we are resisting on some level.
Very often, resistance that may appear to be toward something external, such as a circumstance, another individual, or a place, is essentially resistance to an emotion. For example, if an individual is resistant to her financial situation (i.e., living on a tight budget), what she’s really fighting, at the core, is the way she feels being poor. She doesn’t want to feel weak, pitiful, that she’s a loser — all feelings that arise in her as a result of her circumstances, though she’s feeling them irrelative of her poverty.
A parent may think that he or she is resistant to the way their child is behaving. In essence, however, they may be resisting the way they feel as a parent. Because they don’t want to feel it, they may blame the child, the school, or another culprit. Surrendering, on the other hand, is looking into ourselves, truly noticing how we feel, and giving the feeling its space.
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What Surrender Looks Like in Real Time
Marriage Among the basic components of a fulfilling, happy marriage is communication. While technical communication (small talk) comes easily to most, it’s the emotional communication, which takes more effort, that cements and strengthens the relationship. For emotional communication, expression of how we really feel, to happen, we must first be willing to pay attention to what we’re feeling and accept that we feel this way. If a wife who feels unloved, for example, resists the pain, she may turn to blame or withdrawal as a means to fight the feeling. Resistance to her emotion is not only destroying her, but is also wrecking her marriage. Vulnerability, in particular, which requires admitting our need for support and companionship, only becomes possible upon accepting that we have this need. Conveying the “I need you in my life” message to a spouse is surrendering to the reality that we can’t go it alone. What’s the challenge in that?
Neediness is another feeling we may be afraid to experience. It’s difficult for us to acknowledge that we’re not all-knowing and flawless, that we don’t have all the answers. We may associate being needy, a natural result of our humanness, with weakness or incompetency. And so, as a means to resist the feeling, we may pretend that we don’t have this need, which only serves to distance us from our spouse.
Any time we don’t feel content, we are resisting on some level.
Parenting When a parent notices an attribute, such as a behavior, trait, or physical characteristic, in their child that he or she doesn't appreciate, the automatic reaction may be to resist. The parent may do so by lashing out in anger, blaming, or attempting to seize control over the situation. Or they may avoid processing the experience by engaging in emotional eating, or losing themselves in some other activity. In essence, it’s not the child or attribute they’re resisting, but generally the way they feel about themselves, specifically in regards to their parenting, or because this trait is something they might recognize in themselves.
Surrender, on the other hand, is coming to the conclusion that “it’s painful for me that my child behaves/looks/talks this way, but I accept it.” This does not mean giving up on being mechanech or not taking steps to improve the situation; it means first realizing that we're hurting and giving up on being in control. When we parent from this perspective, our children sense that the relationship is not about a power struggle. They see a parent who is present and aware of his or her own emotions and, in turn, is present, aware, and open to theirs. As parents, whenever we experience an overload of an unpleasant emotion, such as when we’re overwhelmed or stressed, it doesn’t take much for those in our closest proximity, our dear children, to get the brunt of it. Reminding ourselves that this feeling is our own — and that it’s okay for us to feel this way — helps us be a more kind, loving presence in their life.
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Relationships Just like in marriage, vulnerability is a gamebreaker in friendship. In order for a relationship to have a give-andtake element, which is what friendship is all about, both parties must be willing to do both. Being on the receiving end often requires an element of surrender; it means meeting the part of me that’s needy. Constantly turning down offers from friends or family members for help, for example, may very well be a result of resisting this need, thus limiting the depth of the relationship. Allowing the other party to feel the pleasure of giving, through our own surrender, is essentially giving, not taking. We also have to be vulnerable and open to our friends, which is surrendering, rather than always presenting a perfect front, which is resistance. If we start observing ourselves, we notice how many in-
teractions we do or don’t do that inhibit us from being real just because we’re resisting. If I’m at the computer when a message comes in, there’s a voice inside my head that says, “Don’t reply just yet. Let them think you’re busy.” That thought is generated by resistance — resistance to feeling worthless, perhaps. "If I don’t immediately answer," goes the flawed logic, "I’ll feel like more of a someone."
When someone does something that doesn’t feel good to us, a popular line we may use, which conveys resistance, is: “It doesn’t bother me, but …” Then we launch into a tirade about the other individual, perhaps questioning their morals, hashkafah, middos, parenting, and so on. Whenever it becomes about the other party, that’s a sign that we may be resisting something inside ourselves. All this time, it’s not about them. It’s about us — something that really is bothering us. If it’s difficult for us to admit how we’re really feeling, there’s something we’re resisting here.
Self
Child-Parent Relationship
The individual who benefits most when I work on surrendering is me. It’s not only about my relationship with my spouse, children, parents, and others, but about the relationship with myself. When I resist the way I’m feeling, I’m essentially in battle with myself. This constant conflict is what results in irritability, sadness, and anxiety. We may find it difficult to face and accept aspects of our physical appearance, personality, or emotional makeup because we associate it with feeling weak, unloved, or worthless. When we finally accept ourselves as we are, as Hashem created us, the inner battle dies down, with happiness on the winning team.
A critical determining factor in a child’s emotional state is how she perceives her parents' feelings about her. In general, a child who grows up feeling loved is a child who is able to pass on that love, fostering fulfilling relationships later in life. (This was what inspired me to write the recently released children’s book, My Mommy Loves Me [Israel Bookshop].) The unconditional love a child feels from a parent is what cements his self-esteem, the constant unconscious awareness that “I am worthy of love and attention no matter what.” But what happens if a child grows into adulthood and doesn’t feel that way? What happens if the now-adult never feels good enough as a result of the messages he perceived all along — "We can only love you if you please us?"
“When will my parents finally approve of me?” is a thought of resistance. Of course, it’s painful for a child not to feel unconditionally loved by his or her parents. Surrender doesn’t mean pretending it doesn’t hurt. It means accepting that this is the reality. If my parent still hasn’t approved of me, if I’m already an adult and I still feel that my parent doesn’t love me unconditionally, it means that they can’t. Waiting for that to happen is resisting the circumstance, resisting the feeling of being unloved. Only when we surrender to it can we start to learn to love ourselves and enjoy a more satisfying relationship with our parents.
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How Good Is Our Lot The Yiddishkeit Factor As frum Yidden, we are blessed, not only because we have the victory gene in our DNA, but also because we have what it takes to make surrender truly possible: the belief that everything happens for a purpose. The knowledge that every circumstance, every emotion, is being orchestrated exactly as Hashem sees fit is what paves the ultimate and only way for true surrender.
The Maccabim proudly conveyed this message in their battle against the Yavanim. Instead of counting on their own strength to fight off the enemy, they chose to “give up” the fight. It’s not us, was their message, it’s Hashem. We are in His hands. In proclaiming “Mi kamocha ba’eilim Hashem,” they internalized that only He holds the key to their survival, that letting go and allowing Him to carry them through the difficult period was their wisest—and only—choice. Often, we hear of individuals who experienced hardship and emerged feeling stronger and closer to Hashem. So why is it that others who experienced similar challenges were left broken, angry, or disillusioned? It’s not the actual suffering that brings to happiness or closeness. Rather, it’s how each individual deals with it. It’s the hachna’ah, the lack of resistance, that does it.
Surrendering, accepting, is the enabler of growth. When an individual is at the height of a challenge, he has the opportunity to realize just how vulnerable he is, how powerless and dependent he is on Hashem and/or others. But we can come to this realization without suffering, as well. Surrender does not have to come as a result of physical or emotional torment, only from a conviction to live a life of truth. Mrs. Tammy Karmel, a role model in acceptance, is one woman who flexed her surrender muscles long before she received her devastating diagnosis of ALS. A young mother of seven, Tammy is completely paralyzed and unable to speak or breathe on her own as a result of her illness. Still, through her messages using an eye-charting board, she informs the world how content she is to be exactly where Hashem wants her to be. When she was still able to speak, she would say, “How do you think I was able to accept my diagnosis with such serenity? That’s because I’ve been flexing my acceptance muscle all my life.” All her life, she practiced surrendering. As a wife, mother, and friend, she built solid relationships based on love, understanding, and forgiveness, all because she was ready to face her truth, to look inside herself and see where she was at.
Instead of counting on their own strength to fight off the enemy, the Maccabim chose to “give up” the fight.
