Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with Pear, Red Onion, and Walnuts

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with Pear, Red Onion, and Walnuts

Makes 4 Large Stuffed Mushrooms

4 Large Portobello Mushrooms (3 inches or more in diameter)
6 small (1 inch) Portobello mushrooms if the above are already stemless
2 organic Bartlett pears
2 small red onions, chopped into chunks
½ cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
Sea Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Balsamic Vinegar
Grass Fed Butter
Fresh Rosemary and Thyme
Optional: Crumbled Goat Feta Cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Wash the Portobello mushrooms, remove the stems (to use in the stuffing) and pat them dry. Place the mushrooms in a baking dish. (If mushrooms were already stemless, purchase 6 small 1 inch baby Portobello mushrooms to be used in the stuffing).

3. Melt 2 Tablespoons of butter in a pan on low to medium heat. Pour a small amount of balsamic vinegar in a separate small dish or bowl. Using a kitchen brush, lightly brush the mushrooms first with balsamic vinegar and follow with a light brushing of melted butter. Place the baking dish with mushrooms in the oven for 5-7 minutes until the skin of the mushrooms begins to soften.

4. Use the remaining butter in the pan to sauté the red onion with a pinch of salt until lightly caramelized or browned.

5. Take the mushroom stems or 6 small Portobello’s and roughly chop them. Then wash, dry and roughly chop the pears including the skin. Add the chopped mushrooms and pears to the onions and sauté very lightly, just enough to soften them. Remove from the heat and add the walnuts, a pinch of sea salt, finely chopped rosemary and thyme.

6. Remove the mushrooms from the oven, spoon the mixture into the bowl of the mushroom so that the stuffing slightly overflows and then return them to the oven to bake for another 5-10 minutes until fragrant, the stuffing is soft, and the mushrooms are beginning to slightly shrivel. During the last few minutes, sprinkle with goat feta cheese if desired, baking until cheese is melted.

By Mila McManus MD|2014-12-02T03:23:43-05:00December 2nd, 2014|General, Recipes|

Supplement of the month: Digestive Enzymes

Digestive Enzymes

As Nature would have it, many of the enzymes needed to digest our food are living in the food itself! Early man consumed mostly raw, living food. Enzymes are the component of any plant that bring that plant to maturity, ripeness and ultimately spoilage if not consumed. When we chew raw food and our saliva coats it, we are releasing the enzymes in that food that help to break it down for assimilation into the human body.

When we fail to eat fresh, raw food, the human body must take on the full burden of producing digestive enzymes, and scientists are realizing that our enzyme producing organs are not large enough to accommodate the demand created by a significantly cooked and processed food diet.

When food is heated/cooked in processing, its enzymes are destroyed. Additionally, we know that as we age, our body also produces fewer digestive enzymes. For this reason, it is often helpful to support the digestive process with supplemental digestive enzymes. There are many brands with differing enzyme combinations and doses. For some, it will be necessary to try several brands and combinations to relieve digestive symptoms such as acid reflux, bloating or indigestion of any kind.

At TWIHW, we offer two different choices. One is by Nutrametrix and is a lemon-flavored powder that is mixed with water to drink. Another choice is Complementary Prescriptions Digestive Enzymes in a capsule.

*The product information provided is for educational purposes and is not intended as either diagnosis or treatment of any disease, nor does it replace professional medical advice. (The FDA makes us say that)

*Warning: Please consult a health care professional before using these products.

By Mila McManus MD|2014-12-02T03:09:34-05:00December 2nd, 2014|Articles|

Most Common Genetically Modified Foods

by Nancy Mehlert, MS

Here are the most common Genetically Modified foods. Avoid them by purchasing organic and/or certified Non-GMO.

Corn – 90% of the American corn crop is genetically modified from which most corn flour, high fructose corn syrup, corn starch, masa, corn meal and corn processed foods are made.

Soybeans – 93% of the American soybean crop is genetically modified from which soy proteins, soybean oil, soy milk, soy flour, soy sauce, tofu, or soy lecithin are made.

Sugar – 55% of the sugar produced in America comes from sugar beets, 95% of which are genetically modified. Unless the ingredient label says “pure cane sugar”, chances are significant the “sugar” in an ingredient label is genetically modified.

Vegetable Oils – it is safe to assume that canola oil, vegetable oil, cottonseed oil, soybean oil and corn oil are all from genetically engineered crops.

Other foods that may well be genetically modified include Hawaiian papaya, zucchini, and yellow summer squash..

Foods under consideration for genetic modification include salmon, flax, plums, potato, radicchio, rice, tomato and wheat.

