Top 10 Healthy Snacks

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Bonnie Minsky's

Nutritional Concepts

July Email Update

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Quick Hits

-- Top 10 Healthy Snacks - Bonnie Approved.

-- cGMPs - What Are They and What Should We Make of Them?

-- Happy Fourth of July!

-- July Sale - 20% OFF

-- Recipes du Jour

-- July Announcements.

-- Sauna Therapy Used on Ground Zero Workers.

-- If you missed it: Mid-June Highlights.

-- Steve Minsky Wins Award.

Dear Valued Client

At the beginning of each month, we like to keep you informed about what's new with Bonnie Minsky & Nutritional Concepts. As always, have a happy, healthy day! Nutritional Concepts is a 2007 Working Mother Best Small Company.

Top 10 Healthy Snacks - Bonnie Approved.

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Avocado or guacamole

Nuts/Seeds (raw or dry roasted without added oils, salt, or sweeteners) & Nut/Seed Butters

Fresh Fruit (if fresh is not possible, go with dehydrated over dried)

Fresh Vegetables (cruciferous veggies like broccoli and cauliflower are great; celery and jicama will also keep you satiated)

Lean Protein (hard boiled egg, smoked salmon, free range/organic jerky)

Olives

Humus

Smoothie (use organic, nonfat, unsweetened yogurt or kefir)

Dark Chocolate

Healthy Cracker of your choice (especially nutty crackers)

These items create satiety and balanced blood sugar to assure your day is consistent mentally and physically. In addition:

Eat carb snacks with a lean protein or healthy fat.

Make salty snacks the exception and not the norm.

Drinks of choice: Water (flat or sparkling) or Tea; splash a little pomegranate or your juice of choice for a little flavor.

For your smoothie snack, add some protein powder if desired.

If dehydrated fruit, mix with nuts/seeds for a trail mix.

Dip veggies/crackers into humus/guacamole.

Spread nut butter on apple slices.

Grains and almost all dairy were excluded because they are strong allergens/intolerants.

Contact Carolyn, our food consultant, for more scrumptious, balanced snack/meal ideas.

cGMPs - What Are They and What Should We Make of Them?

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has posted its final rule on current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) for dietary supplements.

Since the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) was passed in 1994, companies that manufacture, pack, label or hold dietary supplements have been required to conform to conventional food cGMP. Dietary Supplements now have their own set of standards.

We address the most important issues in this ruling...

Happy Fourth of July!

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Wishing you a happy, healthy, and safe holiday week from all of us at Nutritional Concepts.

Read up on our healthy grilling tips if you haven't already!

July Sale - 20% OFF

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Metagenics EPA/DHA Extra Strength 120 softgels
Recent fish oil research (see recent blog entries) has shown positive outcomes for blood pressure, mental acuity in young children, and as a preventive taken prior to heart surgery to avoid arrhythmias.

Cardiovascular Research Hepagen
One of our longest-standing and most effective nutrients for liver nourishment/protection/detoxification.

Twinlab Daily One Caps with & without iron
A good foundational multivitamin to support your nutrient regimen.

Pure Encaps Alpha Lipoic Acid 60 caps
Lipoic acid is a unique antioxidant in that it functions in both water and fat, which gives it a broad spectrum of function. Lipoic acid is crucial for glucose (blood sugar) metabolism, turning it into energy for the body's needs.

Lipoic acid also may help regenerate other antioxidants that have been used up. In addition, lipoic acid may be able to do the work of other antioxidants when the body is deficient in them.

It is thought that certain nerve diseases are at least partially caused by free radical damage. Thanks to its combined fat and water solubility, lipoic acid can get into all the parts of a nerve cell and potentially protect it against such damage. This is the rationale for studies showing a positive effect on diabetic neuropathy.

Order here

Recipes du Jour

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Once a month, we highlight a recipe from our database or from you. We welcome entries by email to nutrocon@aol.com.

Raspberry, Avocado, and Mango Salad

-1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries, divided
-1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
-1/4 cup red-wine vinegar
-1 small clove garlic, coarsely chopped
-1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
-1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
-8 cups mixed salad greens
-1 ripe mango, diced
-1 small ripe avocado, diced
-1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
-1/4 cup toasted chopped hazelnuts or sliced almonds optional

Instructions: Puree 1/2 cup raspberries, oil, vinegar, garlic, salt, and pepper in a blender until combined. Then combine greens, mango, avocado, and onion in a large bowl. Pour the dressing on top and gently toss to coat. Divide the salad among 5 salad plates. Top each with the remaining raspberries and sprinkle with nuts, if using.

Makes 5 servings, about 2 cups each.

Note: any like ingredient can be replaced if allergic or intolerant.

For more delectable recipes, view our Spa Recipes.

July Announcements.

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-A follow-up study again shows malignant tumor creation in mice from consumption of aspartame. Cocoa Cola and Cargill are getting into the stevia business for a reason. They see the writing on the wall. As expected, the FDA dismissed the study.

-Special dinner plate helps diabetics shed pounds. This sounds an awful lot like our Circle of Health Food Chart.

-A study showing positive results on Echinacea recently appeared in the media. Here's our take.

-Women with low iron levels who have affected mental function can think more clearly by taking supplemental iron. According to researchers (AmJClinNutr), the importance of this study shows that persons do not have to be clinically anemic to have alterations in attention, memory, and learning. The amount and source of iron should be assessed by your licensed health professional. Taking iron without professional supervision can be hazardous to your health.

-Following up on our post about the estrogenic effects of certain sunscreen ingredients, the Environmental Working Group came out with some sobering statistics on the state of sunscreen products. You can easily look up the product you currently use from a list of over 700.

-Two recent columns by one of our favorite Chicago Tribune writers, Julie Deardorff, addressed a Mom with quintuplets who is at risk of losing them because she has them on vegan diets. Julie posted a comment from Bonnie on her blog.

Sauna Therapy Used on Ground Zero Workers.

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Project Olive ReLeaf is a demonstration project which provided health assessment, testing, and treatment to 160 uniformed service personnel and residents of lower Manhattan who were exposed to the air at Ground Zero following September 11th for extended periods of time.

Most individuals had eight or more serious health complaints including: severe respiratory problems, digestive problems, skin rashes, sleeplessness, anxiety, depression, weight gain, elevated blood pressure, lethargy, and recurrent headaches. Heavy metal toxicity was suspected as the causal factor for many of these symptoms (85% of subjects had excessively high levels of lead and mercury).

After 3-4 months of treatment, greater than 60% of subjects showed improvement in all symptoms. The treatments used:

Chelation Therapy
Acupuncture
Body Work (Massage)
Vitamin and Mineral Supplementation
Sound Therapy
Far Infrared Sauna Therapy

We are pleased to inform you that the three therapies in bold encompass our all new Rejuvenating Room.

For details...

If you missed it: Mid-June Highlights.

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Are You a Savvy Shopper?
Healthier Grilling.
Could it be a CoQ10 Deficiency?

June Newsletter

Steve Minsky Wins Award.

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Our own Steve Minsky won a Stevie Award on June 12th for Best Marketer at The 2007 American Business Awards.

Hailed as "the business world's own Oscars", The American Business Awards are the only national, all-encompassing awards program honoring great performances in business.

The awards were presented during ceremonies at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. The ceremonies were hosted by Larry Wilmore of THE DAILY SHOW with JON STEWART.

In winning the Stevie, Steve beat out two other finalists and hundreds of entries from companies of all sizes.

Steve was chosen for his excellent work on our blog, newsletter, website, and client/public relations. Well done, Steve!