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Taking It Home Practically Speaking While surrendering from the heart doesn’t happen in a snap, it begins with a decision to first notice where our resistance lies. Ask yourself, “Where in my life am I resisting? What can’t I accept?” Take the time to notice. Start with the “small,” less emotionally heavy stuff: the wait in the supermarket line or at the bus stop. Can I accept that it’s taking longer than I would have liked and I feel so powerless? How do I react to the traffic, the weather, the flopped recipe, the stubborn stain?
Observe yourself at home, when a child is taking her time in the bath, at breakfast, finding her shoes; when the baby is keeping you up at night; when the dryer breaks down for the third time this month; when the grocery order shows up four hours late, the frozen goods defrosted. How much are you resisting or accepting your spouse and children — their personality, their appearance, the way they do things? Your financial circumstances? The home you live in? The neighborhood and community you call yours? Your parents?
Awareness is the agent of change. By becoming aware of what we resist, we can start to make peace with those circumstances: acknowledging that while the situation may be unsatisfactory, unpleasant, or even painful, we accept it. We don’t fight it. That’s when happiness becomes possible. That’s where happiness happens.
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Child Development By Friedy Singer & Roizy Guttman, OTR/L
Childhood Anxiety All in the Mind… or All in the Body? Part I
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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
R
ecently, a mother from Manhattan posted on an online group that she was looking for recommendations for a child psychologist for her daughter:
“She has always been an anxious child, needing to be reassured of things, but recently it’s become increasingly worse. If she doesn't immediately see someone waiting for her at school pickup, she becomes alarmed and scared. She asks me constantly who will be picking her up from places. When I try to talk to her about it, she gets very upset and begins to cry. I tell her that someone will always be there and she won’t be forgotten, but it doesn’t seem to help. I’m hoping someone can give me some tools to deal with this but also someone my daughter could speak to.” Being that this message was posted on a crowd-sourced advice network, the post generated over 40 responses within a short time, many of them recommending pediatric mental health professionals. There were also some comments from the mental health professionals themselves. Then came a reply from a woman (who happens to be our secretary): “I work for a pediatric OT practice that deals with and treats child anxiety with those kinds of symptoms on a regular basis.”
Occupational therapy? Childhood anxiety? What’s the connection? a number of commenters asked regarding her post.
They were surprised to discover that OT can have everything to do with childhood anxiety — or nothing. It depends. This article will help you determine the root of a child’s anxiety — and where to turn for help.
Getting to the Root of Childhood Anxiety Anxiety can have three different causes: emotional/psychological, neurochemical, and physiological.
Emotional/Psychological When Shira was just four years old, she got lost in a shopping mall. Eventually, a kind shopper noticed her crying hysterically and brought her to a security guard, who in turn took her to the mall security office, where someone announced on the loudspeaker that a lost child had been found.
By the time Shira’s frantic mother rushed to the mall security office and gathered Shira in her arms, Shira had been crying and frightened for 30 minutes. Would it at all astound you to hear that for months afterward, Shira clung to her mother whenever they were in any public place, and that the sight of a shopping mall started an “I want to go home!” fit?
Most of us would not be in the least bit surprised. Shira underwent a very scary emotional experience. Anything that brings up a hint of that experience is understandably met with fear, distrust, and aversion.
Sometimes we’re aware of the experience that triggered our child’s anxiety. And sometimes we may not be able to put our finger on any particular experience. When the anxiety appears suddenly and intensely, however, the first thing to investigate is if the child has had any emotionally disturbing or traumatic experiences recently.
You may be able to talk to the child directly about it, like in the case of Moshe, the 6-year-old son of a friend of ours who suddenly became scared of going to sleep at night. He demanded that all doors be locked and all shutters be closed — and he still came out of bed too frightened to go to sleep. When his mother tried inquiring as to what exactly he was afraid of, she learned that Moshe was terrified of police officers coming to the house and taking him to jail. Why police officers and jail? That information only came to light a week later, after a long conversation in which Moshe was clearly reluctant to open himself up and share, even though it was clear that it would make him feel better. Apparent-
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Child Development
ly, on the way home from kindergarten, Moshe and a friend had intimidated an 8-year-old girl by marching toward her with grim expressions on their faces. The next time they ran into the girl on their way home from kindergarten, she was with her mother, who told the boys off. “If you do that again,” she exclaimed, “I’ll call the police!” Another child might have brushed off the comment. But Moshe had taken it to heart and was now terrified of the police knocking on the door and carting him off to prison. He had gotten so worked up from the threat that no amount of reassurance or explanations worked to calm him. Moshe's mother tried saying that police officers would think that mother’s complaint was ridiculous. She told him that even if a child really does a bad thing like stealing, the police still do not take him to jail; instead, they talk to the child’s parents and figure out how to help the child learn to behave better. The efforts of Moshe’s caring and creative kindergarten teacher were what finally paid off. She used stories and drama to help allay his fears. In many cases, one may not be able to get a direct answer from the child. The child may be too embarrassed or frightened to share, or — more commonly — they may not even be aware of what they are reacting to.
In these situations, use your detective skills and other resources in your child’s life. Talk to your child’s teacher or other staff members in your child’s school. What is happening to your child in the classroom and at recess? Is there any bullying taking place? If the teacher doesn’t know, ask him or her — or another trusted staff member or older student — to keep an eye out for your child and see if there is anything happening that could be emotionally disturbing your child. On occasion, especially if you’re aware of what triggered the anxiety, you or other figures in your child’s life can help the child work through the issue.
Often, however, you may need the help of a professional — in this case a child psychologist or other trained mental health professional. In some circumstances, these professionals can figure out what the trigger issue was and address it. Even if they can’t, they may still be able to give the child the experiences and tools that he needs to move on. In short, the root of emotional/psychological anxiety is a trigger experience or series of experiences that made a very emotionally disturbing impact on the child.
Neurochemical The trigger of emotional/psychological anxiety is external. In contrast, the trigger of neurochemical anxiety is internal. Our brain and entire nervous system are exquisitely de-
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signed and delicately balanced. Over 100 different neurotransmitters operate to enable your brain and body to react appropriately to internal and external stimuli, with the majority of the work being done by seven main neurotransmitters: acetylcholine, dopamine, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamate, histamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin.
If something is off in the functioning of your neurotransmitters — in when they’re released and/or in how much of them are released — that will directly impact the smooth functioning of your nervous system.
GABA and serotonin are the primary neurotransmitters responsible for the calming of the central nervous system. If your body doesn’t make the right amounts of GABA and serotonin, or doesn’t release and absorb them at the right times, anxiety often results. Psychiatrists are the professionals who address neurochemical-based anxiety directly, primarily by using medications that affect the balance of GABA and serotonin in the body.
While it’s wise to consult a child psychiatrist if you suspect neurochemical-based anxiety, pediatric psychologists and therapists can also be a valuable resource. Their expertise can give a child tools and methods to handle her anxiety and minimize the effect that anxiety has on her life. Sometimes the tools can be so effective that it doesn’t matter that the underlying issue is still present, because its presence isn’t felt. In short, the root of neurochemical-based anxiety is an imbalance or dysfunction of the nervous system, and specifically the neurotransmitters that are used by the body to calm the nervous system.
Physiological Similar to neurochemical-based anxiety, the trigger to physiological-based anxiety is also internal, but it stems from a different internal source.
The two roots to physiological anxiety are found in the sensory system and in the part of the nervous system that deals with reflexes.
To get an idea of how issues within the sensory system can cause anxiety, rate your feelings after the following events on a scale of 1–5, with 1 being completely relaxed and 5 being totally on edge.
• Your neighbor is doing construction, and the sounds of jackhammering have been filling the air all day — for the past three days. • You walk into your friend’s house because you agreed to
watch her toddler for a few hours ... and stop, because there isn’t really anywhere to walk. Toys, books, crayons, clothes, and cookies are strewn all over the floor. • You’re trying to get out of a sports stadium after a big game, and all the people pushed up against you are a head taller than you … and really need deodorant. Add up your points. Did you score 12 or above?