By Mila McManus MD|2014-11-05T07:26:47-05:00November 5th, 2014|Articles, General, NANCY’S NUTRITIONAL NUGGET|

Cholesterol and Statin Drugs

by Mila McManus MD

Statin drugs to reduce cholesterol levels are one of the most widely prescribed drugs. The myth that cholesterol is the cause of heart disease has sadly perpetuated over several decades despite much evidence to the contrary. Cholesterol actually plays vital roles in the body, such as:

Cholesterol is critical to the structure of key proteins involved with nerve transmission.
Cholesterol is needed for nerve cells to live longer.
Cholesterol supports serotonin utilization. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter involved in mood. Low serotonin symptoms include depression, anxiety, insomnia, carbohydrate cravings.
Cholesterol is the building block for many important hormones, including hormones that regulate mineral metabolism and blood sugar, hormones that help us deal with stress, and all the sex hormones, such as testosterone, progesterone, and estrogens.
Cholesterol helps fight infections and is important for immune function in general.
Cholesterol is needed for repairing wounds.
Cholesterol is needed for all cell membranes
Cholesterol is needed to make Vitamin D. People with optimal levels of vitamin D have the lowest incidence of flus/colds, cancers, and autoimmune diseases, and vitamin D is also important for heart health, metabolism, and thyroid function.

If you consider the above benefits of cholesterol, then you can look at the following list of side effects linked to statin drugs as they correlate with the above:

Polyneuropathy (tingling and/or pain in hands and feet and difficulty walking)
Alzheimers and Parkinsons disease have been linked to statin drugs
Depression
Mental slowing and memory impairment
Poor immune function
Some studies suggest statins increase risk of cancers. In every study with rodents, statins have caused cancer. Most human trials aren’t carried out long enough to detect any increase in cancer rates, but in one trial, breast cancer rates of those taking a statin were 1500 % higher than those of control subjects.
If you don’t have the building block to make your hormones, then imagine all the symptoms of low testosterone, low estrogen, low progesterone, and deficiency of adrenal (stress) hormones. Click here to test yourself and see symptoms that relate to deficiencies of these hormones.
Muscle weakness, muscle cramps, muscle atrophy, and muscle pain
Joint pain
Liver damage
Studies have shown that statins increase your risk of type 2 diabetes.
Heart failure (ironic, isn’t it? The enzyme blocked by statin drugs is also the enzyme that makes CoQ10 in the body. CoQ10 is a critical antioxidant, and also is required for energy production in your cells, including heart muscle. When you deplete CoQ10 due to being on a statin drug, your heart muscle weakens along with all your other muscles.)

Here are a few more interesting factoids:

On Pfizer’s own newspaper ad for Lipitor, it boasts that Lipitor reduces heart attacks by 36 percent. But there is an asterisk. And when you follow the asterisk, you find the following in much smaller type: “That means in a large clinical study, 3% of patients taking a sugar pill or placebo had a heart attack compared to 2% of patients taking Lipitor.”
In 2006, a study reported: While Zetia (a non-statin cholesterol lowering drug) does lower cholesterol by 15 percent to 20 percent, trials did not show that it reduces heart attacks or strokes, or that it reduces plaques in arteries that can lead to heart problems.

-Moreover, the trial by the drugs’ makers, which studied whether Zetia could reduce the growth of plaques, found that plaques grew nearly twice as fast in patients taking Zetia along with Zocor (Vytorin) than in those taking Zocor alone.

Young and middle-aged men with cholesterol levels over 300 are slightly more at risk for heart attacks. Those who have cholesterol levels just below 300 are at no greater risk than those whose cholesterol is very low. For elderly men and for women of all ages, high cholesterol is associated with a longer lifespan.
There is no evidence that saturated fat and cholesterol-rich foods contribute to heart disease.
Sugar and other refined carbohydrates (e.g. breads, pasta) increase insulin levels which are well known to cause plaque in the arteries. This is why diabetics develop cardiovascular disease at a rapid rate (ie high levels of sugar and insulin circulating in the blood). Statin drugs will not protect you from this.

Now that you are armed with all of the above information, you may be asking how to protect yourself from heart disease. Here are a few tips:

Manage your stress. Deep breathing exercises can be done anywhere at any time and don’t cost a thing.
Get moving. Even 5 minutes a day of cardio is better than nothing.
Reduce inflammation, which is at the heart of causing heart disease:

-Take Omega-3s such as krill or fish oil

-Avoid sugar which is inflammatory

-Eat real food and avoid manufactured foods, such as what’s found in boxes and wrappers

-Avoid eating fried foods and other foods cooked at high temperatures. Try to eat a lot of foods in their raw form.

Quit smoking.
Get adequate sleep.
Make sure you are getting adequate intake of fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, as well as B vitamins and antioxidants. Vitamins are a good way to ensure this.