If so, you’re like most normal adults taking this poll. Intense sensory stimulation causes us to be overwhelmed by our environment. Dopamine levels drop, cortisol levels rise, and our physical and mental selves experience that state as anxiety. We are totally on edge, and we can’t wait to get home (or for the construction workers to go home). Let’s pretend for a moment that we’re in the shoes of a child (or an adult) with sensory processing disorder. The noise of children having a good time at the playground sounds like jackhammering. If your brother left a few LEGOs in the middle of your room, it feels like your entire toy closet was dumped out on the carpet. When you walk down the aisle in the supermarket, all the people passing by feel like they’re right next to you, even though they're two feet away — and the food smells wafting out of their carts and off the shelves have an odor worse than an athlete after a summertime game. And this might be happening all day, every day. Who wouldn’t be anxious? When children with sensory processing disorder have everyday interactions with their environment, everyday stimuli are experienced as uncomfortable and/or overwhelming. The imbalance and fluctuation of neurotransmitters that are released make our children uneasy and anxious.
Sensory integration issues aren’t the only physiological cause of anxiety. Sometimes reflex integration issues play a part, too.
Infants are born with certain reflexes, uncontrolled reactions to environmental stimuli. Every mother has seen these in action. Stroke your infant’s cheek and he turns and opens his mouth, trying to find something to suck. Slam a door and his arms fly wide open.
That last reflex is known as the Moro, or startle, reflex. A sudden change in the infant’s environment, most notably loss of physical support, causes the infant to fling her arms open, then retract them, often accompanied by crying. The Moro reflex — like all primitive reflexes — serves a purpose in infanthood (such as assisting in starting the breathing process when the newborn first emerges, clinging to and alerting the mother should she inadvertently lose her hold on the infant, keeping the baby alert to potential threats, and so on). But this reflex is supposed to be integrated by four months of age, replaced with the adult startle reflex.
Sometimes, however, it sticks around. And, like all guests who overstay their welcome, the Moro reflex starts to cause trouble. Sudden changes in a child’s environment trigger the Moro reflex and cause cortisol to cascade through their body, accompanied by feelings of stress. Imagine you’re working on a project. You have 10 co-workers. Every time a co-worker says your name from outside your range of vision, you jump as if they had snuck up behind you and yelled "boo!" straight into your ear. How productive would your day be? How would you feel after such a day?
While some children and adults with an unintegrated Moro reflex actually do physically startle, most have learned to compensate. The startle still occurs, but it’s mainly internal. These are the children who can’t cope well when things don’t go as expected. You’re a minute late to pick up your child in preschool, and he’s already started to lose it. Your 6-year-old daughter has all her dolls lined up in a particular order on her bed, and G-d forbid if her little brother moves one of them half an inch out of place. Your 9-year-old son needs to wear one particular baseball cap on test days. If it’s a test day and he can’t find it, he’ll burst out crying and refuse to go to school.
To deal effectively with physiological-based child anxiety, we recommend consulting with a pediatric OT who specializes in sensory integration and/or reflex issues. The goal is to directly address the sensory or reflex cause. When, through occupational therapy, the child is able to successfully integrate the sensory system or the immature reflex, the body will no longer be sending continual “there’s something wrong!” messages. The child will no longer feel so threatened in the face of a sudden change. She won't startle internally and feel the need to control her environment in order to protect herself. With her newly gained physiological balance and stability, she’ll be able to acclimate appropriately to changes in her environment, actively engage in the dynamics of the relationships around her, and look forward to new experiences. In short, the root of physiological-based anxiety may be sensory processing issues or unintegrated primitive reflexes (or a combination), which cause the child to feel stress from normal, everyday stimuli and interactions.
Which One Is It? Discerning the root of anxiety is not a simple task. This is compounded by the reality that in some situations there is more than one cause, and they play off each other. In Part II of this article, we will provide important guidelines regarding childhood anxiety and how to best address it.
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Emotional Eating By Shira Savit
The StressMetabolism Connection Are your emotions showing up on your midsection? Recently, Gitty, my client, was experiencing challenges both at work and at home. To her dismay, she noticed a bulge around her midsection that hadn’t existed before. She hadn’t changed anything in her diet, so where were those extra pounds coming from?
A likely explanation is stress. Stress has an incredibly profound impact on one’s health, weight, appetite, food choices, and relationship with food.
Stress is a very complex, fascinating phenomenon. It’s the body’s response to real or perceived threat, be it physical or emotional. Stress can be precipitated by an acute situation or is a chronic state of being, and one’s metabolism pays the price. Here’s how it happens. 86 Wellspring | December 2019
When we experience stress, our body automatically shifts into fight or flight survival mode, which brings on many physiological changes. Heart rate speeds up, blood pressure increases, and respiration quickens. Under stress, blood flow to the gut diminishes, and thyroid and growth hormone secretions are reduced. Most significantly, the levels of cortisol and insulin (our “stress hormones”) rise, which signals the body to store fat. Think about it this way: If someone is being chased by a dog, their body does not waste energy digesting the cornflakes they ate for breakfast. The body’s resources are being conserved for survival. Numerous studies show that chronically elevated cortisol and insulin levels lead to weight gain, especially around the midsection.
when someone is being chased by a dog, their body does not waste energy digesting the cornflakes they ate for breakfast.
My work with Leah was predominantly focused on the stress-metabolism connection. Leah, a 21-year-old kallah, came to see me during her engagement. She had been dieting and exercising in an attempt to lose 15–20 pounds and “feel good about herself in her wedding dress.” Before I even asked, she started telling me how stressed she felt. She had a very full schedule, slept very little, and woke up daily at 5 a.m. to go on the treadmill for an hour. She followed her diet very strictly but complained that it “wasn’t working.” One at a time, we tackled the underlying factors that caused Leah to be in a perpetual state of stress. Since her diet was so strict, it wasn’t balanced, and she wasn’t getting sufficient amounts of nutrients, so this contributed to elevated stress hormones. We made adjustments to her dietary intake so it would provide her body with the nutrition it was lacking. We devised an exercise schedule that allowed her body to rest and recover in between workouts. Throughout our sessions, we addressed her body image insecurities. Leah learned techniques and tools to help her feel better about her body.
A week before her wedding, Leah had lost only seven pounds, but she felt like a different person. While learning how to relax had helped her lose some weight, more importantly, it allowed her to enter marriage in a calmer way.
To make matters worse, stress hormones actually make us crave foods that are higher in fat, sugar, and salt, since physiologically, our body would need these resources to deal with a threat. If someone’s being chased by a dog, fats and sugar would give them energy to run. Salt can help raise blood pressure, making the heart beat stronger, and pumping lots of blood to the muscles.
Additionally, the foods we turn to counteract feelings of stress, to serve as “comfort foods,” often contain excess amounts of fat, sugar, or salt. Using eating as a coping mechanism to deal with a stressful situation is another factor that contributes to weight gain.
Both Gitty and Leah were experiencing what can be called situational stress. Learning healthy coping mechanisms helped restore their metabolic balance. The results were a calmer state of being and the ability to shed those annoying extra pounds.
Each of us encounters time-limited situations that can cause us to feel stressed; however, there are some people whose bodies can be in a chronic state of stress, over months, years, or even a lifetime — and they may not be aware of it.
In the next installment, we will look at the impact of longterm stress through the lens of mind-body nutrition, and uncover insights as to why our weight/body image might be a constant struggle in our lives. *Names have been changed to protect confidentiality.
Shira Savit, MA, CHC, MHC is a mental health counselor with multiple certifications in nutrition and health. She specializes in helping her clients with weight loss, emotional eating, and binge eating. Her unique approach incorporates both nutritional and emotional factors to help her clients reach their goals. Shira has a private practice in Yerushalayim and also works with women in any location via phone or Skype. She can be reached at 516-978-7800 or Shirasavit@gmail.com.
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In Session with Shiffy Friedman, LMSW
Heart to Heart
I Can’t Let Go of My Phone
The summarized interactions in this column are either based on reader-submitted questions or are a composite 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 process, 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 recently joined an initiative in which I refrain from using my phone for anything other than voice calls for two hours a day — the hours when my kids need me most, from 5 to 7 p.m. I was excited to be more present during this time, but now that I’m doing it, I’m running into trouble.
Very antsy. Uneasy. Uneasy about what?
What’s the problem? Not doing anything makes me feel antsy. I can’t wait for the two hours to be over.
Is it because you’re not doing anything?
What do you feel during this time?
I have this urge to keep checking my phone.
This is what you want to do because you’re feeling something, but what are you actually feeling?
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I’m busy, but my head is not fully occupied. I need my mind to be totally engaged.
When your mind is not completely busy, what do you feel?