*Information obtained from mercola.com and Weston A. Price Foundation.

*Necessary Disclaimer: The above information is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice.

By Mila McManus MD|2014-11-03T20:02:11-05:00November 2nd, 2014|Articles, General|

Supplement of the Month: Lipid Control

A Supplement that helps optimize heart health.

The best news for heart health is that there are a multitude of protocols, nutritional options and supplements that can improve and ensure a healthy heart! So while we are providing one such supplement in this section today, it is far from being the only available option and we encourage you to work with your TWIHW healthcare provider for the best multi-pronged approach to meet your personal needs for optimizing heart health.

Lipid Control is a science-based Complementary Prescriptions supplement which is a powerful and effective combination of nutrients that has been shown to support and manage healthy lipid levels, vascular function, and circulation. This formula includes the nonflush form of niacin (vitamin B3), gamma oryzanol, beta-sitosterol, red yeast rice and guggulipid. Guggulipid contains the active constituents, guggulsterones, which can inhibit cholesterol synthesis in the liver and modulate bile acid metabolism. Gamma-oryzanol, derived from rice bran oil, is another substance that can support healthy lipid levels. Evidence suggests that gamma-oryzanol acts by decreasing cholesterol absorption and increasing cholesterol excretion. Other compounds in Lipid Control known to play a role in lipid health include beta-sitosterol and niacin. Beta-sitosterol, a plant sterol similar in structure to cholesterol, inhibits cholesterol absorption and helps maintain normal levels of cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol. Niacin (vitamin B3) also often is used to help maintain healthy cholesterol levels. Inositol hexanicotinate, which causes less or no flushing seen with other niacin or nicotinic acid supplementation, is therefore preferred by many people.

*The product information provided is for educational purposes and is not intended as either diagnosis or treatment of any disease, nor does it replace professional medical advice. (The FDA makes us say that)

*Warning: Please consult a health care professional before using these products.

By Mila McManus MD|2014-10-22T11:28:52-05:00October 21st, 2014|Articles|

Toasted Pecans, Sweet or Spicy

Serves 12, ¼ cup servings
Ingredients:

¼ cup of melted, organic butter
4 cups pecan halves
Sweet : ¼ to ½ cup Xylitol or Erythritol (depending on desired sweetness) and 1 to 2 TBS Cinnamon, All Spice, or Pumpkin Pie Spice
Spicy : 1 TBS sea salt and ¼ – ½ tsp ground red pepper, chili powder, or cayenne pepper

1. Melt butter and add the sweet or spicy ingredients, stirring well. Toss pecans in mixture.

2. Spread pecans on a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Bake at 325° until crunchy. (About 30-45 minutes)

By Mila McManus MD|2014-10-21T22:46:08-05:00October 21st, 2014|General, Recipes|

I am excited about doing things…

I am excited about doing things...

I am a 83 year old male retired from two career fields. After 24 years of service in the Army, I retired being a very active, energetic, and healthy 40 year old easily running 5 miles a day. My second career as an insurance underwriter found me sitting behind a desk 8 to 14 hours a day with little physical activity. My weight went from a trim 145 pounds to a fat 185 pounds in a short period due to the popular office diet – McDonand’s, Jack In The Box and Whataburger.

When I retired the last time in the summer of 1994, my poor food choices caught up with me in 2006 in the form of a stroke. I was 75 years old and my life went down hill from there. Weeks of physical and occupational rehabilitation helped get my strength and mobility back. I went from taking no drugs to seven drugs a day that did not help. I developed constant stomach pain, severe depression and chronic fatigue. Gas, bloating, daily heartburn and constant constipation kept me in bed all day. For a whole year I was so bad that I cancelled several rehab and doctor appointments. My family doctor tried everything, sending me to many specialists and having several tests performed. All tests and blood work came back in the normal range. There is nothing wrong with me. My doctors tried all kinds of drugs on me. Some made me very ill and hallucinate. After several years, I finally told my family doctor that the life I now have is not living. He put me on an antidepressant drug. When that did not work, he prescribed another antidepressant drug to work with the first one. The two made me what I describe as goofy, finding myself in places and very confused as to why I was there.

My daughter researched the internet and found The Woodlands Institute For Health and Wellness, founded by Dr. McManus, the best thing that has happened to me in years. I have been on the yeast free diet and supplements over a month now, eliminated three of my drugs and working on one more. My brain fog, constipation, constant heartburn and stomach pain are history. I am able to get up, shower, shave, shampoo and dress at one time without needing to go back to bed before finishing. For the first time in many years, I am excited about doing things and look forward to being back to my better than normal self.

I have no words to describe my gratitude to Dr. McManus and her superior staff. Please accept a well done from an “old” soldier.