I’m realizing that I experience a certain emptiness. How does your phone fill that void?
I don’t know how much it actually fills it, but it helps me avoid thinking about it. My brain is on fire; I’m jumping from this chat to that one, checking and rechecking sites. It helps me distract my mind from that feeling. So you’re saying that it’s not the phone that you need so much, but, rather, you need a distraction from that empty feeling you experience whenever your mind is not occupied?
Yes. I don’t need the phone as much as I need its effect: the ability to distract myself. Once you’ve realized that it’s not the phone you need — but that, really, you're seeking to escape from a feeling, you have a choice. Whenever you realize you’re feeling this way, you can either continue to do what you’ve done until now, which is turn to your phone (or any other distraction), or you can learn how to deal with the feeling, to get rid of it at its root.
I’d rather work on the feeling than try to escape it all my life.
What does working on a feeling entail? First of all, start seeing where you meet this feeling in your life. Simply notice it. It’s not about, “let me get over this feeling,” which is, in essence, resistance to the feeling. Instead, it’s first and foremost about noticing it. Every time it comes up and you hold back from escaping into distraction, even for just a few minutes, you get another opportunity to actually experience it. As is discussed at length in this issue’s Wellbeing feature, this is what it means to surrender to a feeling. Make it a point to simply notice, “Oh, now this feeling is coming up for me. This is where I’m at right now. Will I fight it or let it be?” Start becoming aware that any time you don’t have a means of diversion, this is the way you feel. Then, the more you willingly choose not to distract yourself but, rather, to let the feeling rise to the surface, the less frightening it becomes. The urge you feel to run to the phone will be increasingly reduced. It would also be wise for you to explore what this feeling — that you call “emptiness” — is all about. Is it the way you feel when you’re not accomplishing? A feeling that you experience when you’re in your own company, that the person you’re meeting (i.e., you) isn’t living up to certain expectations? You may want to get to the source of this feeling. Probably rooted in childhood, these types of feelings often stem from a false self-perspective. Once you properly deal with this mistaken view you have of yourself — by actually facing it, feeling it, naming it, and diving into it, as opposed to numbing it — it won’t play such a significant role in your life anymore.
Vantage View In each situation that involves an emotional element, which is virtually every situation in life, there’s a story that we're telling ourselves and there's what's actually taking place inside. The tale we narrate inside ourselves is our mind talking. In its attempt to draw us away from a feeling that we’d prefer not to feel, we create stories to explain or blame for those emotions. In this case, for example, the questioner comes in confessing that it’s hard for her to stay off her phone. She’s still unconscious, so to speak, to what’s really going on. Her story is that she likes to use her phone because it keeps her mind occupied so she won't get "antsy." With proper introspection, which takes courage and honesty, she notices what’s really happening: that she’s using technology as a “sedative” to numb her feelings of emptiness. If she wants to truly free herself from this bondage, she will have to explore why she needs this distraction and how she can properly deal with the feeling when it arises. Distractions, of course, are not limited to technology. They may come in many forms, even for frum Jews, including eating, smoking, alcohol, shopping, listening to music, or even constantly thinking, such as making mental to-do lists. Taking the initial step of removing ourselves from such distractions is indeed commendable, but it’s vital to do the underlying work if we want the commitment to last.
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CONVENIENT RESEALABLE
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F I N D O U R N E W W H O L E M I L K Y O G U R T I N 7 F L AV O R S AT Y O U R L O C A L S U P E R M A R K E T
ISSUE 47
DECEMBER ‘19 KISLEV 5780
Fun Times, Good Food We've planned the Chanukah menu for youwith your health in mind
Hola from Spain! Enjoy a glass of sangria in your own kitchen 7 tips for healthier frying
Latke-less Chanukah? How your favorite nutritionists celebrate
Index Page
Pots of Flavor
99
CHANUKAH POTLUCK PARTY
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Have it Homemade
111
ALFREDO SAUCE
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My Table
120
LATKE-LESS CHANUKAH
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Boost
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HEALTHIER HAIR, SKIN, AND NAILS
THYME FOR DINNER
TASTE + TRAVEL
TIDBITS
NUTRITION FACTS
FETTUCCINE ALFREDO
THIS MONTH: SPAIN
DEEP FRIED DILEMMAS
THIS MONTH: CAULIFLOWER
P. 113
P. 114
P. 123
P. 126
CAUTION:
FRIENDS MAY APPEAR OUT OF THE BLUE
@BARTENURABLUE
Imported by Royal Wine Corp., Bayonne, NJ. Enjoy Bartenura Blue responsibly.
e g a ll i v a s e It tak s s la g a e s i to ra by
Dear Cooks, You know the unpleasant feeling of walking into a party, looking forward to enjoying a hearty meal, but then you realize there’s nothing there for you to eat? Like when the hostess decided on dairy and you just had a taste of the chicken leftovers from last night, or when you just started a diet and everything you see is coated in flour and sugar? Well, that’s very bound to happen on Chanukah, when many of us end up being guests at other people’s parties one night or another. For most families, the Chanukah nights that are designated for family parties involve advance planning. This helps avoid such mishaps. But even if you know the menu, you may still run into issues if healthy eating is important to you. You might be counting on someone’s salad to get your fill of vegetables, only to find out that their definition of salad is a few measly greens coated in a ketchup-sugar dressing and topped with croutons and honey-glazed almonds. Of course, one salad won’t make it or break it for anyone, but this Chanukah, you can have it all. In this issue, the Levines bring you fabulous ideas for throwing a potluck party, which means you get to bring the food you’ll actually enjoy eating and you’ll still feel good about it. While you’ve probably done potluck parties in the past, what makes the recipes featured here unique is that they consist of various food groups, so they can count as your entire dinner. This way, you can have a delicious meal at someone else’s home without having to rely on this one or that one to meet your particular needs. For the nights when you’re doing the cooking, we bring you tips for healthier frying. If you’re in the mood of being creative, you can go all out with a Spanish theme and prepare Charnie’s highly recommended dishes. Either way, a refreshing glass of sangria is never a bad idea to end any festive meal — with company or without. Ultimately, it’s the memories we create on these beautiful, cozy nights that make all the difference. Whether you spend them in your own home or with others, enjoy the quality time! Best wishes,
Est her Kislev 5780 | Wellspring 97
Legendary make any meal
Pots of Flavor On Chanukah, the cold winter outdoors juxtaposed with the warm, candlelit indoors sets the perfect scene for cozy time with friends and family. In preparation for these gatherings, many of us get creative with the decor and presentation. If it’s something you enjoy doing, go right ahead. However, if the thought of it stresses you out, you can keep it casual and low key and still have a wonderful time. What could be a simpler way to do so than a potluck meal, in which each guest contributes one dish to the party? First, it takes the stress off the host family. Also, everyone gets to bring their favorite dish. The beauty of a potluck is that if everyone works on preparing only one dish, chances are it’s their best one. In the following pages, there are some excellent ideas of dishes you can prepare for your family’s special gathering. Instead of the calorie-laden fried goodies that have become synonymous with Chanukah, these dishes will help you celebrate the miracle of the oil without consuming quantities of greasy, fried foods every night. None of the recipes have long ingredient lists; they mostly require pantry staples. (It’s a good idea to keep a selection of frozen fruits and vegetables in the freezer during the winter months to save time on grocery shopping.) Planning is essential for a potluck party. Without doing so, you may end up with six Caesar salads! Designate one person as the organizer to make sure that there’s no overlap. Our tips for your Chanukah potluck dinner: If you are the host, set the scene. You can keep it simple with some chocolate coins, dreidels, or any other Chanukah-themed items. Candles work wonders in creating a festive setting. For the setup in the photo, we found some Chanukah-themed items in a local craft shop (similar to Amazing Savings) and spray painted them gold. We displayed them across the center of the table at varying heights, using small wood risers that we painted black (from the craft store as well). We then added lots of candles of different heights and sizes to create a “runner.” If you are an attendee, make sure your dish is packed up well for transport and is easy to serve. Oven-to-table dishes work great for this. Always check for allergies and dietary restrictions of the families attending. You don’t want to invest time and work to prepare a dish and then have too many leftovers because some attendees at the party couldn’t eat it. Happy prepping and a freilechen Chanukah!
Recipes, styling, and photography by Yossi & Malky Levine
Asian Steak & Noodle Salad Prep time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 35 minutes Yield: 4–6 servings
If you feel that lo mein belongs on every Chanukah party’s menu, this one’s especially for you. This salad is not only healthy and delicious, but it can be served hot or cold, which makes it the perfect take-along dish. I love how the colors of the snow peas and baby corn contrast against the dramatic backdrop of seared steak strips. Brown rice noodles are one the healthiest noodle options, but you don’t have to limit yourself to them. Nowadays, there are lots of more options on the market. Spinach noodles, black bean noodles, and buckwheat noodles are all good alternatives. Since this salad calls for a very small amount of steak, this makes for an economical dish when cooking for a crowd. 1 10- or 12-oz package brown rice noodles 1 Tbsp olive oil ½ lb thin steak strips 1 cup snow peas, cut into bite-sized pieces 1 cup baby corn, cut into bite-sized pieces ¼ cup water 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 Tbsp liquid aminos 3 Tbsp coconut sugar 1 Tbsp sesame oil 2 cups bean sprouts Boil the noodles for three minutes in rapidly boiling water. Drain and set aside. Heat a large skillet with olive oil and add steak strips. Stir them very quickly as they cook fast. Once browned, add snow peas and baby corn and toss in the meat juices. Add water, garlic, liquid aminos, coconut sugar, and sesame oil and bring to a boil. Add drained noodles and bean sprouts and toss for another three minutes until well coated. Arrange the salad on a platter and serve. Kislev 5780 | Wellspring 101
Flaky Fish Pie Prep time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 30 minutes Yield: 8 servings This is a great dish to take along to a potluck as it has the fish, potatoes, and veggies all in one. Although I used tilapia here, pretty much any fish can be used. This is real hearty comfort food in a bowl. Have the recipe handy as many guests will be asking for it!
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced 1 Tbsp olive oil 4 tilapia fillets 2 cups milk or milk alternative ¾ tsp salt 1 tsp whole wheat or arrowroot flour 1 Tbsp water 1 cup frozen peas 4 large potatoes, cooked and mashed (Yukon gold recommended) ½ cup grated mozzarella cheese salt and pepper, to taste
Heat olive oil in a large frying pan and add mushrooms. Sauté for 5 minutes, remove mushrooms from the pan and set aside. Lay the fish fillets flat in the pan, cover with milk, sprinkle with salt, and bring to a boil. Let simmer, covered, for 12 minutes. Transfer the fish to an oven-to-table dish or a pan, leaving the liquid in the pan. Mix flour with water to form a paste and add it to the pan, stirring with a whisk. Turn the heat up and the sauce will begin to thicken. Next, add peas and sautéed mushrooms and stir. Pour this sauce over the fish and pipe mashed potatoes over it. Sprinkle with grated cheese and broil in the oven for 3–4 minutes until peaks are golden brown. Note: If your custom is not to eat fish and cheese in one dish, omit the cheese.
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Herb-Crusted Cauliflower with Tahini Dressing Prep time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 30 minutes Yield: 6-8 servings If you're struggling to get your family to eat vegetables, here's the dish to encourage them! Not only is it simple to prepare, it’s packed with nutrients. I love roasted vegetables and have experimented with loads, particularly root vegetables, but roasted cauliflower is my absolute favorite and surprisingly addictive. If you're used to eating steamed or boiled cauliflower, you really will be amazed at how it takes on a completely different texture and flavor once roasted. I used chili powder in this recipe, but feel free to be adventurous and try your own spice blend. 1 12-oz package frozen cauliflower florets, not defrosted 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast 1 tsp garlic powder ½ cup oat flour 1 tsp salt 1 tsp chili powder (optional) 2 eggs, beaten olive oil, for spraying Dressing ½ cup tahini paste ½ cup water 1 garlic clove, minced juice of ½ lemon ½ tsp salt Preheat oven to 450°F. Stir together nutritional yeast, garlic powder, oat flour, salt, and chili powder in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, beat eggs. Dip each floret into eggs, then coat with spice blend. Lay coated florets onto a lined baking sheet, spray with olive oil and roast for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the dressing. Place tahini, water, garlic, lemon juice, and salt in the cup of a blender and blend until smooth. Drizzle over cauliflower before serving. Garnish with fresh herbs or microgreens (optional).
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Blueberry and Lemon Loaf Cake Prep time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 45 minutes Yield: 10 servings No party is complete without dessert, but what if you want to keep your party menu healthy until the very end? Here’s a really good one, and this scrumptious cake is easy to slice and serve. Blueberries and lemons are a match made in heaven. The tart and sharp flavors of the fruit balances perfectly with the sweetness of the cake. The best part of this cake? It can be made in one bowl with a hand whisk! ½ cup coconut oil 1 cup xylitol 1 lemon, juice and zest ½ cup almond milk 2 large eggs 1½ cups white whole wheat flour (or 1:1 gluten-free flour) 1½ tsp baking powder 1½ cups blueberries (fresh or frozen) additional blueberries, lemon slices, and/or fresh mint, for garnishing (optional) Glaze: ½ cup powdered xylitol (can be done in a blender on high speed) juice of 1 lemon Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9x5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Using a hand whisk, combine coconut oil, xylitol, and lemon zest. Add lemon juice, milk, and eggs and mix until well combined. Add flour and baking powder. Gently fold in the blueberries with a metal spoon. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes until cake is well risen and springy to the touch. To prepare the glaze, mix together powdered xylitol with lemon juice to form a thick paste. Drizzle over warm cake and garnish with spare blueberries, lemon slices, and some fresh mint.
106 Wellspring | December 2019
Strawberry Limonana Prep time: 10 minutes Yield: 6-8 servings
There is nothing quite as refreshing as homemade lemonade, but limonana takes that up a notch in both sophistication and taste. I developed an appreciation for this beverage in Israel and I’ve loved it ever since. While lemonade is notorious for its sugar content, here’s Seasoned’s healthier version. And what better time to enjoy some lemons, which are an excellent source of vitamin C — essential to our winter health. If you’re taking this to a party, it’s best to blend right before you leave. A great idea to transport the drink is to buy a decorated pitcher or large glass mason jar, which can double as a hostess gift. Win win!
3 cups frozen strawberries 5 cups water, divided Juice of 4 lemons 1 cup fresh mint leaves ⅓ cup xylitol 2 cups crushed ice ice, sliced lemon and strawberries, and/or fresh mint, for garnish (optional)
Place strawberries in the cup of a blender with one cup of water and blend until smooth. Add juice of the 4 lemons, mint leaves, xylitol, remaining water, and crushed ice and blend until combined. Pour into a pitcher and top with more ice, sliced lemon, sliced strawberries and fresh mint for garnish.
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By Yossi and Malky Levine
Alfredo Sauce There’s something about the creamy, garlicky, velvety texture of Alfredo sauce that makes it one of my all-time comfort foods. It is, however, usually laden with calories and heavy on the dairy. Well, not anymore! This low-calorie, dairy-free version is simply delicious. Use it over noodles, zoodles, chicken, and any other food you’re looking to enjoy. 1 cup raw cashews 2 cups boiling water 2 Tbsp olive oil 1 onion, diced 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast juice of ½ lemon 1 tsp salt 2 cups almond milk Place cashews in a medium bowl, and pour boiling water over it. Allow to soak for 1 hour. Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add to a blender along with the drained cashews, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt and almond milk. Blend until smooth.
Cooking and Prep 1 hour 20 minutes Serves 8 Parve 6 cups cranberries 1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar 3/4 cups orange juice 6 tablespoons Gefen Cornstarch 1 1/2 tablespoons cardamom 3 pears, peeled and diced 2 Gefen Pie Crusts 1 egg, beaten extra sugar for sprinkling
Prepare the Filling 1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Pie crust or dough should
be in the refrigerator.
2. Wash the cranberries. I make this a recipe step because I’m very
particular about the quality of the cranberries. This pie is cranberry forward, so use the best. Discard any that are squishy or soft.
3. Whisk together orange juice and cornstarch into a slurry. 4. Pour the cranberries, sugar and OJ slurry into a large saucepan. Cook at medium heat, stirring frequently, until the cranberries begin to pop. 5. When you start to hear or see cranberries popping, gently press down with your spoon to urge out their juice and pop more of the berries. When most of the cranberries are opened, turn off the heat. 6. Mix in the cardamom and pears. Stir thoroughly and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
Assemble and Bake 1. Prepare your pie plate with the bottom crust. Do not grease the pan. Pie dough won’t stick because it’s largely fat already.