Bob

By Mila McManus MD|2014-10-20T16:50:22-05:00October 20th, 2014|General, Testimonials|

Postpartum Depression

After battling postpartum depression for the last 3 years I am finally feeling more like myself. I can attest to the yeast cleanse, adding supplements, bio-identical hormone therapy, and diet changes to recovering from my severe depression, ADD symptoms, and low energy. Thank you to Dr. McManus, Nancy & the team. -Veronica

By Mila McManus MD|2014-10-21T22:36:35-05:00October 20th, 2014|General, Testimonials|

Yeast Cleanse? NO WAY! Not happening.

I was NOT going to follow the yeast cleanse diet. I thought it was completely absurd and unrealistic. Besides, I was already eating pretty clean. I tried to get out of it. I was willing to do everything else. Just not the diet. Once I met with the nutritionist I was intrigued and thought why not try it. I was so tired of feeling bad. Week one was pretty easy once I figured everything out. Week two was TOUGH!!! But once I hit week three I never looked back. I feel amazing. My stomach has not hurt at all. It was hurting all the time. I felt bloated more days than I did not. Amazingly issues went away that I never expected to be related to food. I felt like I haven’t felt in years. I had been wearing a boot for foot pain off and on for months. A friend of mine who is a physical therapist said, “you need to cut sugar out of your diet. It’s inflamed.” I laughed at her and told her that was crazy. I walked in Dr. McManus’ office with that same boot on. By week three I had zero foot pain. That is right I said zero foot pain. No throbbing at night when I lie down. No pain wearing flip flops. I couldn’t believe it. They were right. I am so glad they convinced me to try it. You have nothing to lose. I am staying on the diet for life! Nothing I have eaten is worth going back to how I used to feel. Every time I am tempted I ask myself “Is it really worth feeling bad?” 99%of the time it is not.

Do the yeast cleanse. You won’t regret it!

Susie S.

By Mila McManus MD|2014-10-20T12:45:41-05:00October 20th, 2014|General, Testimonials|

Foods that Promote Sleep

In every step of my life journey, one message resounds over and over again. What we eat really does matter. The optimal function of the human body is in every way dependent on our daily food choices. There is no question in my mind that when we don’t eat well, we are promoting dysfunction and disease rather than optimal function. Good nutrition applies to getting a good night’s sleep, too! Read on to learn about foods that promote sleep.

There are a number of essential amino acids that the human body needs but cannot produce – the reason for being called “essential” is that we must consume them in our diet. One such amino acid is called tryptophan. Tryptophan is the required building block for the human body to produce serotonin in the gut and central nervous system, which is then delivered to the pineal gland in the brain to produce and release melatonin, our natural regulator of the sleep cycle.

The goal is to promote sleep by promoting the production of serotonin and, therefore, melatonin by ensuring our diet is rich in tryptophan. Here are some tryptophan rich choices to consider, especially as the sun sets and you consume your last meal of the day.

Meats, especially wild game such as elk and venison, quail, duck, and turkey.
Seafood, especially halibut, shrimp, salmon, lobster, crab and crawfish.
Nuts and seeds, especially walnuts, cashews, almonds, pistachios, flaxseed, sesame seed, pumpkin seed and roasted sunflower seeds.
Beans and legumes, especially peanuts, kidney beans, lima beans and chickpeas.
Spinach, mustard greens, asparagus and winter squash.
Grains, especially brown rice and oats in very modest portions (1/2 cup or less). We do not recommend grains as your ‘go-to’ source of tryptophan.
Cheese, especially Gruyere and cottage cheese. We do not recommend cheese as your ‘go-to’ source of tryptophan either.

Most of these tryptophan rich food sources fall in line very well with TWIHW’s recommended dietary choices. We do recommend gluten free grain choices in modest portions to avoid excessive elevation of insulin levels as well as non-genetically modified (Non-GMO) foods and organic options wherever possible. Be aware of your food sensitiveness and allergies avoiding those foods to which you have an adverse reaction, which would keep you wide awake anyway to be sure!

It is also worthy of note that alcohol, dark chocolate, coffee, sugary foods, spicy foods and highly processed fatty foods are well known to interrupt a good night of sleep. Sugar is especially disruptive because it causes a dramatic rise in blood sugar which, when it drops later, will cause you to wake up. Additionally, excessive sugar floating in the blood during sleep is damaging in terms of inflammation, congestion, oxidative stress and fat storage.

What we eat will determine just how sweet your dreams can be!

By Mila McManus MD|2014-09-27T14:17:14-05:00September 27th, 2014|Articles, General, NANCY’S NUTRITIONAL NUGGET|

About Mila McManus MD

by Nancy Mehlert, MS