2. our the cooled cranberry filling into the pie crust. This recipe will make one deep-dish pie or you can divide into to two pie plates.
3. Add a top crust and leave some of it open, or slice holes, to allow
venting. This is where a lot of bakers have fun decorating. Use a little water to help the pie dough adhere to itself. You can leave a large amount of the pie open or a very small amount. It’s up to the style and look you want.
4. If you are using store bought prepared crusts, you will need to
Recipe by @candidlydeliciousbytamar
bring the second crust to almost room temperature to remove it from the foil pan and place it over the pie. Pinch around the edges of the pie to seal.
5. Now, take your beaten egg and a pastry brush and gently egg wash the entire top crust. Then sprinkle the wet egg wash with a bit of sugar.
SCAN ME FOR THIS RECIPE
For more great recipes, visit
6. Ideally, protect the outer edge of the pie. If you do not, it may overcook before the filling and center dough is ready. Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 25–30 minutes, then remove the edge protector and allow the pie to finish baking another eight to 10 minutes. Note: Serve warm or chilled. This pie freezes nicely also for makeahead. I like to serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Also available in 9” Pie Crusts & 9” Deep Dish Pie Crust
Cranberry-Pear Pie
By Yossi and Malky Levine
FETTUCCINE ALFREDO Yield: 8 servings There are fewer foods more comforting than a hearty bowl of fettuccine Alfredo. Silky, creamy sauce coating a satisfying bowl of noodles — it really doesn't get much better that that. But the high-carb, high-calorie dish is prohibitive if you’re trying to lead a healthy lifestyle. Here’s the good news! Without cheating on your diet or compromising on your standards, you can treat yourself and your family to a reduced calorie, healthy version of fettuccine Alfredo with all the taste and flavor! You’re welcome! 110-oz package brown rice fettuccine 2 zucchinis, cut into rings 1 eggplant, sliced 1 Tbsp olive oil handful of cherry tomatoes 1 batch Alfredo sauce (See recipe in Have it Homemade) In a large pot, cook fettuccine according to package instructions (in boiling water for 10 minutes). Drain. In a medium bowl, toss zucchinis, eggplant, and tomatoes in olive oil. Heat a dry griddle pan until smoking and add vegetables until scorch marks appear on both sides. Toss vegetables with the pasta and pour Alfredo sauce over it. Serve immediately.
FYI
Fettuccine Alfredo was invented in 1907 by Alfredo di Lelio in Rome, Italy. According to family accounts, Alfredo, who worked in a restaurant that was run by his mother, invented the dish in an effort to entice his wife to eat after giving birth to their first child.
Kohn By Charni e
Hola from Spain! Welcome to the country of rich culture, beautiful architecture, pleasant climate, and gorgeous beaches. It is no wonder that this country, which is about the size of the state of Texas, attracts over 80 million tourists annually. In fact, in 2018, Spain was recognized as the country with the most tourists that year. One of the main factors that attract tourists to Spain is its cultural food and drinks. Spaniards have a very specific daily mealtime routine. The day begins with breakfast, known in Spain as desayuno, typically eaten early in the morning at about 8:30 a.m. A traditional dish served at breakfast is tortilla espanola, a Spanish omelet made with eggs and potatoes. Lunch, comida, the biggest meal of the day, is usually a lavish two-course meal followed by dessert, which is very often the deep-fried pastries we have come to know and love — churros. Many businesses in Spain close shop for two to three hours for a lunch break and then resume work until dinner. (In recent years, the Spanish government has put an effort to cut the lunch breaks in order to end work hours earlier.) La cena, dinner, which is a smaller meal than lunch, customarily consists of one course followed by dessert. One of the most popular dinner dishes in Spain is paella, which takes its name from the wide shallow pan it’s traditionally cooked and served in. It’s a rice-based dish cooked with a variety of fish, chicken, or meat. Spain is well known for its tapas, small savory dishes. There are currently hundreds of restaurants worldwide dedicated to this celebrated food. The origin of the name is interesting: the actual definition of tapas is “a lid,” and traditionally, these dishes were given free with drinks and used to cover the glass. The reason for that custom is heavily debated. Some say it was done to keep flies out of the wine and some say it was to keep the wind from blowing away the contents of the glass. Many claim that in the thirteenth century, the king was recovering from an illness and was only able to consume alcohol with small amounts of food. A common misconception is that tapas are a specific kind of food. The truth is that anything served in small amounts is considered to be tapas in Spain. Tapas can be anything from cheese and olives to fish or meat. Spain's geography plays a big role in the food its citizens eat. The country is surrounded mostly with water, making fish an integral ingredient in Spanish cuisine. The country’s warm and arid climate renders it the perfect spot to cultivate olives and grapes. Spain is a major exporter of olive oil, and wineries dot the country.
Travel Tidbits Forty-four percent of the world’s olive oil originates from Spain. Nearly three-quarters of the world’s saffron is grown in Spain. Gazpacho, an uncooked tomato soup served at room temperature, is very common in Spain, to the extent that December 6th is National Gazpacho Day.
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Chicken Paella Cooking time: 40 minutes Yield: 6 servings Chicken paella (pronounced “pa’eya”) is vibrant, flavorful, and nutritious, and this dish brings the smells of Spain into your kitchen. Once you taste this, you’ll understand why both Spaniards and tourists love this traditional rice-based dish. Chop, chop, simmer, simmer and you’re done. Don’t forget to inhale, deeply. Ahhh! 6 chicken thighs, skin on 2 Tbsp olive oil 1 large Spanish onion, diced 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 Tbsp tomato paste 1½ cups Arborio rice 3 cups low-sodium chicken stock 1 tsp lemon juice 2 tsp salt 1 tsp turmeric 1/8 tsp black pepper 1 cup green beans 1 cup green peas
Heat olive oil in a wide pot over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken thighs for approximately five minutes per side. Remove chicken and set aside. Sauté onions, garlic, and tomato paste until the onions are softened. Add the rice and cook for two minutes, then add the chicken stock. Nestle the seared chicken thighs in the rice. Add the lemon juice, spices, and green beans and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover the pot. Cook for 20 minutes. Uncover and pour peas over chicken. Raise the heat to medium-high and cook for an additional 4 minutes. This will create the famous golden bottom crust known in Spain as soccarat.
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Skinny Sangria Yield: 8 cups Sangria, a popular alcoholic drink originating from Spain, traditionally consists of red wine and chopped fruit and has become a refreshing hit on menus worldwide. You shouldn't have to go out to a high-end restaurant or rack up your calorie intake to enjoy a cold glass of this refreshing beverage. Here’s a way to make a low-calorie version of the drink at home. Sit down to a plate of paella, washed down by a glass of sangria, and picture yourself sitting on the Spanish beach shore.
4 cups dry red wine 2 cups citrus-flavored low-calorie soda (such as Sprite Zero) ¼ cup vodka 2 cups assorted seasonal fruit (such as apples and oranges), finely cubed approximately 16 ice cubes
In a large bowl or pitcher, combine all ingredients. Refrigerate for 3–6 hours. Serve chilled.
In the pages of Wellspring, we share expert advice from some of the community’s most popular and competent dietitians and nutritionists. In this column, you get to see how they practice what they preach in their own kitchens. Pull up a chair at “My Table” and join the chat.
Latke-less Chanukah? This Month:
What’s Chanukah without latkes? That’s certainly the attitude most people have toward the Yom Tov in which we commemorate the miracle of the flask of oil. How do you do it in your home? Is there another, healthier way to enjoy the festivities — or do you just go along with the flow and have a donut too while you’re at it?
Syma Kranz, PFC: Before Chanukah every year, I put up the following sign in my fitness studio: “V’ein lanu reshus l’hishtamesh bahem, elah lirosam bilvad…” with a photo of a pile of donuts underneath. I do have one donut on Chanukah, though. You’ve got to be normal!
For the Kids: To incorporate healthy eating into the Chanukah theme, use cookie cutters to cut fresh fruits and vegetables into fun shapes like dreidels and menorahs. Pepper strips or carrot sticks can be used to create a colorful menorah display in each child’s plate. Sprinkle paprika around a dreidel cutout (and then remove the paper) and enjoy some Chanukah spirit without the calories, sugar, or oil.
120 Wellspring | December 2019
Laura Shammah, MS, RDN: When I entertain for Chanukah, I usually make a dairy meal that includes choices for all. While I serve many salads, vegetables, lean proteins like fish, and starchy veggies like butternut squash and sweet potatoes, I also put out family favorites like pizza and pasta. My mother-in-law usually treats us with a platter of fried latkes. For dessert, I like to make a variety of choices, too, with healthy options like fresh fruit. Of course, I serve donuts. Balance is key.
Tanya Rosen, Nutritionist: Before I attend any Chanukah party I’m invited to, I drink two cups of water to help fill me up. I also suggest to my clients to create a “budget” before Chanukah even starts — to plan a controlled cheat, which is usually one donut and three latkes throughout the whole Chanukah. However you use it (and if you even do), don’t exceed the budget, and you’ll be just as satisfied! Here is a delicious, yet healthy latke recipe. Ingredients: 2 lb potatoes, shredded or grated 1 onion, shredded or grated 2 eggs salt and pepper to taste ¼ cup whole wheat matzah meal or ¼ cup whole wheat flour ¼ teaspoon baking powder cooking spray Directions: Preheat oven to 425°F. Drain excess liquid from potatoes. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients. Spray two parchment-lined baking sheets. Use ¼-cup measuring cup to place latke mixture in mounds on the baking sheet; flatten. Bake 15 minutes, turn latkes over, and bake another 10 minutes. Yields 16 latkes. Count 1–2 as a starch.
Bashy Halberstam, Health Coach: I’ve already started experimenting with zucchini latkes for the upcoming Chanukah season and I’m very pleased with the results of my recipe. It's completely gluten and grain free. I hope you’ll enjoy it too! Ingredients: 4 zucchini, peeled and cut into strips Himalayan salt (or regular salt) 1 Tbsp psyllium husk (a form of fiber sold at health food stores) 2 eggs 2 tsp salt pepper, to taste coconut or avocado oil, for frying Directions: Cut each zucchini strip into three. Lay strips in a single layer onto a baking dish. Sprinkle salt onto the slices. Add another layer of squash and more salt. Continue layering until all zucchini slices are in the baking pan. Let sit for a few hours. Mix eggs, psyllium husk, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Using the kugel blade (or S blade, but do not grate too fine as you will need to be able to drain the liquid), blend the zucchini. Place onto a strainer so the liquid drains. Then, squeeze liquid that’s still remaining using either a nut bag or cheese cloth. Add the zucchini pulp into the bowl with rest of ingredients. Fry batter in coconut oil or avocado oil on medium heat until brown. Flip. Fry other side. Remove from pan onto a paper-towel lined plate to absorb the oil. Transfer to a dish and enjoy. Note: The amount of liquid released will determine the texture of the final product. I like a creamier texture and so I leave some moisture in the mixture. If you are short on time and you have a nut milk bag, here’s a shortcut: Grate the zucchini using the kugel blade. Place it into a colander and strain, then squeeze the pulp using a nut milk bag.
Shani Taub, CDC: We make the regular potato latkes with spray oil, and I count 4 ounces as a bread, which is the carb on my plan. Vegetable latkes are delicious too!
Compiled by Shiffy Friedman
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Real Dairy. Real Cream. Really Irresistible.
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Eat Well
Nutrition Tidbits in the News By Malka Sharman
Deep-Fried Dilemmas 7 ways to minimize the negative effects of frying Doughnuts and latkes and more doughnuts and more fried foods. Although frying foods makes the Chanukah atmosphere festive, it can also be a great way to add inches to the waistline. If you’re looking to eat healthier without sacrificing your fried foods fix, these tips and hacks will help you make the frying experience as healthy as possible. Instead of thinking “I’m eating fried foods anyway,” think “I’m eating fried foods, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do so in the healthiest way possible.”
1 Use a Heart-Healthy Oil. Avocado oil is one of the best oils to use in making fried foods healthier. In addition to its many known health benefits, avocado oil is more stable at high temperatures as compared to other healthy oils. This means that it maintains its quality and nutrition for a longer frying period. Olive and coconut oil are close seconds. The best olive oil is the virgin or extra virgin variety.
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Eat Well
Nutrition Tidbits in the News
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Keep the Oil Clean.
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If you use the same batch of oil for too long and the pot starts collecting frying debris, the oil will start to burn. This will not only lend a burned flavor to the food, but it also means that the oil loses its nutrients as well. Remove debris from your oil as often as possible and, of course, change the oil as often as possible. If you’re deep frying, do not reheat the oil once it has cooled.
4 5
Upgrade Other Ingredients.
Although frying is a rather unhealthy means of cooking, do your health a favor — and spare yourself some guilt — by choosing a healthier batter for your food.
Most people use all-purpose flour for their batters. While allpurpose flour works well because it contains gluten, which helps create the preferred elastic texture, it’s also very low in nutrients and absorbs a lot of oil. Instead of high gluten all-purpose flour, use a healthier alternative such as whole wheat or spelt. Better yet, enjoy a vegetable latke.
Baking Soda to the Rescue. Another popular way to help improve the quality of fried, battered foods is to use a carbonated liquid or a recipe that calls for baking soda in the batter. This helps release gas bubbles, which will help reduce oil absorption in the food.
Oil Temperature Counts. One thing most people neglect to do when frying is making sure the oil temperature is right where it is supposed to be. The ideal temperature for frying oil is anywhere between 325°F and 400°F. If you aren’t using a thermometer to test the temperature, wait for the oil to sizzle before adding the food to the pot or pan.
If your frying oil isn’t hot enough, your food will not cook as fast as it should, which gives it a lot more time to soak up more of the fat. On the other hand, if it’s too hot, your oil will very likely burn and smoke.
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Wipe Off Some Oil. Always allow food to sit on a bed of paper towels or another absorbent material to help soak up the excess oil. Try doing so within fifteen seconds of removing the food from the pan, which is when the food is still absorbing the oil.
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Do It Yourself.
Even if you can’t implement any of the above techniques, you’re still better off opting for your own fried food than your local bakery’s. When you cook yourself, you know exactly what’s in your food. You’re in control of the quality of your ingredients and the oil you’re using to fry that special treat.
Sweet Baby Tooth
How much sugar is your toddler consuming? In the first study ever to research sugar intake in very young children, the results were disconcerting. The new study, which was published in Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, found that nearly two-thirds of infants (61%) and almost all toddlers (98%) are consuming excess added sugars in their average daily diets, primarily in the form of flavored yogurts (infants) and fruit-flavored drinks (toddlers). These numbers point to a serious and persistent problem: children are developing unhealthy eating habits from a fairly young age. Health organizations in the United States promulgate guidelines that recommend limiting sugar intake to 9 teaspoons or less daily for adult men, and 6 tsp or less for adult women and children between 2 and 19. With no comparable research available for infants and toddlers prior to this study, only one organization, the American Heart Association, provided guidance for children under age 2. The investigators analyzed data from 1,211 infants and toddlers
(6–23 months).The results showed that infants consumed about 1 teaspoon of added sugars daily (equivalent to about 2% of their daily caloric intake), while toddlers consumed about 6 teaspoons of sugars (about 8% of their daily caloric intake). The most prevalent food sources of added sugars for infants included yogurt, baby snacks and sweets, and sweet bakery products. For toddlers, the top sources included fruit drinks, sweet baked products, and candy. According to Dr. Kirsten A. Herrick, the study’s author, parents should be mindful of added sugar levels in the foods chosen when weaning their infants. She recommends discussing which solid foods to introduce with your child's healthcare provider.
Recently, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics joined the American Heart Association and other organizations to recommend breast milk, infant formula, water, and plain milk as part of a new set of comprehensive beverage recommendations for children, outlined by age (birth through age 5). They caution against beverages that are sources of added sugars in young children's diets, including juices and other sweetened beverages. Kislev 5780 | Wellspring 125
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:
CAULIFLOWER Principle
Nutrition Value
Percentage of RDA
Energy
25 Kcal
1%
Carbohydrates
4.97 g
4%
Protein
1.92 g
4%
Total Fat
0.28 g
1%
Cholesterol
0 mg
0%
Dietary Fiber
2.0 g
5%
Folates
57 µg
14%
Niacin
0.507 mg
3%
Pantothenic Acid
0.667 mg
13%
Pyridoxine
00.184 mg
14%
Riboflavin
0.060 mg
4.5%
Thiamin
0.050 mg
4%
Vitamin A
0 IU
0%
Vitamin C
48.2 mg
80%
Vitamin E
0.08 mg
0.5%
Vitamin K
15.5 µg
13%
Sodium
30 mg
2%
Potassium
299 mg
6%
Calcium
22 mg
2%
Copper
0.039 mg
4.5%
Iron
0.42 mg
5%
Magnesium
15 mg
3.5%
Manganese
0.155 mg
7%
Zinc
0.27 mg
2.5%
Vitamins
Electrolytes
Minerals
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Although I’ve always thought of cauliflower as a relatively bland vegetable, rather pale in comparison to its cousin, broccoli — both in color and flavor — seeing it featured in a plethora of recipes impelled me to try the vegetable again. While I still feel that its specialty is not in its inherent flavor, and it’s vibrant only when paired with an array of spices or a tasty sauce, there’s plenty to be said about its nutrient content. Furthermore, its unassuming color and texture make it a great starch replacement, to make dishes like cauliflower pizza or cauliflower rice. But before we get to the myriad ways we can incorporate this nutrient-dense veggie into our diet, let’s explore what makes it such a winner on the nutrition end. Cauliflower is a member of the cruciferous vegetables family, also known as the Brassica oleracea family, along with broccoli, cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts, and some other less common varieties. Thanks to all the attention that cruciferous veggies have gotten for cancer prevention, surveys show that the consumption of such vegetables has increased during the past two decades in the US. Extensive studies suggest that cruciferous vegetables are an excellent source of natural antioxidants, as well as good suppliers of essential vitamins, carotenoids, fiber, soluble sugars, minerals, and phenolic compounds. Just a one-cup serving of cauliflower contains about 77 percent of the recommended daily value of vitamin C, helping to reduce inflammation, boost immunity, and keep the body free of harmful bacteria, infections and common colds. In fact, a 2017 study conducted at the University of Basilicata’s Department of Sciences in Italy examined the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of a diet for rabbits enriched with cauliflower leaf powder (CLP). The researchers concluded that “preventive supplementation with CLP can protect rabbits from the inflammation and oxidative stress.” Is cauliflower better for you cooked or raw? Researchers have looked at the various ways to prepare and cook cauliflower in order to understand which cooking methods preserve cauliflower’s health benefits best. According to studies, water boiling and water blanching processes have the biggest impact on reducing cauliflower’s nutrients. These methods caused significant losses of dry matter, protein, and mineral and phytochemical contents (roughly a 20 percent to 30 percent loss of certain nutrients after five minutes of boiling, 40 percent to 50 percent after 10 minutes, and 75 percent after 30 minutes). Instead, surprisingly, cauliflower kept its nutrients most intact when microwaved, gently stir-fried, or roasted. These cooking methods maintained the methanolic extract of fresh cauliflower and significantly preserved the highest antioxidant activity. The best method for cooking cauliflower is to roast it or gently sauté it on the stove top, with a bit of water, broth, or lemon juice — or a healthy source of fat, which can make its nutrients more absorbable.
IN YOUR PLATE
IN THE KITCHEN Cauliflower “Breadsticks”
If you love breadsticks but are looking for a healthier or gluten-free alternative, this one’s for you. These sticks make for a great accompaniment to your dairy Chanukah party menu — crispiness coupled with cheesy, herby goodness. While this dish is time consuming to prepare, it’s a real hit! 6 cups riced cauliflower or 1 16–18 oz bag of cauliflower ¼ cup egg whites or 2 large eggs
½ cup + ¾ cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 tsp Italian seasoning (dried oregano or basil) ¼ tsp pepper pinch of salt
marinara sauce, for dipping cooking spray
Preheat oven to 375°F. If you’re making your own cauliflower rice, place cauliflower florets in a food processor and process until you get a “rice” texture. Some coarse chunks are fine. Place in a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer cauliflower to a bowl lined with a dishtowel. Let the cauliflower cool down a bit until it’s safe to touch, about 15 minutes. Gather the ends of the towel to form a pouch, and holding it by the ends, squeeze the liquid out of the cauliflower “ball” as hard as you can. Be patient and do this a few times until almost no liquid comes out. You should get about 1 cup of liquid. Increase oven temperature to 450° F. Transfer cauliflower to a mixing bowl, and mix with eggs, ½ cup cheese, herb seasoning, pepper, and salt. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and grease the paper. Place cauliflower mixture onto the baking sheet. Flatten with your hands into a rectangle, approximately 9x7 inches and ¼ inch thick. Bake for 18 minutes, remove from the oven, and top with remaining ¾ cup cheese. Bake for another 5 minutes, then broil until cheese turns golden brown. Cut into 12 breadsticks and serve hot with warm marinara sauce, if desired. Store: Refrigerate covered for up to 2 days. You can also freeze the breadsticks tightly wrapped in plastic for up to one month. Thaw on a counter or in a microwave. Note: Use this recipe as a gluten-free “crust” for pizza or any other savory pie or quiche.
Make your own carb-free cauliflower rice by spreading out cauliflower florets on a parchment-lined baking sheet, baking them uncovered at 450°F for 45 minutes, and then processing them in the food processor until a rice consistency is achieved. Mix with sautéed vegetables for a hearty side dish. For another delicious side dish, season and bread cauliflower in whole wheat bread crumbs or panko flakes, drizzle with olive oil, and bake uncovered in a preheated oven at 450°F. Roast cauliflower and red pepper strips with oil and spices. Transfer to a pot, add water to cover, cook, and blend. Makes for a delicious, rich, original vegetable soup.
Of course, you can enjoy simple roasted cauliflower in the oven, for about 45 minutes, leaving the florets whole. This dish tastes best with a sprinkling of an array of spices and served with a tasty dipping sauce like techina or parsley dip.
FOR HEALTHIER HAIR, SKIN, AND NAILS BY YOSSI & MALKY LEVINE
Throughout the year, we observe changes in the health of our hair, skin, and nails. In the winter, the skin tends to become sallow and dry, and in the summer, nails may peel from the heat. Hair can become fragile in extreme conditions — too much heat and it dries out, and extreme cold will cause it to become dull and lackluster. While the weather is not something we can control, toxic overload, stress, and poor diet are some more factors that may contribute to lackluster skin, dry hair, and brittle nails. The variety of supplements on the market for “hair, skin and nails,” are proof to the role nutrition plays in the health of these three. In most of them, you’ll find vitamin C to be a primary ingredient, due to the vital role it plays in collagen formation. The main structural protein found in skin and other connective tissues, collagen is widely used in purified form for cosmetic surgical treatments. Here’s our economical version of nutritional intervention that is made of ingredients you can be sure your body will digest well — plus, it tastes great too! 128 Wellspring | December 2019
1 kiwi 1 deseeded papaya 1 cup spinach 2 cups coconut water 1 tsp ground turmeric
Blend ingredients together. Drink morning and evening to help support a glowing complexion and healthier hair and nails.
Why these foods for healthier hair, skin, and nails?
Kiwi is high in vitamin C, which helps the production of collagen, improving blood flow to the scalp.
Papaya is incredibly high in vitamin C. Eating papaya can help eliminate dark under-eye circles and clears pigmentation. It is considered a superfood due to its high concentration of vitamins and minerals.
Spinach is high in biotin, which is known as the “beauty vitamin.” Dubbed nature’s own Botox, spinach is also high in vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant that helps prevent hair breakage and repairs the skin from any damage caused by exposure to UV rays and environmental toxins. Vitamin C also helps boost collagen production, promoting the skin’s firmness and elasticity.
Coconut water is extremely hydrating, giving “thirsty” skin the hydration it needs. It also contains antioxidants, which help prevent unwanted wrinkles.
Turmeric With its anti-inflammatory, antifungal, and antioxidant properties, turmeric may help clear sensitive and acne-prone skin, stimulate hair growth, and banish fungal infections from nails.
Brisk, chilly weather. Warm, homemade food.
@ ko s h e rd ot co m
Farewell
Dictionary
Antigen Definition: noun
a toxin or foreign substance that sets off an immune response.
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Once an antibody has been produced, a copy remains in the body so that if the same antigen appears again, it can be dealt with efficiently.
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Laura Shammah, MS, RDN
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